6 Monday mornings I have “started back on Clean Eating” then 4 Tuesday afternoons and 2 Monday evenings (that was fast) I was “off Clean Eating”! Can you relate? Lately, I’ve been all “gung ho” Monday morning- drinking my green smoothie, packing my kale salad into my lunch bag then something happens and I find myself sitting on the couch, drinking beer and eating chips, watching the proverbial healthy eating wagon speeding away without me.

 The last six weeks, I have been struggling to find the motivation, commitment and discipline I had when I first changed my eating and lost my weight. I know how I should be eating, but I just can’t seem to capture that same mindset I had last year and actually follow through. I thought if I wrote this post, I might remind myself of what I did last year (and mostly up until March) with the goal of doing it again! 

I’m calling this- “Hey Tracey (that’s me)- You Did This!”

• I started my day with 1/2 of a lemon squeezed into 1 cup of room temperature water
• I took vitamins everyday
• I typed out a weekly menu and FOLLOWED IT exclusively. It looked like this:

• I rarely ate in restaurants (and if I did I usually ate shawarma salad)
• I didn’t drink alcohol (I actually did that! I didn’t drink a drop from the end of January 2014 until April 14, 2014 and I survived. I actually did it again Sept 2014 for six weeks- so this is totally doable!)
• I pre-made food on the weekend
• I didn’t eat any commercially prepared food except Kind bars and a few other super clean foods
• I flossed my teeth everyday
• I didn’t eat, as I like to call it- “help youself” food. You know the food that gets dumped on the table of the staff room with a sign that says “help yourself”. I never, ever ate the one Timbit, slice of birthday cake or  leftover Halloween candy! 
• I brought my own food everywhere- to my Grandpa’s 90th birthday, 2 ski trips, parties….
• I ate snacks during the day
• I drank lots and lots of water
• I drank sparkling water like Pelegrino at parties 
• I didn’t consume dairy except for goat cheese and coffee cream (I tried black coffee but I just couldn’t do it!)
• I was full, satisfied and happy even though I followed the above rules!

Now, this is what worked for me last time. This is what I did when I lost weight. I went from a size 12/14 to a size 6 in a pretty short amount of time- maybe 6 months. I also exercised 4-6times a week. Right now I am doing a really awesome home workout program called P90X3. So far, it is the best workout I have ever done! It’s better than anything I’ve done at a gym, it’s better than the training for my half marathon, it’s better than other DVDs I’ve have tried. I will blog more about it in the future, but I am super impressed. 

One thing that really struck me when I was looking over my old weekly menus was how much I snacked. Snacks were an important part of my eating plan. One of my favourite snacks are Ace Baguette Crisps. 

They are yummy and are excellent dipped in hummus! But at five bucks a bag, they are kind of expensive! When I started clean eating I cleaned up my pantry and all the regular crackers got pitched so my kids eat the Baguette Crisps too. Feeding hungry, snack crazy pre-teens, I wanted to find a way to make them cheaper. One day, while grocery shopping, I saw a bunch of reduced Ace Bakery baguettes. 
 
I love seeing those little pink triangles!!! I bought 2 baguettes for less than one bag of Crisps! I followed this recipe I found and made the best Homemade Crostini. Basically all you need is bread (day old works best), olive oil, and seasoning (whatever herbs and spices you like).  I found that the baguette slices easily if you turn it upside down so that the bottom of the bread is facing up. Arrange the sliced baguette on a baking sheet and follow the directions here.
   

Super easy and inexpensive!!!! Now these make a great snack served with mini Lebanese cucumbers and homemade hummus. Here’s my recipe for Hummus.   It’s from one of my favourite cookbooks, A Taste of Lebanon by Mary Salloum. 

Ingredients:

1 19oz can chickpeas, drain liquid and save

1/4 cup Tahini

1 (or 2 😉) clove of garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed lemon- not from a bottle!)

Combine all above ingredients in a food processor or blender. If the hummus is too thick, add the saved chickpea liquid to thin it out a bit or add a little bit of water. I usually just add a bit of water since I’m a little grossed out about the chickpea liquid!  Drizzle with olive oil. 

 
So I started following my old (good) habits again that I listed above- except this time I started on  a Wednesday! Maybe Mondays are cursed for me! Lol!

Choose happy 😊