I passed (and survived) the first week of my clean eating challenge! And honestly, it really wasn't that hard.
The biggest difference I noticed at the end of this week was how much lighter and less bloated I felt. I don't feel heavy or weighed down like I usually do during my typical binge eating week. I've also cured my heartburn/reflux/throat irritation issues in just one week of more mindful eating. I'm not eating large heavy calorie-dense meals right before bed which certainly helps! I've also set a hard cut-off of 7pm for dinner. That way, I have 2-3 hours of digesting before hitting the hay. I do feel slightly empty/hungry before bedtime which is an unusual and slightly uncomfortable feeling, but infinitely better than feeling bloated and over-stuffed.
Now - next to getting takeout, eating in bed is my biggest vice. It's a nasty habit. To help combat that, I've started eating a serving of popcorn around 9pm to fill up my stomach just a little bit without overloading it. I get the Skinny Pop Salt & Black Pepper popcorn that just has some olive oil and seasonings - no butter or cheese. I don't eat it in bed - I usually pour 1-1.5 servings of the popcorn in that bowl and eat it while I'm finishing up computer work or writing in my planner. If I'm still feeling the munchies, I'll have 3 dark chocolate Hershey kisses and then it's off to bed! This has definitely been a very helpful way for me to prevent those night-time munchies and binge urges that have ruined my life over the last 10 years.
It also helps that I've been healthier versions of food I actually like, keeping some clean calorie-sensible snacks around in case the munchies hit, and having my weekend"cheat" meals to look forward to. And honestly, the "cheat meals" weren't even that unhealthy or diet wreckers. As you see above, I had some stir-fry whole wheat noodles with red curry sauce from Honeygrow on Friday and then I had a frozen cauliflower crust cheese pizza from Whole Foods on Sunday. Not too bad at all!
As far as getting urges to binge, I really don't think I got many urges. Weeks 2-3 are usually when the binge urges start to peak, so that will be next week's struggle. But so far so good. I did have a pretty stressful week, but I'm happy to say that I did not give in and stress eat at all this week which is SUCH a big milestone for me! For example, Wednesday was a very busy day for me. I saw 18 patients and a lot of them were back to back with no break in between. I barely got to eat and then my contact ripped in my eye so I was dealing with that discomfort the whole day and didn't feel like eating at all due to the discomfort and anxiety. I only ate 1200 calories for the whole day. Old Nikita would've used that as an excuse to go to the McDonalds or Wendy's drive-thru and get chicken nuggets, a double cheeseburger, large fries, and a large coke. But new Nikita did such a good job ignoring that temptation. Instead, I came back home and i enjoyed a nice bowl of Skinny Pop popcorn and some dark chocolate Hershey kisses. So proud of myself!
As far as other benefits, I also feel like by the end of the week my skin was looking more clear. I do tend to get hormonal acne and it's not that time of the month for me so this may be a contributing factor as well. I also felt like despite my stressful week, I was overall more happy and upbeat, and slightly less tired than I usually am.
Roughly, this was my macro breakdown this week:
Total calories 1368, carbs 129g, protein 83g, fat 59g with 15g saturated fat, 2000mg sodium
TLDR: Week 1 = success :)
Comments
Post a Comment