7 DAYS OF CLEAN-EATING!

A little back story: For several years, I had watched my own metabolism slow down and my weight slowly creep up. Growing up, I was naturally slim and it wasn’t really until my forties that I noticed weight gain that was harder to shed. When I was younger, losing a few pounds used to be fairly easy. Not anymore! Although I never considered myself to be overweight, I gained pounds around my middle that made me feel sluggish and unhealthy that I couldn’t seem to lose.

But several years ago I tried something different. I actually started listening to my body. Even though the latest trend was to eat often, and cut out all grains and eat lots of protein and fat, my body actually felt better and more energized when I consumed fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains & beans, minimized meat, dairy and sugar- and stopped snacking.

In the beginning, I just started paying attention to when I was eating and why. I noticed that much of the time I ate when I was not actually hungry.  I did a lot of mindless eating…eating whatever was sitting on the counter as I walked past regardless if I was hungry.  Being a caterer, there was always food in front of me, which inevitably ended up in my mouth!  Or eating in front of the TV, out of boredom or comfort. So I started by simply paying attention to my daily habits.  I noticed what foods left me feeling tired, achy and sluggish (dairy, white flour, processed foods, and sweets) and what left me feeling energized and alive (fresh fruits and veggies).

Something else happens as we age. When we consume too much – too much fat, sugar, white flour, and processed foods, our bodies just can’t seem to filter these out as efficiently as they used to when we were young! It is almost like our own natural built-in filter or detox system (our liver) gets overloaded and tired!  Our bodies stop processing as effortlessly as it once used to. For me, cutting back on animal protein and fat/ white sugar/ white flour/processed foods was like rebooting the system. It allows our bodies a break, letting it “catch up” with its inner cleaning.  Eating more plant-based meals, with lots of healthy fruits and veggies, whole grains, plant-based proteins, allows our body to do what it naturally wants to do… heal itself.

Research shows that the plant-based diet lowers cholesterol,  lowers inflammation, lowers blood pressure, reduces cancer risk, lowers heart disease and is the least taxing diet on the environment.  Not to mention the animals!  There is even research out there that states that eating vegan for a 3 month period can actually change your DNA! Don’t take my word for it, please do your own research and see for yourself.

And while we take this “break” our bodies become better able to absorb all the good clean nutrients we are putting into them. And I find that in the process, I start to actually crave these clean foods because I feel better, sleep better and have way more energy.

So… this is what I did: For 7 days, I cut out meat and dairy, white sugar, white flour, and processed foods –  I made all my meals from scratch. This is KEY.  And I stopped snacking, allowing my body time to digest before eating again. This felt so good, and within 3-4 days my digestion improved, and my energy level increased significantly! I extended this period to 3 months.  Today I eat 85% plant-based with occasional fish and dairy. Whenever I feel sluggish, I go back to vegan for a week and reboot.

And yes, occasionally I  splurge because I really don’t believe in depriving one’s self of all life’s pleasures.  For example, in the past I really loved ice-cream. But I realized I made a habit of it, eating it every night after dinner. Did I really need to eat it every single night?!  I decided I would eat it, only when I really really wanted it, which ended up being far less than I thought. (I also discovered vegan ice cream!)  I changed the habit of eating it. And I changed the habit of constantly snacking when I wasn’t hungry- substituting this tea, or this apple cider vinegar drink called a switchel!

Slowly but surely, I lost weight for the first time in years. At first, I didn’t actually notice the weight loss, it was that slow. But I felt more energy during the day and slept better at night. After several months, I weighed myself and was astounded.  My cholesterol also went down (which is important to me personally, because both of my parents had heart bypass surgery). I’m not promising miracles here, but I think if you give it a try, you may be pleasantly surprised- like I was.

In the free, 7 DAY Clean Eating Guide I lay out a list of things to begin your journey. Please don’t feel like you have to do ALL these things in the first week (unless you really want to jumpstart your body).  I’ve found that lasting success comes from gradually and gently incorporating these changes into your lifestyle so they become a more lasting habit. This is key. Weight will come off a little more slowly, but this is a good thing, and this way it will most likely last. So go ahead and start with just one or two things this week. Then next week add another, and then another the following week so it’s not so overwhelming or dramatic. This is not intended to be a “diet”, but rather a lifestyle change for increased energy, vibrancy and gradual weight loss, with a “jumpstart” option if you are so inclined.

For the record, I am not a dietitian and I can’t say that this vegan Clean-Eating Guide is right for everyone. Please don’t take my word for it, do your own research and make sure this is a good fit for you. We are all so different, and I don’t believe in “one size fits all”.  But this is what has worked for me- and I just wanted to share it! (By the way, the guide is totally FREE, just for subscribing to the blog. )

I’m not here to try to convince you of anything – we all know what we need to do to feel our best. My husband follows the KETO diet- and for him, it works great. It’s very popular now and I get it… but for some reason, it just doesn’t work the same for me ( raises my cholesterol).

There are many paths to feeling our best. Find your own!

My hope is to inspire and motivate you to take some steps toward feeling more alive and energized. And to take responsibility for your health.  We only get one body while we are here… let’s show it some love!

Here are a few of my favorite resources that have inspired the Clean-Eating Guide.

The Longevity Diet

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

The China Study 

The Blue Zones 

Eat to Live