Phases...

It's been a long time since I've written.  But I'm finally out of graduate school and on the way to becoming "normal" again.  Or at least for having time to do the things I like to do outside of work.  For the past three years I have been hearing the same thing from doctors all over - you have to lose weight.  This is not a news flash to me.  I look in the mirror every day when I step out of the shower (only because you have no choice, the mirror is in front of the shower), so I see my naked fat rolls in all their glory.  I'll spare you any further description.  But the reason the doctor's tell me to lose weight is so that my knees don't hurt so badly.  The reason for me has become much more simple - I want to be active again - for longer than 15 minutes without sitting down.  I don't want to "die" at 37 years old because I can't move.  

So tomorrow I am starting a new way of eating.  While I am calling it a lifestyle change, I know my own shortcomings with long-term goals.  For now, I'm committing to doing this until August 1.  That's about 5 weeks. I'm going to take a picture tomorrow morning, then "weigh in".  While I need to weigh in weekly to see my progress, I'm going to give it until August 1 to really see how well I'm doing.  But I'm sure you're real question is - what is this new way of eating?

Well...it's called Eating Clean.  Basically it's cutting out the preservatives and chemicals that are in our food and eating food the way it was meant to be eating.  I think to think of it as eating like they did 40 years ago before all the processed and frozen food came out and everyone got fat.  I'm not a nutritionist or any type of guru on the subject, it's just a belief I hold dear.  This doesn't mean I'll never eat out or that I won't have a "treat", but I want 20 out of 21 meals a weeks to be clean.  If you add in the two snack a day - that's 34 of 35 meals/snacks.  Sounds fair right?  I went the first two months of this year without a single soda.  And while I have cut those back dramatically, I'm going to return to only 1 diet soda a week.  

I've been reading a lot about vitamins, minerals and foods that help with health problems.  The two that I am starting this week are 1oz of pomegranate juice a day for arthritis pain and joint discomfort and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg a day (mixed in my yogurt or breakfast shake) which is supposed to help with mood.  The third one that I've heard a lot about, but I'm just not sure how to get it in is olive oil.  I know I can do it on days I do salad.   

I did my shopping today and managed to only buy 9 things from the inside aisles of the store.  Everything else came from the edges.  That wasn't by design, that was what was on the shopping list for this week.  I'm going to share my lists, meal plans and progress on here.  Mostly to have a journal for myself.  But hopefully to inspire someone to follow me.  :)  There are some things I know I already have at home that are not on this list. My goal for next week is to do my shopping at the farmer's market for as many of my fruits and veggies and possible.  I do think it's important that we support working Americans and not just corporate America.  Especially as a source of our mostly widely used resource - FOOD.

If anyone has done this before and has suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear from you!  I'm also interested in natural vitamins or foods to help me become more healthy.  

So here is my shopping list for week 1:
Nutmeg
Pomegranate juice
Brown Rice
Pearled Barley
Whole Grain Crackers
Rye Bread
Chicken Breast (boneless,skinless)
12 oz sliced deli turkey
9 oz sliced deli chicken
Avocado
Carrots
Celery
Cucumbers
Musrhrooms
Salad greens
3 apples
5 bananas
grapes
strawberries
blueberries
Cascadian Farms granola bar
Organic Whole grain cereal
Almonds 
Sunflower seeds
Greek Yogurt (vanilla)
Whey Protein Powder (chocolate)
Milk (2%)
Low-Fat String Cheese (5)
Cherry Tomatoes
Squash
Zucchini 
Corn on the cob