Good morning!
As I said in last night’s post, I started Crap Free Week on Saturday! I have been following so many of you doing Crap Free Week, but I had to mentally prepare myself before I knew I was ready!
The truth is, I have been eating way too many sweets this winter, especially since my injury. I tend to still have this all-or-none approach to health at times which is still something I am working on.
I am much better than I used to be. In the past if I went over my calorie limit, it would likely lead to a binge or over-eating. Not good. Luckily, I have come a long way since then, however I still struggle with that all or none thinking.
Since my injury, some days I feel very frustrated because I think (subconsciously) “Well if I’m not exercising then I might as well not watch what I eat as much either.”
I know it doesn’t make sense, but if you’ve have been there you understand!
It is much easier for me to eat healthy when I am working out.
Does this make sense to anyone? Surely it isn’t just me!
I know after a great workout I am much less likely to sabotage the workout with bad food. And research actually shows this too.
It is more logical perhaps to think, well if I am moving less, I will eat less. However, when emotions get involved, it complicates the picture much more so.
So that brought me to Saturday. I woke up after a Friday night of indulgences, and I decided that Crap Free Week had to start now.
If you recall, I had a Neon Green Smoothie.
Here is what Other’s have done with their Crap Free week:
Ashley from Daily Goods said,
“I have declared this week my CFW and can’t wait to start feeling great. These are the rules that I have made for myself:
- no refined carbs
- no refined sugars
- no frozen meals
- lots of fruits/veggies
- no dairy
- no bars
- no caffeine
- no dessert
I will let you guys know how the week is going for me, i’m hoping it won’t be tooo difficult, but i’m going to need to do a lot of meal planning and be prepared. I have really been relying on my bars to get me through the day and have been eating at least 1 a day for a while now. I want to try and wean myself off them a little so that they are more like treats and for emergency purposes rather than every day snacks. They’re pretty expensive to have as daily snacks and i think this will save me a little money too. This is going to be the toughest part of my CFW I think for the week right along with DESSERTS.”
Caitlin from Healthy Tipping Point said,
“a nutshell, Crap Free Week was a very interesting challenge. First, I want to review what Crap Free Week entailed:
- Enjoy!Chicken, Fish, Eggs, Dairy Oatmeal, Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts, Canned Beans, PB, Quinoa, Rice, Lentils, EVOO, dried fruit, and similar
- Avoid!Protein powder, bread, artificial sweeteners, deli meat, bars, cereals, maple syrup, ALCOHOL, butter, packaged pancake batter, granola, extra salt, canned soups, anything else processed, salted, or caffeinated.
- Exceptions… I couldn’t cut out caffeine right away. I switched to tea for the first 3 days and then went cold turkey. Also, I had my dad’s birthday and Meghann’s birthday on Sunday and I ate both meals out (and had dessert and drank a little champagne).”
Caitlin also stated the benefits of doing CFW:
- I’m really pleased I managed to break my caffeine addiction. I just hope I can learn how to incorporate coffee back into my life (it’s one of the world’s best pleasures!) without getting re-addicted.
- I became more creative in my meals and snacks and incorporated protein in new ways.
- I learned I DON’T have to put table salt on most things I*think* I do.
- This was NOT a point of Crap Free Week, but I do think Crap Free Week helped me shed the last two pounds of my honeymoon weight gain. I’m back at maintenance weight! Woo hoo!”
Oh She Glows’ Crap Free Week
I will admit, I don’t have much to avoid for crap free week because I have been very successful in eliminating caffeine and artificial sweetener from my diet for over a year now. I also don’t eat much meat or dairy, and stick to mostly a vegetarian, if not vegan, diet. I don’t eat processed foods much, save for my Tofurkey. And as you know, I eat low-salt products.
However, My big issue is SUGAR– at night time. This is when cravings hit for me. We all know how powerfully addictive sugar is. For me, one cookie leads to two, two leads to three, etc etc. I have always had a very hard time eating sugar moderately. For whatever reason, when I eat sugar it spikes cravings and they are really hard to reign in.
So my challenge for Crap Free Week is simple. Well, simple in that it only has one restriction. Extremely difficult if you are a sugar addict like myself.
NO SUGAR!
Zilch, nadda, none.
This is quite possibly the hardest challenge I have ever done because I am a HUGE sweet tooth.
As I mentioned, I started CFW on Saturday. Not a sprinkle of sugar has crossed these lips for 2 days now!
Please note. I am NOT cutting out naturally occuring sugars (duh fruit!) or foods that contain a small amount of sugar like soy milk or almond breeze (cane sugar) or whole wheat bread. However, I will be making every effort to make my own versions (for example, I am making another batch of organic spelt tortilla wraps this week- with no sugar!).
And I must say I feel F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S. I really do feel amazing. Eric has noticed an improvement in my mood as well.
As part of CFW, I am having 2 Green Monsters each day:
1) All Veggie Green Monster (Carrots, Kale, Spinach, etc) + Liquid (Soy or Almond Breeze)
2) Veggie + Fruit Green Monster (usually incorporates a single banana)
These green drinks make my skin glow and leave me feeling energized and happy. I also believe that they prevent my blood sugar from spiking, which helps prevent sugar cravings.
I hope you will follow me throughout this tough challenge! I will be updating each day on my progress, triumphs, as well as the challenges. I will talk about what benefitsI had from doing CFW as well.
Monday AM Veggie Smoothie
The goods:
-
1 cup Low Fat Soy Milk
-
1 Tbsp flax
-
1 handful baby organic spinach
-
2 organic kale leaves
-
1 medium organic carrot
Neon Green Sunlight:
Delicious!
It’s funny- I am actually used to these all veggie smoothies now! It is amazing how the taste buds adapt over time.
I hope this week will be the start of getting back on track. I have my bone scan Wednesday and I am praying for good news. My injury continues to improve, and I will be starting light exercise this week.
I did 7 mins on the treadmill at 1.5 mph (oh yea I was FLYING around that track!! LMAO) and I am so excited to just be moving again, albeit slowly.
Well, I have to tackle the to-do list! Have a great day everyone! See you this afternoon as always.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Any change, any loss, does not make us victims. Others can shake you, surprise you, disappoint you, but they can’t prevent you from acting, from taking the situation you’re presented with and moving on. No matter where you are in life, no matter what your situation, you can always do something. You always have a choice and the choice can be power.
~Blaine Lee
I definitely know what you mean; when I don’t exercise it’s almost too easy not to eat very well. Good luck on busting those sugar cravings! You eat so healthy anyways, I think you always go crap-free! :)
I think I am going to give up sugar for Lent, 40 day fast!!!! Do you drink your juices as a meal replacement?
Good luck!! I cut out sugar for 2 weeks (mostly) with my macrobiotic diet and the results were pretty amazing. The first 2 days I was a grumpy, sugar-withdrawal monster, but after that I was much happier. AND my skin cleared up completely. I have been on acne meds for years and they have never ever worked. My skin is now as clear as it was in MIDDLE SCHOOL. It’s amazing. I’m actually continuing to avoid it, but I found this awesome sweetener called brown rice syrup that is VERY natural and tastes delicious. You should try it!
Girl I am SO with you! My last post was just a rant on how bad I feel when I fall into ‘all or nothing’ habits! I had an aaaaalllll of everything sort of week last week, and my mind (not only body) can’t handle the lack of eating well! I think it’s a challenge for everyone to get to that pt of pure balance, but I am def cheering you on w/ your CFW! Just remember if you ever do fall of the wagon, the biggest accomplishment is getting back on track:)
Angela! Im so glad you are going crap-free this week! I am too! I am definitely looking to you for inspiration!
Gorgeous smoothie, and interesting challenge for CFW (this is the first I’ve heard of it). In the past, I’ve attempted to cut out coffee from my daily consumption, and have suffered from withdrawal headaches – I guess that’s a clear cut sign that I’m addicted! Sugar is another downfall of mine – I rarely eat foods made with white sugar, but often eat foods with cane juice, agave, honey, pure maple syrup etc. Good for you for taking on the challenge!
I am in for the Crap free week starting tomorrow. I have laid down the ground work for it today and starting tomorrow I’ll be in it too!! My purpose is to get rid of this plateau I am on with respect to the weighing scale.
WTG on the lite walk. Remember just take it easy!!
I did a CFW awhile back, and I felt great doing it but the main problem for me was I spending too much time thinking about my meals and planning them out. I know it’s good to do that, but knowing so many things were “off limits,” I was going a little nuts with it.
I was also trying to wean myself of my sugar cravings. And it helped, but I think I didn’t do it long enough or change my post-cleanse diet enough to make that much of a difference. But just knowing that I HAD the willpower to do it gave me a confidence boost. I think I’ll probably do it again in a few months, maybe for longer like 10 days.
Good luck with your CFW! I know you’ll do great.
Great CFW recap!
Hi there,
I gave up sugar a year and 2 months ago, and here’s a small piece of advice – get protein and oil!! If i make sure to get enough quality protein, as well as a shot of coldpressed flax oil a couple of times a day (2-3 tbsp of oil in 4 tbsp of juice – and then just down it quickly), then there’s no sugar cravings for this lady!
It can be a hard task, so all the luck to you!
Julie
Wow, based on all these comments you nor I are alone in being able to have supremely healthy habits, sans that crazy sweet tooth! I need to do some sort of sugar-free fest for myself.
Also – I saw Bobbi’s comment and I too am curious if your smoothies or meal replacements or if you enjoy a green smoothie in the AM with a small portion of oats or what?
AND – with your sugar free week, are you eliminating sugar from your whole house or are you finding ways to distract yourself while Eric eats sweets or what?? I can’t wait to hear your strategies for coping with sweet temptation in the evenings!
I hear you on the sweet tooth. Mine is SO out of control. I’m giving up all sweets for Lent so starting Wednesday I’ll be sugar free until Easter. I managed to do it last year and I’m hoping this year I’ll realize I don’t need sugar and be able to eat it in moderation without intense cravings after Lent.
1.5 on the treadmill is slow. I’m recovering from knee surgery and last week was the first time the therapist let me walk on the treadmill – 7 minutes at 1 MPH! The sad part was that I could barely keep up.
Good luck with your CFW!
Hi Angela,
I love visiting your blog (several times a day!) It’s funny because a friend and I are eating vegan and gluten-free this week. I guess it’s a little like your CFW. I think it will be a great cleansing process and hope to feel energized by the end! I haven’t given up coffee, though. It’s my only vice, and this momma needs her coffee! Good luck…I’ll be reading!
xoxo
Ok i’ve been going back and reading all your posts on this because I’ve been considering my own version. thanks for doing this!
I totally understand where you are coming from because when I eat unhealthy, my head also tells me to skip exercise, too. So eating healthy lends itself to exercise. I am also an all or none person; once I make a mistake, i can’t help but make more the rest of the day
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