Can I have coffee yet?

So it's been 8 whole days of clean and lean and I can honestly say I won't be going back to gorging on junk  anytime soon. The first three days may have been hellish (and better best forgotten) but since then I've been sleeping well, had tons of energy and have one very flat stomach. Happy days. Picking good foods has already become a habit and my afternoon energy dip and subsequent sugar craving has completely disappeared....except when people near me eat chocolate, then I act like a drug addict gone cold turkey.

I'm not going to lie, I have drunk a teeeeeeny bit. Which is very bad clean and lean behaviour. Especially during the 14 day bit. But well, it would be rude not to have a couple on a pay day night out, and as long as you resist the urge to eat greasy and sugary foods the next day there's really no harm. Plus my before bed drunken snack was oatcakes and turkey. So I'm officially a changed woman. There, I justified it.

Overall so far I love how much more aware I am of what's actually good for me as opposed to what I think is good for me. Like having protein with every meal, eating good fats (and boy do I luuuuurve me those nuts, avocados and a valid excuse to eat hummus all the time), not being conned into the 'light' and 'low fat' versions of foods, and how those cereal bars that I have eaten nearly every day of my life thinking they're doing me good are actually one of the worst things you can eat. Some chicken or a few nuts is actually the best energy boost EVER.

After a few days of literally dreaming about cakes (which is only slightly bizarre as I'm not a cake person usually), chocolate and a big bag of kettle chips the only thing I've got a craving for these days is a steaming hot Starbucks mocha. And if I can kill that craving for another week when I do relax the rules and allow a teeny tiny bit of sugary goodness back into my life, with soya milk of course and not this 'skinny' crap like before, it will taste all the sweeter. And no doubt shock my system so much I'll feel like shit and not want another. I guess that's part of how you stay clean and lean for life... mildly depressing but if I have a body like THE BODY I'm sure it'll all be worth it.

That's me on the left.

The Bible has arrived...

And by bible I mean the actual Clean & Lean book. I was improvising today and yesterday (and bladdy well as it turns out) but now I have the actual plan, a massive list of recipes and tables galore about what's bad, better and best. Although frankly the day I see cucumber and avocado as a genuine substitute for chocolate is the day I know I've lost it.

I won't give an in depth review (that's what Amazon is for) but so far I'm sold on the sugar is evil mantra, loving the 'exercise in moderation' idea and have an easy way to remember what I can and can't eat: cut the C.R.A.P.

Caffeine
Refined sugar
Alcohol
Processed food.

Simples. Well, apart from the alcohol bit. But Mr Duigan has stated that if you can't cut booze for 14 days then this is not the plan for you. And he sounded serious. Looks like my visit to Fez club on Friday will be a sober affair....good lord.

Clean & Lean Day One (a.k.a. the first post)

The detox has begun. Not a milligram of sugar or hint of a carbohydrate has passed these lips today, instead it's been eggs, spinach, water, green veg, salmon, cucumber, chicken and then some more green veg and spinach. And some green tea. Green may very well be the word of the day and so far I kind of like it.

Admittedly I'm much hungrier than usual at 11pm (currently taking an insane amount of will power not to hit the jelly babies....one wouldn't hurt....would it?), I've had a headache all day, and the lack of sugar has made me snappy and unable to concentrate. But in a strange way I can feel it's working. I didn't have my usual 3 o'clock Dairy Milk craving and I've drunk more water than I thought physically possible. So that's two immediate plus points in a sea of spinach and energy deprived detox doom.   

I think it's important to point out that I'm not doing this for weight loss. It's all about looking and feeling healthier in the bright eyed, glossy haired, glowing skin sense. It's also about breaking some very bad sugar binge habits I've picked up since I started working full time rather than bumming around in sweats watching Grey's Anatomy (ah student life). 

So one day down, 13 to go....and apparently the second is always the hardest. Wish me luck!