Clean Eating: A Family Affair

The day is bright and shiny and I have to say, I think my attitude it going to match the day!! I am actually going to try to make this a quick post because I need to get my house all nice and clean so that I can get outside and enjoy the GORGEOUS 85 degree weather. Spring is in the air and it cannot get here fast enough for me!!!

So let’s talk about this weekend. It was actually fairly busy but I didn’t take many pics to document it. Sorry about that but you know, sometimes it is much more fun to just enjoy and not worry about having the camera handy.

Saturday finished up the basketball season for Camryn. Her team was really good this year but Camryn kind of struggled to keep up with many of the girls. In all fairness, she is the smallest on her team AND she is the only one who had never played before. Bless her heart, she is all arms and legs and it is quite noticeable on the court…haha. However, my baby girl got “Most Improved” for the season and she really did deserve it. She has made leaps and bounds in her ability so I was really proud of her!!

The last month or so, Lance has been on a journey to lose a few pounds. He isn’t big by any means but he realized that he could stand to be a bit lighter and leaner(for health reasons, too) but the process hasn’t been going as quickly as he wanted. The man was a beanpole in high school and up until recently could drop weight just by slightly altering his eating plan. It seems though, he may be in the mid 30’s metabolism slump as well because it has become a bit harder. After talking about our diets and health this weekend we decided to really commit to a clean lifestyle, making it a family affair!!

We aren’t going to go all crazy or anything but we are going to try to keep processed foods to a minimum. We are going to buy the majority of our clean eating foods from Costco because if both of us(plus the kids for the most part) are going to eat this way, we will go through food pretty quickly. To give an idea this will be what our staples look like:

• Chicken breast
• Extra lean ground turkey
• Tilapia
• Oats
• Quinoa
• Organic Eggs
• Plain Yogurt
• Fruits like: Berries, Bananas, apples
• Veggies: Spinach, Asparagus, Broccoli,  Sweet Potatoes, Onion and Celery
• Natural Peanut Butter and Almond Butter
• Almonds and Walnuts
• Ezekiel Bread

Obviously, there will be other items as well but these are the groceries I plan to make sure we have around at all times. I have to say, I am really excited that Lance has finally jumped on board and I am proud of him, too!!

Another aspect of the clean eating is going to be batch cooking. I don’t love that part of it but it is necessary to make sure we have success with the it. Lance leaves for work at 5:30am so obviously that does not give him time to make breakfast in the morning. Before, he would eat a bowl of cereal and a fruit flavored yogurt. Not too awful in the calorie department but the sugar was WAY too much.

Yesterday I cooked up a bunch of egg muffin cups so that he will be set for the week.  He can grab a few of those along with some Ezekiel toast topped with natural peanut butter and voila, a clean protein packed breaky!!!

These were super easy to make, too!! Basically, you just mix up everything like you were making scrambled eggs, pour them into a greased muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes!! Use whatever add-ins sound good to you!! I used an onion mix, feta cheese and some turkey.

Another thing to ensure our success: Make sure we have something we can munch on when we are feeling snacky. Obviously, fruits and veggies are good for this but sometimes you want something that feels a bit more sinful. Enter: Jamie Eason’s Cinnamon Swirl Protein Bread.

This bread in INCREDIBLE!!!!! I even used less sweetener than recommended (I don’t like to use a lot of artificial sweetener, even Truvia or Stevia) and it was still super tasty. Lance even made the comment that it would be a fantastic dessert for someone who isn’t eating clean. I must say, I agree!!

Also, if you follow the recipe linked above, also know that I didn’t add the egg whites and it turned out just fine. I somehow skipped over that ingredient when I was making them, Oops!!

Just for the record, while this is definitely something we plan to make a lifestyle there will be moments of weakness and indulgence I am sure. Overall, our goal is just to cut out as much junk(processed food) as possible and replace it with healthier options. If we can make it so that we are following an 80/20 plan, I will feel as if we have accomplished our goal!!

Questions?

Do you consider yourself to be a “clean eater”? Are your family members on board with it?

What are your favorite clean eating foods?

Favorite indulgence?