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.