Today marked day #1 of John and I's 21 Day Sugar Detox journey (see details here: http://the21daysugardetox.com/). This is going to be a LONG 21 days but, I am ready! I'm ready to kick off 2014 with a bang and set the tone for the whole year.
A little background:
My husband (John) have done a pretty decent job of eating healthy in the past. We would workout for an hour most days of the week and have a healthy, home cooked meal afterwards. Our evening meals mainly consisted of chicken/fish with a grilled vegetable, salad, or brown rice. Breakfasts were mainly oatmeal, cereal, or an occasional scrambled egg/egg white with whole wheat toast. Lunches have been anything from left overs, an occasional frozen meal when in a pinch, salad, or something of the sandwich variety. All in all we did not eat out much or have fried/fatty foods. With time, we also kicked our diet soda habit.
I think we had become a little relaxed about our diets since we were both training for triathlons at one point. We needed the extra nutrients to stay fueled and energized. We would bike 20-25 miles on a Saturday then go pig out on chicken wings and beer as a reward. What I didn't seem to grasp that most food items were for "convenience" and weren't always filling (i.e.- granola bars). We also became interested in craft beers, which are not low cal.
I got the 21DSD book for Christmas. My family was quick to tell me "man, that looks hard". And, they're not wrong. It is going to be hard and as I read through the book I couldn't help but say in my head "shit, I eat this or that on a regular basis". My husband decided that we should do this as a team, as he had also confessed his unhappiness with his physique from the holidays. Phew, I was then relieved to have a detox companion.
My inital goal with this blog is to update datily while on 21DSD to remeber what I ate, how I felt, what I did for a workout, and how I have slept. I want to be able to monitor my progress and look back to see what was working if I plateau or struggle. Because, let's face it, there are going to be hard days ahead.
We started off the New Year by getting rid of the foods that are not approved on the 21DSD diet. We also made a rather expensive trip to the store. As we were shopping I paused and said to John, "we really can't eat anything (as I stared at our shopping cart of vegetables)." This is not true. There are plenty of things to eat in this detox, they are just things that we don't eat on a regular basis or don't take the time to cook. We are both so busy with working full time, working out, social events, and grad school that we sometimes don't go the extra mile to fix a balanced meal. It's always easier to just run and grab something convenient and it's always going to be easy to use the crutch phrase"I don't have time" when maybe it's just not the priority. I did some research for recipes last night before we shopped so we would have a better idea of what lies ahead. I didn't want to not be prepared then find myself in a vulnerable state craving a cheeseburger, giving in, then hating myself for being weak.
I spent 3 hours last night prepping food for lunches, snacks, etc. Everything from cleaning lettuce, boiling eggs, cooking and degreasing bacon, and baking chicken tenders for salads. I even took the time to bag everything/put everything in containers so we could just grab and go first thing in the morning. I felt good about this accomplishment!
I would say "cheers" but this is a no alcohol zone on this detox! So, here's to 21 days of taking a huge step in my/our health!!
No comments:
Post a Comment