Eating Nonprocessed Food... with a few exceptions...

I started working at Get Fit Family Fitness in August of 2009 and that is when I really started to care about my body/body image. I used to just eat whatever the heck I wanted to... In December, Amanda and I decided that come January, we were going to get healthy. We both had to create a vision of what/where we wanted to see ourselves in our 'new' bodies. Amanda selected a Victoria's Secret bikini and the beach, and she hung the suit up in her room. I decided I didn't want to look good just in one time and place, but all the time and in all places.

We thought we were eating healthy, but then we got a personal trainer, Beth, (yes, like they have on tv... how awesome is that??) and Beth informed us that we ate like sh*t. Our nutrition was all backwards and.... just wrong. Since then, Amanda kinda fell off the wagon and no longer goes to Beth, and I'm not so sure she eats healthy, either...

I switched the kind of milk I drank (from 2% to skim), the bread I ate (white to whole wheat to Ezekial (Bible) bread), my drinking habits (no juice, no soda, no alcohol... at all), cereal (no more Frosted Flakes for me!!! Special K!) my peanut butter (regular Jiffy of Skippy or Peter Pan to Reduced Fat then tried Naturally More (YUCK!) then Amish peanut butter (not too awful) before finally settling on Smuckers Natural (nothing but peanuts), and the jelly I used on pb & j sandwiches (home made to store bought to reduced sugar grape then deciding on reduced sugar or sugar free strawberry spread). I also began to eat veggies... something I had never really liked before... I learned to eat carrots and broccoli, which is a huge accomplishedment for me. I even gave celery a shot, which I still find bloody disgusting!!!!! Marshmallow Creme was omitted from my diet and so were things like chips and macaroni and baked mastaciolli from Joe's : (

With these changes, I saw small changes in my body and my ability to exercise... my Spinning classes seemed to be harder on my brave students, yet easier on me, and my workouts with Beth were getting better and I felt better just in general, then I decided to take it one step further.

Wednesday my friend Lisa and I started a new diet, or excuse me, a 'new way of eating'. For 30 days we are not allowed to eat processed food.... but we each have a 3 exceptions we got to choose... Lisa's are Protein shakes, cottage cheese, and Bible bread. I chose to splurge and use protein shakes, peanut butter, and milk as my exceptions. Other than those few items, we cannot eat anything processed, from a package, injected with hormones, from a jar, can, jug, or with salt or preservatives in it... not even bread unless we go to the field and pick the wheat ourselves. Yeah... ouch.

I didn't realise how much crap I ate until now. I went to Subway the other day and realised I couldn't eat anything there... at all. Except bottled water, and who goes to a restaurant to eat bottled water? I almost picked up a 2pack of crackers before stopping myself. I cannot have cereal either, which I usually had in the morning. I can have eggs... if I get them from my Aunt Margie's chickens! This is a challenge!!! Yesterday I worked out literally from dawn til bedtime. I had my personal training session with Beth, went on 3 or 4 bike rides, a short run, and taught TWO Spinning classes in a ROW!!! Talk about intense. I burned enough calories that I could've eaten whatever I wanted, in this case: pizza crust and a gooey pb & j sandwhich! I deserved it right?!?! I worked my ass off right!?!??! No. Nope. No pizza for me, and no pb & j. They are processed. I settled for a baked potato with pepper on it. It was kind of bland, but I chased it with peanut butter and it turned out to be okay.

1.5 days down, 28 1/2 to go!!!!