Monday, April 14, 2014

Clean Eating Link Up!



I've touched on my feelings about this topic a little bit in the past, but today I'll really get to the nuts and bolts of why I feel the way I do.  CLEAN EATING...it's really become a hot topic among the fitness world and you hear those words together a lot!  I started on the bandwagon myself many months ago, and while it helped a little, I still was feeling gross, bloated, lethargic...something wasn't working for me.  Then someone recommended the Whole30 plan and I spent hours pouring over the website and decided to just go for it!  That was way back in November 2012 and it was great!  After the initial "carb flu" period I was feeling great.  I lost about 12 pounds in 30 days and I'd never felt better, more focused, or energetic.

Enter Christmas...and several more months of falling off the wagon.  I'll be the first to admit that I am an emotional binge eater.  I fight it every single day.  I simply can't keep anything in my house that I want to avoid because I will eat it every time.  During these months, I gained back every pound I lost plus a few.



Once I'd had enough of feeling like trash again, I went back to the beginning.  I decided to read this book:


I'm not huge on science, but Dallas and Melissa Hartwig really explain the science of how certain food affects our body from the inside out in terms that I can understand.  All sorts of ailments and diseases begin with what we put on our plate and we don't even realize it.  Weight gain is just a symptom of all the other things that could be happening in our bodies.  Scary things like diabetes, leaky gut syndrome, and even seasonal allergies.  And since I am doing this for my overall health and not just to lose weight, it made sense for me to cut out the junk and follow the guidelines set by this book.

I'm not perfect and I slip up sometimes, but it's been easier to resist eating things when I remind myself how bad I feel afterwards and how these foods affect my overall health and not just my weight!



One hurdle I've really had to fight through is the idea that the normal "low-fat" American diet that most people try to lose weight with will NEVER work.  Healthy fat doesn't make you fat....refined sugar and processed foods do.  If you read labels you'll find out that sugar is hidden EVERYWHERE!  That "healthy" yogurt...more sugar than a Snickers bar!  I'm looking forward to seeing Fed Up, a documentary about this topic!

I've rambled enough...if you've made it this far, I HIGHLY recommend checking out this book and program.  It won't cost you a dime (other than buying food!) to follow the Whole30 - unlike other popular programs out there.  In the long run, you'll feel better!  I know I do!

Now if I can just get the exercise going...

What are your thoughts on clean eating?  Link up with Jasmine at Fleurty and Fit and share with us!

2 comments:

  1. I love this post!! I am going to check out that book!! Thanks for linking up!

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  2. Ooh definitely going to check out that book- I've been doing clean eating for almost a year and feel 1000x better than I felt on the "low fat" diets. Thanks for sharing!

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