- No meat
- No dairy
- No sugar
- No snacking except for fruit
- Drinking only water (ie no soda, juice, lemonade), just lots and lots of water
- Low-sodium
- Whole wheat only carbs (limited amounts)
Some of my favorite meals included:
- Grilled onion&green bell pepper spinach salad with salsa
- Strawberry and walnut spinach salad
- Avocado and mango spinach salad
- Whole wheat pasta with zucchini, squash, spinach, and tomatoes sauteed in olive oil
- Whole wheat hummus wrap with cucumber, spinach, grape tomatoes, and black beans
- Three bean soup
Top 7 things I learned:
- I love grapefruit! Half a grapefruit a day easily replaced my morning glass of orange juice. Added bonus: grapefruit is full of antioxidants and helps prevent cancer. Looks like this pink fruit is here to stay!
- Losing weight is 70% diet and only 30% exercise. While exercise is important, I never realized how much changing the way you eat can effect your weight. I lost 7lb over the course of these two weeks - and that may or may not have included a cheat milk shake here and there ;) If I had stuck 100% to the plan I bet I would have lost more weight.
- New go to breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled with salsa, 1/2 a grapefruit, and a piece of whole wheat bread with a thin layer of peanut butter. I was amazed that I could eat this much for breakfast and still shed pounds. Not once did I start my day off hungry.
- Fruit can, in fact, replace eating sweets. Before this eating plan, I never would have believed that a bowl of strawberries, blueberries, and bananas could ever be as enjoyable as a chocolate chip cookie. Surprise - it is just as enjoyable if not more!
- Cleaning eating = more energy to chase little ones around the house.
- I am a salt girl. By far one of the hardest parts of this eating plan was not going for the salt container while preparing every meal. Salt is good. It adds that extra flavor that meals need. Will I be giving up salt completely from now on? No way. But I did learn to tone it down a bit.
- Salads can taste yummy and be a stand alone meal.
Future plans:
- After two weeks of this plan I was shocked at how easy it was to fall back into my old eating habits. Certainly I would have learned something over the course of 14 days, right?? But alas, change is a slow process.
- I'd love to continue eating this way until I reach my ideal weight, and then slowly begin adding some old favorites (like double chocolate cake) back into the weekly mix.
- Ideally, I'd like to make clean eating (for the most part) a more permanent habit. While it's not bad to have a burger, milk shake, or Oreo cookie here and there... I think the basic principles (like avoiding sugar, only eating whole wheat carbs, snacking on fruit alone, and not drinking anything besides water) are great & super healthy.
Important notes:
- "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30 While being a healthy weight isn't bad by any means, it will never complete you nor I. It will never satisfy. It will never make you feel whole. Eat healthy to praise the Lord and to thank Him for the body He has given you!! Don't get too caught up in numbers and self display.
- Change is hard, but praise the Lord that there is a God who can change us. On the days when I feel lost in my sin, unable to change my broken heart I only have to cry out to Him and say "Christ, I can't do this at all. I keep trying and I keep failing. Change me. Change my heart." And you know what sister? He can and He does! The Lord who began a good work in you (and me) will be faithful to complete it to the end. How awesome is it that we serve a Lord who can change us and bless us with new desires and a new heart. No one else that I know can do that. Ask Him and praise Him!
