Eating Clean... again

So, I haven't been paying much attention to nutrition lately (see last post), which makes me feel awful since I am pregnant and all. But the past few days I have been re-reading The Eat Clean Diet and looking through the Eat Clean Cookbook. Its good stuff, folks. I really miss eating that way.

The books motivate you to eat as healthy as you can, even if you're not eating "clean" all the time. Just looking through the cookbook is motivating. Everything is so fresh and natural.

I'm not gonna lie, it is hard work because it is so different from the way that most of us eat (lots of fat, sugar, and processed foods). But its worth the effort, even if you can't give it 100%.

I'm going to start trying more of the recipes and I will post the best ones here as I go. Good luck to you all in your efforts to be healthy.

There are thousands of clean recipes out there, but these are just a few from oxygenmag.com, which is a magazine based on the Eat Clean Diet.

Oatmeal Protein Pancakes

Citrus-ginger Salad

Berry Yogury Parfait

Walnut-crusted Salmon

Packed Pasta

Eating in the first trimester

The first trimester of pregnancy is crazy. I feel like a completely different person. I'm having extreme food aversions and then some cravings as well. It is a lot worse this time around than it was with Paige or with my second pregnancy.

When I'm deciding what to eat, I don't think, "what would be healthy?" Or "what sounds good?" Its no longer a battle between wanting to eat crappy foods and knowing I should eat healthy foods.

I now think, "what would taste OK if it came back up?" Or "what could I eat that doesn't make me want to gag just thinking about it?"

So basically, I'm in survival mode here. I just eat things that don't sound disgusting. Yesterday it was Minestrone soup. Today its watermelon and Macaroni & Cheese.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Change of plans

Well, I never reached my goal weight. Bummer. And now that I'm pregnant I obviously wont be triying to lose weight. So now my goal will just be to eat as healthy as I can and exercise more so that I can have a healthy pregnancy and not gain more weight than I should.

I am thrilled about this pregnancy, so I'm going to try not to be discouraged about the extra 5-10 lbs I'm starting out with. I think I will post my belly pics on here and maybe this can be my pregnancy journal. Wish me luck for a healthy pregnancy!!

Update

Its amazing how your body can get used to pretty much anything. I have been eating about 1200 calories a day for 10 days now. I usually eat more like 2000 (or more). At first it was hard and I felt hungry all the time, but now I feel great and I get full really fast. I havent weighed myself in a while, but my clothes are definitely getting looser. Yay!

FYI

I'm going to post my "before" pics at the end of the two weeks, along with my "after" pics. I took the pictures, but I feel weird posting them now. But I definitely will post them in 2 weeks.

Let's get serious

Ok folks, I have a deadline. In a little over 2 weeks Nate's family is all getting together to go boating and such. The thought of wearing a swimsuit in front of everyone right now is scary. Ok, terrifying. And I don't want to hide in baggy clothes either.

I am determined to lose about 5 lbs in the next couple weeks. I'm not going to do anything ridiculous. But I am going to workout a lot more and I will cut my calories down to 1,200 - 1,300 each day.

As extra motivation I will be posting pictures. I am about to take a "before" photo in my swimsuit. On Monday June 29th I will take the "after" photo. Things are about to get awkward around here.

Counting calories and Kashi

This dry erase board is what I use to count calories. Its great for accountability because anyone who walks in the house can see exactly what I've eaten that day. Like anyone really cares... but I just feel so proud when there are only healthy foods on my board for the day.

I am a big fan of Kashi Cereals. Sure, I'd rather eat the more sugary cereals because they taste better, but they are also worthless. They don't have as much nutritional value and you're hungry 10 minutes after you eat them. Kashi's "Go Lean" is really great because it has 13 grams of protein in one serving! Most cereals have almost ZERO protein. Eating Clean is about eating protein and complex carbs at every meal, so this cereal works out great. I also throw some frozen berries on top to make it better. Walmart just had Kashi cereals half off last week and I went a little crazy. Let's just say I could feed a small army.