I just finished The 30 Clean™!

For the month of June, I did a clean eating challenge!

I needed some type of goal to work on. As you might already know, I go to The Dailey Method barre classes 3-4 times a week and doing The 30 Clean™ was an option for part of the June challenge. I know there are many eating philosophies out there and I wanted something I could try out and commit to. If you would have told me that I could go a month without bread, cheese, or sugar I would not have believed you. I would have responded that I could NEVER do that or WHY?!

What I really like about it is the group support and participation aspect. There is a private Facebook board for the whole month and challengers are encouraged to share photos of their meals, ask questions about why we are or aren’t eating certain things, and give and receive feedback. This works for me, as I LOVE sharing pictures of my food (among other aspects of my life). It also adds the element of accountability.

Besides learning to eat healthier, I wanted to get into the habit of cooking at home and taking my lunch to work – something I haven’t been able to do in life! Andy & I work full time, we don’t have kids, and we live in a very urban area, so our meals are usually on the fly and from a restaurant. I really wanted to change that and this helped me get into a new routine and really stick to something. 

What I learned:

• I can commit to something for 30 days, and that’s a good amount of time to learn good habits.
• I really do feel a lot better, with more energy, and sleeping soundly most nights.
• About 4-5 days in, I felt the “cleanover” – it kind of felt like I was hungover, but I was not because I also cut out alcohol for the first week (then had it in moderation the rest of the month). The cleanover/flutox only lasted about a day or two.
• I do not feel hungry or deprived – I know it sounds cliché, but it is not a diet. It really changed the way I think about consuming food.
• It was a lot of prepping, cooking for a few meals, and using leftovers. We went to Little Italy Mercato Farmers’ Market every Saturday (once the one in Temecula when we were visiting family for the weekend). I am also lucky to have a little Italian market on the way home with fresh meats and local veggies. 
• I did get very tired of doing so many freaking dishes, but I really got the process down during the month.
• I adopted the Rachael Ray “trash bowl” tip. 
• I do love vegetables, and I am not a “sweets” person, so that worked for me. However, zucchini is (possibly “was”) one of my favorite foods. I was bummed one day when I realized that I had eaten it so much that it sounded unappealing.
• It’s similar to Paleo - it's important to get the lean & clean protein in, but with more of a focus on the veggies. (See hilarious POPSUGAR article: I Went Paleo and Now I Hate Everything
• I don’t miss things like I thought I would. I used to put cheese on a lot of things just because I thought it would make it taste better. I am sure that is still the case with a few things, but I didn’t really even think about cheese.
• I do miss bread at times. I think that will be something I reintroduce in moderation, as well as some quinoa or rice.

I love pasta, but my favorite part of pasta dishes is the sauce. Halfway through the month, Andy surprised me with a Veggetti Pro, and I have been having fun making meals with it. This pic won an instagram (@pilarbower) contest! I need to figure out how to post the rest of my meals. :)

 

 Here are another few of my veggie noodle faves (these were also a huge accomplishment because after 20 years, Andy LOVED a meal that I cooked)! As you can see, I also got into different colored cauliflower. And using the PhotoGrid app.