It’s been a week so far in my effort to only eat whole, unprocessed foods in the entire month of January. How’s it going? Let’s just say it’s been a long first week, and a few times I definitely wanted to just say screw it. I did that thing where I start convincing myself this is really unnecessary. That’s when a little devil lands on my shoulder and says, “This is lame. Is going to kill you to eat a bowl of pasta, or have a glass of wine? Why are you even doing this? You look fine, your favorite jeans shrunk in the wash, I swear.” Then there’s the little angel that appears on the other shoulder and tells me to “Suck it up, what’s one month in a whole year? You can do this, you are going to feel so good in another week you’ll be glad you stuck to it. Plus, come February you can eat pasta and drink wine again!” In my head the devil is an Oreo cookie, and the angel is me in a bikini. This may seem a bit schizophrenic, but it is really what I do almost every night when I just want a damn piece of chocolate! It works though, and I always convince myself that I can do it.
How It’s Going
I honestly haven’t cheated at all. So far I haven’t eaten anything processed. Okay, I’m lying. I’m eating almond butter because I don’t know how to make it myself. I buy raw unsalted almond butter, so the ingredients are literally “almonds” and nothing else. Technically it’s processed, but it could be worse. Gotta pick your battles! Other than that I have been doing all the hard lifting myself. I even cut up a million cherry tomatoes in order to make chili since I couldn’t use a can of crushed tomatoes. I made vegetable broth from scratch, which turned out pretty bland to be honest, but at least I couldn’t tell once I threw a ton of veggies in there and made soup. Soaking beans is probably the most annoying thing. I have to plan recipes in advance and then soak them for 8 hours or more, then boil them to cook them. Then do whatever the heck it was I was going to do with them. I am getting better every day though, and often flip through cookbooks in my free time to plan out meals in advance.
How I’m Feeling
Great! I’m falling asleep really easily and waking up refreshed. I haven’t hit snooze once! Also, I forgot how much you can really fill up on vegetables. Once I eliminated gluten and sugar from my diet, I started eating way less. I only started craving chocolate because, well, right now is a certain time where that happens to me. You get the idea. Anyway, I feel less bloated already and thinner in my abdomen. I’m pretty sure that’s from eliminating gluten. I do get hungry sometimes but I think it’s just boredom. I’m fine all day at work, but this weekend was tough though since I sat around watching football mostly. All those damn beer and chip commercials! I do have more energy though, and have been working out more. I ran 2 miles yesterday (had to walk some of it) and didn’t collapse once! I also realized how much I absolutely LOATH running. That’s why my preferred method of calorie burning is dancing. I got Just Dance 4 for Christmas and I rock out in the living room. The new version has workout routines you can do! So much more fun and challenging than running. I really want to get stronger and more toned. Patience!
What I’ve Learned So Far
Have some damn snacks prepared! I dropped the ball on this one. It’s really important to have snacks ready and planned out. When you’re making all your food from scratch it’s frustrating to come home from work and realize you have nothing to eat except raw vegetables, that you first have to wash, peel and cut up. When I’m hungry, anything that stands in the way between my mouth and food is an enemy. The first few days I was eating raw cashews for a snack, which isn’t terrible per se, but I can eat way too many and they’re super high in fat and calories. Since then I’ve bucked up and made some snacks to munch on. I made an amazing roasted red pepper white bean dip that’s great to dunk veggies in. Yesterday I was craving potato chips so badly after Josh was crunching on some crinkle cuts while watching football. Instead of punching him in the face out of jealousy, I grabbed a sweet potato, sliced it on the mandolin, threw some spices and oil on them and threw them in the oven. Homemade sweet potato chips! I am so glad I thought of it, as I really wanted something crunchy and salty and I didn’t want to resort to violence. Also, roasted almonds make a good snack. I buy all my nuts raw so I can have control over their seasoning and toastiness. I toasted regular almonds to munch on, but I think this week I will make rosemary spiced almonds. Yum.
What I’m Eating
This is what you really came to see! Here’s some photos of the sorts of things I’ve been eating for different meals and snacks. I have started every morning with a green smoothie that keeps me full till lunch. Everything you see has been prepared from scratch (okay, okay, not the almond butter!) and is probably around 90% organic. I can’t always find organic everything. Or sometimes I can and refuse to pay $8 for organic Brussels sprouts when I can pay $3 for non-organic at TJ’s. Sometimes my wallet overrules. Below are some pics of what I’ve been eating. You can thank my cell phone for the strange size and crappy quality.
Dinner: Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew Over Millet. I made the stew recipe up and it was spicy, sweet and delicious.
Snack: Apple with almond butter. Creamy, crunchy, sweet and salty. Very Satisfying!
Dinner: Ratatouille Over Roasted Cauliflower. This was really flavorful and so filling. Only vegetables and I was so full! I also ate an entire pan of roasted cauliflower, so that probably helped with the fullness.
Breakfast: Stove Top Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal. This oatmeal, although filling and tasty, really could have use some maple syrup. Next time I’ll use sweeter fruit. I also ended up adding pecans which gave it a nice crunch.
That’s the update folks! I look forward to week 2 and think that it will be much easier as time goes on. If you have any yummy recipes that are vegan and don’t include gluten, soy, corn, or sugar, let me know!!
