Update about My Second Time on the Clean Program

I’ve been trying to do the Clean Program over the last few weeks. It was going pretty well until I bought the boys a box of Oreo cookies at Costco (ugh…a never ending supply of totally processed deliciousness) last week. I keep sneaking one cookie, and then gulping down four more immediately after. (This is why we never have treats in the house.)

Keep reading for my Clean Program update.

My Clean Program Update

January 29, 2018

It looks like I’ve been following the Clean Program since January 2, which is four weeks now. Crazy!

I have to say, my heart just isn’t into it. My heart is on playing the banjo, film photography, reading books, running a business…

I feel like what I am really doing is attempting to eat a paleo diet, work-out, take more vitamins, and drink less alcohol.  Which is all good, helpful stuff! My Clean Program update:

• I miss my farm share while doing this. Not wasting those veggies was an additional motivation for me to do the Clean Program during spring/summer/fall months.
• Because I already did an elimination diet last spring, I am far less interested in eating as strictly as I did the first time around. So I’ve been eating eggs and the occasional (grim since its winter) tomato and the occasional banana.
• I cannot give up coffee in the winter. I just don’t want to. I am too cold, and hot tea doesn’t sound appealing.
• Right after I gave up coffee last summer, a lot of noise was made about how coffee may prolong your life, so I am even less interested in giving it up now.
• Finally, I had a lot of gluten-free bread in the house, and I’ve been munching on that. Same goes for Vegenaise, which I absolutely love for some reason. Who needs cheese when you can eat avocados and Vegenaise?! And corn tortilla chips. Perfect snack! (Last time I had way less processed food.)
• I haven’t done much cooking in terms of DIY substitutes…I haven’t made my favorite clean food dessert (if I had it in the house, the Oreos wouldn’t be a problem)…I haven’t made cashew-cheese and all those sorts of things that helped me better follow the Clean Program.

Even with those setbacks, I have been eating slurping more smoothies than I was in November and December. I try to eat one raw/mostly raw/liquid meal a day. I’ve been eating more protein. I’ve been trying to snack on fruit instead of corn tortilla chips. I try to save alcohol for the weekends. I’ve been exercising almost everyday. (Mostly to this, my favorite/fastest/easiest/best results work-out.)

So, I would say this attempt of the Clean Program is more of a way for me to get back on track to a healthier lifestyle after a couple months of craziness. I will continue to eat this way until I have another big lapse. And I will take the occasional, fairly guilt-free break to enjoy a date night with my husband. I am a sucker for chocolate cake desserts!

Current Results

Because I’ve been a bit more lax about it all, I haven’t noticed any profound results. May weight has stayed about the same. I don’t feel like I have a ton more energy (but I stay up til 11 or 1 most nights and wake up at 6:30, so I’m sleep-deprived). I’ve been happy with my choice to continue drinking coffee.

EXCEPT, my skin has been clearer and no deep, painful pimples. So there’s that. It seems that coffee isn’t contributing to skin issues, and that they are from the dairy/gluten/or a combo of both. (This supports this older blog post I wrote a couple months ago.)

If you’ve down the Clean Program in the winter, do you have any motivational tips for success?