I did it.

I made it! Sunday was my first "normal" day after a full 4 weeks of the clean program. At first, I thought it was the hardest thing I have ever done. I was buying groceries that I had never heard of. I forced myself to practice discipline when it was the last thing I wanted to do. There was one day when I had a box of Chocolate Chex cereal in hand and I was so close to pouring myself a big bowl, but I didn't and it was worth it! I promise, if you have considered doing a detox like this it gets easier! I have still been mostly eating the foods I have eaten for the past month including clean smoothies for breakfast and eating healthy meals for lunch and dinner. I'll admit though, its really great to have a little more freedom with meals while continuing to eat foods that are minimally processed.
Here are some of the benefits I've noticed since I started.
- I feel lighter and my clothes fit better
- I have plenty of energy
- Hunger comes on slowly and I haven't felt the: OMG if I don't eat something right now I might pass out thing. In other words, I can tell my blood sugars are stable. :)
-  I usually have allergies thing time of year... no sign of them so far!
- I like different foods that are much healthier and am more aware of food labels and what to avoid.
So that's that! Ask me if you have any questions about clean eating or the program! I've become a big fan and am happy to help with recipes and ideas!

I also wanted to mention - my family and I took a mini day trip to the Milwaukee zoo/Trader Joe's on Sunday. Unfortunately for the Fox Valley, the nearest Trader Joe's is like an hour and a half away. Ugh.
Anyway, I could have spent the whole day there. Sad, I know.
But here are some of the foods I got!

Pasta Ingredients: Organic brown rice and water; so gluten free!

For smoothies!

I tried this last night. It's delicious and I believe it would have been ok during the cleanse too.

Ingredients: Stone ground whole wheat flour, safflower oil, honey, baking powder, yeast, and sea salt.

I put this in a smoothie yesterday and today instead of my almond butter. Ingredients: Dry roasted peanuts and salt.