It's called eating clean- it's not a diet to start and stop doing just to lose weight. It's a lifestyle change to continue for the rest of your life. It's been hard, but definitely worth it. I have seen and felt lots of changes- not only in losing weight, but in having more energy, feeling better overall and improving my health all around. Clean eating in a nutshell is eating only natural things- no processing, no additives, no hormones. Every week I learn something new about a food that I used to eat and how it has been part of the cause in my weight gain. Most people would disagree because I have been lucky enough to carry my weight well, but in all measurements considered by my trainer and doctor I was barely inside the lines of obesity. Learning that made me wake up to the problem that I have been avoiding for years. I gained this weight during my first year of marriage- 7 years ago! And since I have been eating clean I am currently at a weight I haven't seen since that first year of marriage. I am a little out of my healthy weight range- a goal I plan on accomplishing by the new year!
Anyway, I had made the goal that this Thanksgiving would be COMPLETELY clean for me. I usually have days where I am at least mostly clean, but it was important to me to have a day as special as this- and a day that is focused on food- devoted to my new lifestyle. It was easier than I thought- here's what we ate:
Natural Turkey Breast- no dark meat, no skin, low fat, no added hormones- this was probably the JUICIEST turkey I've ever had!
Whole Wheat Bread Stuffing- I've never made my own stuffing so this was an adventure. This recipe was a bit of a risk for me because one of the ingredients was dried apricots. I was worried about how much that would change the taste, but it was fantastic! It definitely wasn't your "normal" stuffing, but I liked this sweet version even more I think.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes- this recipe was a bit bland and we ended up making clean mashed russet potatoes for dinner later.
Clean Vegetable Gravy- unfortunately, this recipe was a disaster. Something I've learned about eating clean is that some things are harder to find a cleaner version of. Gravy happens to be one of those things. I have a decent clean gravy recipe, but I wanted to try something new and we regretted it- the seasonings in this gravy were horrible! But, at least we had some clean gravy for our Thanksgiving meal- next year it'll be better.
Depending on the brand/ingredients, pickles are clean! So we had a "relish tray" with sweet & dill pickles. In the back is Ian's canned jellied cranberry sauce. I wanted to make a clean cranberry sauce, but Ian really wanted his nostalgic version. So I kept it for him and didn't eat any myself.
Whole Wheat Rolls- mmmm. These were excellent leftover used for mini sandwiches!
Serra had a mini Martinelli's, Ian had Egg Nog and Ian and I shared a peach flavored Martinelli- which surprisingly has no artificial ingredients!
And, finally, what is Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? But THIS pie is completely clean! I made a whole wheat pie crust- and a natural pumpkin pie filling. Ian said it was a little different in texture, but as far as taste it must have been good because 1 1/2 of my 2 pies is already gone!
And I had to include a cute picture of my little rugrat. Alex is sitting up- kind of, sometimes. THIS is why I'm learning about proper nutrition. THIS is why I'm losing any excess weight that I possibly can. THIS is why I want to be healthy- my kids are my life! I love Serra & Alex more than I could have ever imagined- and I want to be the best that I can be. Because the best "me" is the least of what my kids deserve.
