Well it’s only been 3 1/2 days, but I’m really loving my healthy diet so far!  I think it could be the perfect lifestyle for me.  Yes, it’s tough and requires mental commitment, but it’s not SOOO tough that I can’t sustain it.

Just to recap….my new diet lifestyle right now is basically this:

• Don’t eat any sugary treats (brownies, candy, cookies, cake, etc.)
• Don’t eat any fried foods.
• Stay away from diet beverages.
• Eat lots of fruits, veggies, lean meats, certain dairy products (Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, a little bit of regular cheese), whole grains (oats, quinoa, brown rice, Ezekiel bread) and other healthy grains.
• Eat foods that will strengthen and fuel my body; stay away from foods that won’t.
• I can have 100 “cheat” calories every day.  This will usually be in the form of chocolate chips added to oatmeal, yogurt or by themselves!
• I will have one weekend (Saturday and Sunday) off a month.  I can eat whatever the heck I want for those two days.

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.

FYI, I don’t drink alcohol or coffee, so thankfully I don’t have to worry about restricting those things.  However, if you are an alcohol and coffee drinker, I would just recommend coming up with a plan to restrict/limit those things.  It would be best to completely cut them out, but if that’s not a possibility, maybe have just one cup of coffee a day or one drink of alcohol a week.  Whatever works and is sustainable.

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We had a great discussion with the kids on Monday night.  We were talking about the Boston Marathon and what an amazing accomplishment it is to run that marathon, or any marathon at all!

I also just want to say…Way to GO Meb!  He seems like such a cool dude and I was SO happy he WON!

My sister Holly also ran the marathon and it was her first time running it.  I was SO PROUD of her!  Woot!

Anyway, we talked about how in order to run a marathon, especially one like Boston, it takes a lot of time, commitment, determination and hard work.  It is such an amazing accomplishment.

We also talked about things in our own life we would like to accomplish and what it takes to accomplish those things.  We talked about setting goals, being disciplined and making our lives what WE want them to be!

We mentioned that it might be a lot of fun to eat a bunch of junk food, watch TV all day and just have a nice lazy day, right?

Yes, it’s a lot of fun for ONE day.  However, if you live that kind of lifestyle day after day after day, it’s not much fun.  In fact, it would be very depressing.  Eating junk food and living a sedentary lifestyle is “fun” short-term, but it’s MUCH more fulfilling to push yourself, plan and achieve goals, be strong, disciplined and motivated…don’t ya think?

So, that brings me back to my healthy diet.  I enjoy junk food as much as anyone else.  I LOVED eating my yummy donuts last weekend, but the entire “donut eating experience” lasted about 2 minutes tops.  Yet, the effect from eating junk food lasts a lot longer than that.  It immediately messes with the body; spikes blood sugar, puts extra strain on the pancreas and liver, jacks up hormones and just leaves you wanting MORE and MORE!  If junk food is consumed on a regular basis it causes weight gain, kills the immune system and increases the chances of getting a bunch of terrible diseases.

Is that worth the 2 minutes of yummy bliss?!

Yes, I think it is sometimes. 😉  LOL.  BUT, on a regular day-to-day basis….HECK no!

Now, even though I know how damaging crappy food can be on the body, I also know how hard it can be to eat well and avoid yummy, decadent, convenient, processed food.  It really is addicting and takes real strength and commitment to stay away from it!

That is why I’m really loving this new diet plan.  It’s full of real, healthy foods that help fuel the body, but it also allows for occasional, planned treats too.  It’s perfect for me.

Now, I know there are a million other healthy plans out there that are wonderful too.  I’ve heard a lot about the 80/20 rule….eat well 80% of the time and eat what you want 20% of the time.  I think this plan is great, but I just know if I were to follow that rule, it would eventually get to 70/30 and then 60/40 and then 20/80 if I wasn’t careful.

I know my limitations and know I need to stay away from junk food (especially sugar!) as much as possible.  Yes, it’s hard, but I know I’ll find a lot more joy and long-term happiness from working hard and accomplishing my goals.

Anyway, sorry for all the babbling and deep thoughts.  I hope I even made sense.

Moving on.  Here are some of things I’ve been eating the past few days.

I’ve been starting every morning off with this…

A cup of warm water with 1/2 of a lime squeezed in it.  I would have used lemon, but I happen to have a bunch of limes that need to be used.

I’ve read NUMEROUS times about the benefits of warm lemon (or lime!) water on the body.  It cleanses the body, aids in digestion and removes toxins.  I also think it’s refreshing too!  The warm citrus water feels so good and clean goin’ down.  I really LOVE it and think it will be a daily thing for me from now on.

I’ve been having this for breakfast every day this week…

2 eggs + 2 egg whites scrambled with peppers and onions, topped with cheese and salsa and wrapped up in a La Tortilla Factory Low Carb tortilla.  I would have added spinach, but I’ve been out!  I just went to Costco today though so now I have spinach. Happy day.

I just wish I would’ve remembered to buy avocados too, dang it. 🙁

Oh, and I really like these tortillas…

I’ve had better tasting low carb tortillas, but these aren’t bad.  I especially love that they are big, yet only 80 calories, 12 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein!  Pretty dang awesome.  I bought this big pack at Costco, of course.

I gotta tell you guys something funny.  I was eating my Breakfast Burrito this morning and it was pretty messy, so I decided to just leave it open (instead of rolled up) and just eat it with a fork.  My 6 year old was eating his breakfast next to me and he looked over at me with a disgusted look on his face and said, “Uhhh, how can you eat that mom!??  It looks like alien food!”

I laughed and had to agree it looked pretty scary.

Sorry, this half-eaten pic is pretty gross, but it tasted really good and not at all like alien food! LOL!

I’ve been trying to drink a protein shake every day as well.  They’ve tasted so good to me!  One day, I made a quick chocolate, spinach one as I ran out the door…

Yesterday, I made a YUMMY Mint Chocolate Chip one that I loved so much!

I might have to make me another one of these today!

Oh, and told you guys about the Power Greens I’ve been lovin’ lately, right?  It’s basically a mix of organic kale, spinach and chard and I love it!  Sadly, it doesn’t last too long though.  I’ve found that it starts to wilt and die after about a week.  Sooooo, I decided to start freezing it to use in shakes once it starts to wilt.  It’s worked out great!

Here are a couple things I’ve had for lunch…

A yummy Subway sandwich.  I was out with Kev the other day and we decided to share a footlong sub.  It was a turkey/ham sandwich on wheat bread with all the veggies, no cheese and topped with a little mustard and balsamic.  YUM!

I had this for lunch yesterday…

Leftover salad and fruit with some cottage cheese on the side.  I love leftovers and this tasted great to me!  I topped it with some Brianna’s Creamy Balsamic dressing and it was amazing.

I love all of Brianna’s Salad dressings.  They’re full of real ingredients and I only use a drizzle so it doesn’t pack on a ton of calories.

Here are some of the snacks I’ve come up with…

1/2 banana with peanut butter (my fav!)  I really love this snack so much, but I can’t ever seem to take a pretty picture of it, lol.

1/2 of a chopped apple topped with peanut butter.  Love it.

A slice of Ezekiel bread topped with peanut butter, bananas and honey with a Babybel cheese on the side.  Seriously so good!

We had this for dinner Monday night…

Cheesy Vegetable soup with homemade Pita Chips (yes, that’s purple cauliflower in there!)  This soup is so so good!  I will share the recipe later this week. 😉

Yesterday’s dinner was insane.  I pretty much grabbed a protein bar and fruit leather as I ran out the door and called it good.  Later on, I had a yogurt mixed with cottage cheese and it was just right.

Well, that’s all the food pics I have to share!  I will just keep pluggin’ along and will keep you all posted on my progress.  Oh, and several of you expressed interest in doing this “diet” with me.  Yay!  If you want to do this with me, keep me posted on your progress.  Send me food pics, motivating tips, questions or whatever the heck you want!

I hope you all have a great night!