You Are What You Eat, Pt.2

What happens when you eat clean for two weeks? My truth…

This is part 2 in the You Are What You Eat series. If you’d like to know what I’m doing and what this is all about check out my original post here.

It’s officially been two weeks since I started my clean eating mission, and this is what happened . . .

Let me start this off by saying that I messed up, quite a bit. I warned you, didn’t I? Was me ordering a pizza in celebration of my first blogpost an accident? Not at all, but for the sake of this post, I’m going to include it as one of my many bumps in the road these past couple weeks. Below is a digital copy of what I recorded in my journal during this, for lack of a better word, experiment. Bon appetit!

WEEK 1

DAY 1

I meal prepped. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d say in my life. I packed salmon and rice lunches. Go me!

DAY 2

Slowly learning the in’s and outs of how to not get tired of eating salads every day; apparently, vegetables mixed into a salad can actually be enjoyable? Stay tuned.

DAY 3

I’m starting to recognize how often I used to consume sugar — WAY TOO OFTEN. I find myself reaching for random foods that contain sugar and having to stop myself. This is hard.

DAY 4

I’m trying to push myself to exercise more and walk more than I normally would. Running has felt amazing, eating healthy gives me this energy to want to keep going. Is this what it feels like to be a vegan Instagrammer?

DAY 5

Cookie cake. Whoever brought that cookie cake and left it in the work kitchen was testing me, and I gave in after about two minutes of internally fighting with myself. Major slip-up today, but moving past it. Only carrots in my future.

DAY 6

Today was average. I didn’t have time to run so I feel a little off… besides that, I ate really well and tried to consume a lot of water. Boring stuff.

DAY 7

I did happen to order myself a pizza, which is quite embarrassing, because I had the whole time while ordering it to back out and never did, but also I’m human and sometimes pizza is a necessity.

WEEK 2

DAY 1

Back in it. Pizza slip-up is forgiven. I’m still running every day and I’m not sick of eating salmon, salads and rice! Look at me.

DAY 2

Today, I went out to eat with friends and it was a serious struggle. I’m starting to understand the interference that sometimes comes with trying to create a healthy lifestyle for one’s self.

DAY 3

I miss pizza so much. I’m also craving gallons of ice cream. Maybe there’s a period of separation where you just dream of these things when you’re removed from them, but today is especially hard. I want my pizza back.

DAY 4

It was a really bad day today, just in life, in general. Usually when I have bad days I go to happy hour with friends, which is exactly what I did today. Did I feel better after spending happy hour with friends? Yes. Do I regret it because it broke my rules with the diet? Not at all. I ate healthy the whole day and I had the greatest time with people I loved. Nothing to be ashamed of there.

DAY 5

I ran so fast today. Maybe because I splurged and made myself avocado toast and it boosted me, but I ran fast. It’s cool to physically see that this is making a difference for me.

DAY 6

Grocery shopping day. I feel really broke, and purchasing so much healthy food seemed unreasonable since I’m moving in a few days. I should have just bought the six dollar blueberries, but instead I got a jar of peanut butter. Does this mean I failed?

DAY 7

I’m excited for this to be done. I’m thankful for being able to experience a healthy lifestyle and for seeing how food truly does impact you, but I also miss not worrying all of the time. I invested a lot of time and planning for this, and accommodating it. I have a lot of respect for people who continuously live this way.

Conclusion.

I’ve learned that you must do everything in moderation. I didn’t let my little slip-ups get me down, nor did I convince myself that eating healthy was done for. I accepted that I ate the pizza, and I moved on and ate a salad. Besides my moments of weakness, I actually did a great job at sticking to my plan, and I already feel a few changes occurring, both mentally and physically. I ran faster than I ever have before, and I feel more confident in myself because I know what I’m putting into my body. Knowing that is enough for me to recognize the positive results.

Will I go back to eating pizza? Most definitely. Except now I consider what it’s worth and have second thoughts when it comes to potential bad decisions. I won’t regret a fun pizza night with friends, but I’ll be mindful with what I’m consuming and try and make small changes with my habits. 

Hopefully one day I’ll get to a point where I want to fully embrace healthy eating, but until then . . .  

At least stay away from the cookie cakes.

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6 years ago

Love this!

I think what’s best is everything in moderation. No bad foods, no good foods… just a balance.

Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com

Kerrie
6 years ago

Love this because it is REAL. Good on you – sounds very similar to the journey I am on, so this is a great inspiration to read! Thanks! X

6 years ago

Love this real, honest food journal and love your approach. I’m gonna start one right away! (Eyeing dessert right now but won’t do it!)