CFC: Day 4

Well, another day done!  Today went just as well as the other days.  I'm so surprised about how well I'm responding to the challenge this time.  It's as if my body has been waiting for me to clean it out a little.  I feel great!  However, I did have an issue this morning.  Remember how I posted that my dinner last night was just a big garden salad and that I didn't feel like I had enough protein?  Well, I woke up this morning and a while after I was awake, I started to get that shaky, low blood sugar feeling.  I felt dizzy a couple of times and my body felt tingly all over (the only way I can describe it) and I could tell my blood sugar was low.  I was also ravenously hungry.  My overnight oats were sitting in the fridge and I didn't have time to eat them, so I just munched on some homemade granola (totally clean) and a spoonful of almond butter.  I felt off until I got to work and had the chance to eat my big container of oats.  I looked over my food list from yesterday, and I realize that my caloric intake was pretty low and I definitely didn't have enough substance.  The Clean Food Challenge isn't supposed to be a weight-loss diet.  It's meant to eliminate unhealthy foods from your system and replace them with healthy, whole foods.  Since I ran yesterday, I burned a lot of calories and I didn't take enough in.  I really felt it this morning.  I made sure to eat a lot of protein today and I feel fine tonight.

Other than early morning low blood sugar, I felt great today.  I have definitely reached the point in the challenge where I am physically noticing the difference.  I'm less bloated and sluggish and I'm not craving sugar anymore.  I was in my co-workers office today while she was eating skittles (a guilty pleasure of mine) and I didn't even feel the urge to eat any.  I wore my smallest pair of pants today.  While they always fit me, they have been snug around the waist lately.  I know it's because I have been bloated.  Today, they didn't cut into my gut at all.  It's not weight loss.  It's just the loss of unhealthy bloat.  That's why I love this challenge.  My system really feels clean after I do it.

Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast:  Hmmm...I wonder what it could be.  Oh yeah, overnight oats.  Like yesterday, I topped them with blueberries

Lunch:  A huge container of cut up veggies and hummus.  This is one of my favorite lunches even when I'm not doing the challenge

Dinner:  I made Mama Pea's Black Bean Burgers, which are yummy!  I ate my black bean burger topped with chopped jalapeños and salsa, alongside a salad of romaine, orange pepper, and avocado and a side of sweet potato and regular potato fries.

This dinner was excellent!  I have another burger to eat with a salad for lunch tomorrow.

Tomorrow afternoon I head to Boston for my girl's weekend.  I plan to stick to the challenge the whole time I'm there, and I'm actually really excited about it.  It will be a great way to show how easy it is to eat healthy even when you're on the road.  I won't have wireless internet in my hotel room, so I'll have to blog from somewhere like Barnes & Noble or Starbucks.  I'll have to figure out what to do once I get there.