We made it through week 1! I just want to say upfront that the biggest and most exciting surprise was my total when I checked out at the grocery store. Apparently, we snack on a lot of protein bars and fruit, and cutting both of those out cut my grocery bill in half! Like, so shocked. We’re still getting all natural/organic meats and veggies, and I’m even buying everything (carbs) gluten free, which I don’t usually do. All of our meals cost tops $2/meal. We are highly considering making this our new norm purely to save money!

If you missed what plan we’re on and talking about (what we are and aren’t eating), catch up here.

Here’s a little overview from each day last week:

Day 1: Didn’t have good protein powder, so ate my breakfast oatmeal without it, and a bit of cinnamon. Just being straight, it was not good. Barely finished it. All the “snacks” and lunch were delicious, and so was dinner. It’s strange because I felt so full towards the end of each meal, but not stuffed, and was STARVING about 5 mins before the next. Felt so much energy, and hit a wall about 7:30p, but purposely stayed up til 9p (daylight savings next day). Bodies are definitely needing some adjustment to the change. Ran this morning and felt really great.
I want to make known that Ryan cheated 5 times on day 1. I told him I was publicizing this, so don’t worry, I’m not outing him without his knowledge of it. He already gave in to honey, peanut butter, and several other things. I do have an advantage though, as I gave up processed sweets on Mar 1, so I went into this diet not even craving sweets, whereas he’s trying to cut out all of these things at once.

Day 2: Despite it being daylight savings time and losing an hour, woke up with so much energy. If you know me, you know I am absolutely not a morning person. In fact, it’s better for the whole world if the only person I speak to the first hour I’m awake is God. However, I woke up feeling very awake, ready to down a bottle of water, and was even joking around with Ryan (he picked up on this change from me right away). We both feel a million times better in general already, and our meals have been totally satisfying and enough (Ryan has been eating more than me, obviously, because he weighs a bit more than I do). I still crave fruit like crazy, but other than that, this almost seems like something we could do forever! Didn’t crash like the night before.
Ps. We had some good protein in our oatmeal this morning, which made that meal one of my favorites of the day. Soooo much better.
Feeling surprised that the water consumption hasn’t been hard at all to keep up with. I usually have a hard time drinking anything fast (or a lot of it), so that has been a pleasant surprise.

Day 3: Didn’t sleep very well through the night, mostly because I had to pee so much (sorry if that’s tmi). I doubled my water intake, so no joke, I’m going to the bathroom like every 45 mins. I slept very lightly, which isn’t normal for me, and woke up with a stuffy nose and feeling drowsy (somehow managed to throw coffee grinds on myself while making my morning cup o’ joe). The weather changes have also been really crazy, being 75 degrees one day and 45 the next, so that might have something to do with it, too. Oh, and daylight savings on Sunday. Why do we do that to ourselves?
The meals are still really good, and I’m getting used to eating 5 times a day. It’s really great to not have to think about what I’m going to eat when I’m getting hungry. Eliminates bad eating decisions. :)

Day 4: Pretty opposite of yesterday, woke up with soooo much energy! I slept all through the night, and even though I felt like my bladder was going to explode when I did wake up, I was glad to sleep soundly and get some solid rest. My energy has been through the roof today, and pushed myself in an afternoon class before I taught bootcamp. I almost felt like I downed 5 cups of coffee, except that energy lasted the entire day, and I never crashed. Was in a strangely great and optimistic mood (I’m generally a natural skeptic, and have to remind myself to not see all things through a critical eye). Wishing every day could feel like this one!

Day 5: Felt really clear headed and able to think straight. Ready to tackle the day. I again had a ton of energy, which lasted throughout the entire day. Tonight was our first real test of resisting temptation. We had a grow group gathering (church) and for dessert they had marshmallows dipped in chocolate and rolled in graham crackers. And hot cocoa. And it smelled amazing. BUT, we ate before we got there and neither of us gave in. We sat and drank our water. :) If you know how much I love chocolate you know how big of a victory that was.

Day 6: Felt like today was one big meeting. I started out my day with a meeting, then went directly into another when I got back to the office that lasted til long after lunch time. I’m an introvert, so talking that much and discussing plans and strategies for that long wears this girl out. Was great throughout the day but kinda felt like a zombie when I came home. I think that was also because we’ve got a pretty full weekend ahead of us, and knowing there’s much to be done in preparation for it makes both Ryan and me tired, haha. We got to watch Ryan’s cousin in her middle school play this evening (see photo below!), and then came home and cleaned to get ready for my sis and bro-in-law to visit (coming in tomorrow!). We have my awesome artist friend’s art show tomorrow evening (that you should totally attend – check out her website too!), and more weekend fun to come! I’m excited to share all of it with you next week!
None of that had anything to do with the clean eating, but I wanted to share with you what’s happening in my life. :) As far as how I felt, I had great, high energy most of the day but then wanted to take a nap when I got home. I’m thinking that had more to do with feeling spent from meetings than the food though, as I gained a ton of energy after eating dinner.

Kallie is far left

Positives: Call me crazy, but I feel like my skin is getting softer. Even just applying my usual facial lotion in the morning feels different. Not complaining about that. Already noticing a change in my torso, too. I took a before pic and am taking a pic each week, and I’m pumped to see the progress. It’s definitely been an adventure already!
Negatives: The downside we’re discovering is that our diet and eating schedule are somewhat restricting. We have to eat at certain times, which is difficult for a busy day in many places. We also have a strict diet, which really limits meetings that usually happen over meals. Another reason why it’s good we’re only being this strict for 3 weeks.

Overall, it has been a great experience so far. Feeling like it’s definitely worth it, and looking forward to week 2!

If you are curious and want to take a look at my menu, I’m keeping a google docs folder of all my recipes and meal plans (mostly because I have a bad memory and need to remember what spices I use in the meals that taste good……. also, I’m a weirdo when it comes to organization and feel a need to keep everything in my life orderly). Let me know if you want the link!

That’s all for now! Stay tuned for an update from week #2 next weekend!