Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Can it get any cleaner?

My theory about why I was in such pain yesterday has to do with what I've been eating lately. Although I have been true to the Whole Life Challenge and have been exercising daily, I've eaten out more than usual (because first my dad was visiting then my in-laws were here). Normally, I only eat out on Fridays (breakfast: an egg white omelet with mushrooms & dinner: a chicken avocado salad) - still all WLC compliant. Even all the meals that I've eaten out have been WLC-friendly. I looked at menus beforehand and chose restaurants that would cater to my dietary needs.

Despite making the effort, I've eaten more than I usually do and I think that the foods were just a bit more salty and oily than I'm used to. I think eating this way for about 3 weeks has had a cumulative negative effect on my body.

I don't know if this really is the reason behind the sudden increase in pain; however, it's the only real difference in my routine that I can think of.

I told D last night that I need to clean up my eating even more once his parents left (they left this morning). His reaction - how can you eat any cleaner?

You'd think that by following the parameters set by the Whole Life Challenge that I would be doing just fine. However, it's not that easy. Constant vigilance is still needed even when eating clean. There are two main things that I want to clean up:

First of all, portion sizes do matter. Although I did stop calorie counting once I changed my eating habits, I know that it is still possible to eat too much. For example, extra virgin olive oil may be a good form of healthy fat; however, putting 3-4 tablespoons, when really just 2 tsp. will suffice, does have an impact on health. Raw nuts may be good for you, but that doesn't mean you can eat however much you want (without consequences!)

Second, I need to eat more greens and raw vegetables. Most of my food is cooked instead of steamed or raw. Although I eat a lot of vegetables, there's still not much green on my plate. This is something I want to change.

I'm hoping that with these two dietary changes in place, along with continuing to drink 3-4 L of water a day and get a proper amount of sleep, things will start to improve.

In the meantime, the research for some sort of cure/solution to my pain has begun ...


2 comments:

  1. It's wonderful that you managed maintaining WLC even while eating out. I have spinach every morning with my eggs, I think every meal of mine includes greens :) I love to make my plate colorful though I miss out on water very often, I realised that when I started running...

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  2. I eat a lot of vegetables too. I have a salad most days and today it was romaine topped with tomato, red onion, cucumber, and tuna. Very delicious.

    For some reason, the vegetables and fruits right now are not as nice as usual. I went to Sprouts on Tuesday and left with only an eggplant, a few tomatoes and an apple. My list was lengthy but I'll have to shop somewhere else to find what I need. :(

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