21 Day Clean Eating Challenge

During my fitness journey I have made huge progress in changing the way that I eat, the types of foods that I buy and how I eat. I no longer eat out of boredom (I press play on a workout, read or tweet for that) and I no longer crave sugar like I used to. However there is still room for improvement so 2 days ago I joined a fellow tweep (Maria365) in her 21 Day Clean Eating Challenge.

Here are the details:

Press play at least 5 or 6 days per week; eat clean daily; one cheat meal per week (not a cheat day); just one cheat meal per week; No alcohol; Report daily; take your measurements.

Definition of clean eating: 4 to 6 small meals per day, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. Eat every 2-3 hours. Follow a balanced diet 40% carbs, 40% protein and 30% fat.

To access Michi's Ladder here visit my facebook fan page HERE.

**** ADDENDUM: Shakeology, Protein powder (your choice) supplements, coffee, natural almond/peanut butter, and almond milk are ALLOWED. *******

I am also adding the Shakeology Summer Shakedown to this which involves replacing one meal per day with a Shakeology shake. (To purchase Shakeology or find out more about it contact me - yes, it's a shameless plug...sorry!)

Now I will tell you right off the bat that the no alcohol aspect of this will most likely not happen. My birthday falls during this 21 day challenge and after a long week or working 2 jobs and working out I enjoy a beer or two with a friend if I happen to go out. I guess I could consider that my "cheat" for the week though.

My plan is to do what we should be doing anyway...eat  foods with as few ingredients as possible. I'm tired of over processed foods that claim to be healthy for us but when you look at the ingredients you are faced with words you can't pronounce and all kinds of additives you don't need.

To prepare myself I went to the library and picked up a book on Paleo eating for athletes that has some recipes in it as well as an Organic food guide. I also have a great book that my buddy AJ loaned me called The Body Fat Solution by Tom Venuto that I plan on looking through again. There is also a movie called Food Inc. that I have heard a lot about and plan on checking out.

Wish me luck! I will try my best to either blog about my progress or I will have Facebook/Twitter  updates.