#CleanEating - Days 1-4 Recap

Even with all the running around we've been doing this week, we've managed to stay mostly on track with the clean eating.  I have diverted quite a bit from the meal plan in this month's issue of Clean Eating, but only because I was trying to use the items that had the closest expiration dates first when cooking/preparing our meals.  Here's a rundown of our meals so far this week.

Day 1

Breakfast - 

• 1 egg yolk, two egg whites, chopped baby spinach, scrambled
• 1 whole wheat pancake (made with unbleached white whole wheat flour instead of regular flour- not exactly clean, but a better alternative, and they taste exactly the same as a regular pancake)
• 1 apple, cut into wedges and dipped into 1 tbsp natural peanut butter

Morning Snack - 

• 10-15 grapes
• 1/4 apple

Lunch - 

• 4 oz. white albacore Tuna mixed with 1/8 chopped red onion, 1 stalk celery chopped, 1 tsp dijon mustard and spread onto 2 Wasa whole wheat crackers (could have had 4 crackers per the meal plan, but this turned out to be very filling)
• 1 carrot, cut into small pieces

Dinner - 

• Flank steak, chopped and sauteed in olive oil with chopped yellow onion, broccoli, red pepper strips and 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 cup brown rice
• romaine lettuce salad with onions, cucumbers, tomatoes

Day 2 

Breakfast - 

• 1 egg yolk, two egg whites, chopped baby spinach, scrambled
• 1 whole wheat pancake (made with unbleached white whole wheat flour instead of regular flour- not exactly clean, but a better alternative, and they taste exactly the same as a regular pancake)
• 1 apple, cut into wedges and dipped into 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1 slice Ezekiel sprouted grain bread, toasted

Lunch - 

• 4 oz. white albacore Tuna mixed with 1/8 chopped red onion, 1 stalk celery chopped, handful of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), 1 tsp dijon mustard and spread onto 3 Wasa whole wheat crackers 
• 1 carrot, cut into small pieces
• 4 apple wedges, dipped into natural peanut butter

Dinner - 

• Flank steak, chopped and sauteed in olive oil with chopped yellow onion, broccoli, red pepper strips and 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 cup brown rice
• romaine lettuce salad with onions, cucumbers, tomatoes

Snack - 

• Granola Bar (real granola, not that Quaker stuff)

Day 3 - 

Breakfast - 

• 1 egg yolk, two egg whites, chopped baby spinach, green pepper and red onion, scrambled
• 1 whole wheat pancake 
• 5 strawberries

Lunch - 

We were out on the town for lunch so we stopped at Sonny's BBQ - probably about the least "clean" to eat, but they have a great salad bar!  

• Salad with lettuce, carrots, onions, peppers, etc.  The salad dressing was NOT clean (hard to resist the thousand island!), and...
•  I did eat a piece of the garlic bread.  
• We also had a small cup of the chicken and wild rice soup which after tasting was decidedly not clean...but it was pretty good.  I had about 4 spoonfuls of the soup, but my hubby finished off his cup.  

Dinner - 

• Chicken, chopped into small pieces and sauteed in olive oil spray with fresh minced garlic, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. 
• 1/2 cup whole wheat couscous (first time I've ever cooked or eaten couscous--it's not bad...not much of a taste at all to it, so we mixed it with the kale once on our plates to give it some flavor)
• 1 cup fresh kale, brought to a boil in enough water to cover, and then simmered for 10 minutes after adding red pepper flakes, a little apple cider vinegar, and a little bit of organic, low sodium chicken broth.
• romaine lettuce salad with onions, cucumbers, tomatoes

Day 4 - 

Breakfast - 

I was really bad today.  I skipped breakfast before we left the house this morning because I ran out of time.  Also, I knew we were picking up my son's smash cake, and the bakery we go to sells coffee and fresh muffins every morning.  

• I had a cup of coffee and...
• one blueberry muffin (which was delicious).  I paid for it later.  By lunch time, my sugar/caffeine rush really hit me and I started to get the shakes, paired with that feeling of being a little weak.  Hubby was feeling it too, even though he ate a bowl of Kashi Golden Goodness cereal with fresh strawberries and banana with some skim milk before we left.  

Lunch - 

We were still out for lunch, and needed something to eat, so we decided on Panera for lunch.

• I ordered a Pick 2 combo with the cafe caesar salad and the 
• smoked turkey breast on country sandwich.  I ended up eating the 1/2 sandwich, but only ate about 1/4 of the salad, and about 1/4 of the baguette piece that came with the lunch.  

Afternoon Snack - 

• As I'm typing this I'm eating some apple wedges with some natural peanut butter.  Yummy!  This is definitely my favorite snack.

Dinner - 

We're doing leftovers from last night -  

• Chicken, chopped into small pieces and sauteed in olive oil spray with fresh minced garlic, sea salt and fresh ground pepper (about 4 oz. of chicken). 
• 1/2 cup whole wheat couscous (first time I've ever cooked or eaten couscous--it's not bad...not much of a taste at all to it, so we mixed it with the kale once on our plates to give it some flavor)
• 1 cup fresh kale, brought to a boil in enough water to cover, and then simmered for 10 minutes after adding red pepper flakes, a little apple cider vinegar, and a little bit of organic, low sodium chicken broth.
• romaine lettuce salad with onions, cucumbers, tomatoes

Wanna hear my results so far?

Weigh in on Day 4 143.8 pounds.  That's 3 pounds lost!!  I've still got a ways to go, but a wise woman told me to not focus on the number!

Next week is going to be a huge challenge for us since we're going to be on vacation.  I'd love to hear tips on eating clean while vacationing!