Clean eating....I don't even know what that is!

Over Valentines weekend my brother and his wife and baby stayed with us which I was so excited about because I love visiting with family. My sis-in-law lives in Utah so I don't know her really well. I know she's sweet, a great mom, and healthy. Healthy in that she doesn't eat processed foods. No white flour, no sugar. WHAT?

So in order for her to feel more comfortable, I threw out the molding veggies in my fridge and picked up new fruits and veggies and some wheat bread and wheat pasta. That's all I knew to do.
I couldn't even comprehend how to live that way! We went to fast food pretty much every day. And me....sometimes twice a day. So I decided to browse the internet to see what things to fix for dinner.

What I read shocked me ----> having a lean physique is 80% what you eat, 10% fitness and 10% genetics.

Whether it was absolutely true or bloated statistics to tout a diet plan, I figured there had to be something to it. And that something meant that no matter how much I work out, if my diet is mainly consisting of chocolate chip cookies and diet coke (not kidding I'd have that for breakfast and lunch if I could) then I would NEVER reach my weight loss/fitness goals.

When I saw my sweet sis-in-law I believed the numbers. That girl is stick skinny...and not in an unhealthy way...she ran like no-one I've seen....I was trying to keep up with her on my bike (my no gear, pedal backwards for the break bike that I recently replaced - more on that later :)

So since she's been gone. I haven't had even one diet coke. I'm drinking only water. I've replaced all breads with whole-wheat breads. I've gone through the giant Costco sized containers for grapes and strawberries and broccoli etc. My fruits and veggies haven't gone bad before I had to buy more! I've cut out sugar. No cookies! I switched to Adam's Peanut butter and I've packed healthy lunches for my kids everyday this month.

I'm trying to learn the basics of eating clean. It's a big change for me because I've never liked cooking. Now I cook almost every meal. We've gone from going out almost every day to going out almost once a week. I still haven't cooked with whole grains. It literally scares me to see a picture of a wheat berry (which I didn't know what that was until about a week ago).

It's been a little over a month, and the weight loss seems a little slow. I can't watch The Biggest Loser because my 1.5 pounds a week feels like nothing in comparison. But I FEEL a lot better. A LOT BETTER! The first 3 weeks without caffeine....whoa. I would fall asleep anywhere, anytime. But now I feel great from morning to bedtime. My running has also improved. I've gone from dying if I ran for 10 minutes to being able to keep a fairly steady pace for 35 minutes.

I tell myself I get a cheat day, on Saturdays. This helps me deal with the cravings. Sometimes I take it, sometimes I make it one cheat meal. Maybe I'll have to stop this if I want the weight loss to go quicker....but for now I'm afraid if I do, I'll give in to weekday cravings. I also recently read that it can take 3 months for your body to realize you're eating clean and then the weight will come off. I must admit I haven't been calorie counting or WW Point counting. When I do that I start to feel like if it's only about calories then why can't I have the same amount in a cookie then in a banana.

Well, if you've read through this long post- thank you. And I'd love to know of any blogs or websites you refer to for healthy eating.