See the picture below:

That is our fridge yesterday, after returning from a shopping extravaganza at Safeway. What did we buy? Below is a link to the “Clean Eating Challenge” we have undertook. The grocery lists and recipes are located on the page also.

The Challenge

When I initially saw this post online, I admired the fact that it wasn’t some crazy “drink only water with lemon and cayenne pepper for three days” cleanse. I recognized it as a feasible challenge. I printed out the booklets, the shopping lists, the menus, and set a date to begin. I purposely planned on doing it starting this Sunday, June 8th…one week after my marathon. I figured that after all that hell i put my body through, then taking a week off to recoup, a healthy eating challenge would be good for my insides.

After showing my husband it, he decided he would do it too. I am now so grateful he did, because two nights into it, we both realize how tough it would have been if one person was doing it and another wasn’t. The food prep is tedious, and having both of us working on it is a huge help. Tonight I just cooked a pile of chicken breasts for the rest of the week, pre-made our lunches and snacks, and Dan is washing a ton of pots. If we had tried to do this during a busy time of the school year, we would have quit by this morning.

I run a ton, and I am sure you are all aware of that by now. I consider myself to be in pretty stellar shape. Dan is in decent shape too—he landscapes all day long. We both usually eat relatively healthy—-cereal in the morning, coffee, a packed lunch of fruit, veggies, sandwich….some type of dinner….but where the problem lies for both of us are snacks and booze.

I tend to gravitate towards tortilla chips with my green salsa and sour cream. And i definitely eat way over the recommended amount. I also love, love, love Triscuits and cheese. Dan isn’t a salty snack person necessarily, but when he opens a bag of chips or pistachios, the bag is gone in a sitting. We also love our beer. (Do not fret—-I am not giving up beer for the rest of my life). But you know how when you’re at the doctor and they ask you the number of alcoholic beverages you consume in a week? And you lie? Yeah, that’s Dan and I.

Our initial thoughts so far are as follows (they are rambling and a run on paragraph, because that’s how my mind is at the moment):

Holy shit, the portion sizes are huge! Well…when the lunch is made up of kale, quinoa, and chickpeas for a salad I guess you can be allowed a ton. Can any normal person eat this much kale on a normal basis? Dan thinks he will lose 5 pounds, I will lose 3. I miss mass amounts of cheese. Dinner tomorrow night looks like a letdown. If we had kids we don’t know how we would have the time and energy to make all these random meals and clean up after them. I think I may be crabby come Wednesday. Damnit—this better make me feel good in the end!