1.10.2012

A Clean Start

A favorite photo from Scotland my sophmore year of college.
This week Keith and I are embarking on a 4-week clean-eating routine. One of my favorite things about being more intentional about what I eat is that I end up trying a lot of new foods and recipes, which I hope to share here. I also thought I'd blog about our 4-weeks for some accountability and mutual support. First, here are some things I'd like for you to know going into it.

My current relationship with food:

I have pretty much bought into the whole-food, clean eating basic idea for the past year or so. (My husband is an organic urban gardener for crying out loud). At this point, I don't feel particularly compelled to completely eliminate any entire food group from my diet permanently. In general, I think sugar, refined wheat, trans fats, processed foods, and excessive amounts of meat should be greatly limited, and I try to do that.

 I don't think healthy eating is everything, but I do think it's important. Food is not just fuel, its also something that God has given us to fellowship around, remind us of Him, and to enjoy. Having said that, I believe it glorifies him for us to be good stewards of our bodies and our family's bodies by eating, cooking, and living in a way that aims for health and balance, not JUST pleasure. It was in the context of a meal that Jesus said "do this in remembrance of me" and I believe it honors him for us to eat in a spirit of thankfulness, joy, and self-control while putting something truly good in our bodies (not in the way that I often find myself eating: out of laziness, boredom, or gluttony).

You've probably caught on to this in my years of sporadic posting and periods of blog absence, but I tend towards phases of excitement and commitment, and then swing back to apathy, rarely finishing anything I start or really making something habit. This is true in many areas of my life, and as I focus on some true discipline in the area of eating over the next few weeks, I hope to develop healthy habits in other areas as well.

What I hope to get out of this (okay fine, let's just call them goals):
  • To finish something I've started
  • To develop some healthy true habits, rather than phases (nutritionally, with exercise, and spiritually)
  • About 8 months ago I started having some major issues with my skin, and without going into a long story about all the things I've tried to treat it, I'm hoping to either rule our or conclude whether the breakouts are food related.
  • Try new vegetables and cooking methods
  • Eat a vegetable with every meal and most snacks
  • Run 3x weekly as I train for a half marathon in April
  • Stick with a Bible reading plan
The basic outline of the plan: (The framework of the plan, with some of my own modifications, is from the Arbonne FreshStart plan)
  • No wheat, gluten, rye, barley, or refined grains (brown rice, quinoa, and millet are some grains that are permissible.)
  • No dairy
  • No soy
  • No sugar (small amounts of stevia or agave nectar are okay.)
  • No coffee (gasp!) or alcohol or fruit juice (green tea is my new best friend)
  • No pork, red meat limited to 1x weekly. 
  • LOTS of vegetables
  • LOTS of low-glycemic fruits such as berries
  • MORE good fats found in fish and some nuts
  • Run right after school twice a week and once on weekends.
  • Follow the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan
What you can do for me:
  • Comment and let me know that you're out there. I think it would be fun, and added motivation, to post recipes, tips, and track my thoughts throughout the 4 weeks. Maybe I'll even make regular posting into a habit! But I know myself, and feedback really helps keep me going in the blog world. 

9 comments:

Emily Geyer said...

I'm out here and I love to read your blog :). Way to go on the goal setting- you can do it!

katie davis said...

hi. i love you. i'm rootin' for your 4-week plan=) (does that help??)

Rachael L. Anderson said...

Hey Elaine!
I love your plan! You sound very motivated, that's great!

rachaellambanderson.com

Elaine Davis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Elaine Davis said...

Thanks,y'all are great. I appreciate the encouragement!

Stephanie said...

The Klings are here for you, too! Sending encouragement and prayers your way!

lindsey lower said...

We need to chat! Branden and I are going to start the Arbonne diet very soon! I would love to swap recipes and help motivate each other!

Melissa said...

Glad you're posting again! Have you looked into Caitlin's blog roostblog.com? I'm sure you have...but she has a lot of great recipes for uberstrict diets. Super motivational!

Good luck and I hope it goes well! Eager to hear all about it.

Sarah said...

Thanks for sharing your cleansing experience, elaine! I'm excited to hear how it goes! And I don't know if you've read "Sprouted Kitchen" or "Eating is Art" but they are both blogs that might offer some extra food inspiration if you're still looking :)