6 months In - What Have I Learned?

 Looking back at my food journal(s), I realized that a few days ago was my "6 month anniversary" of Clean Eating. It took me a moment to digest this fact: For six months, I've eaten nothing ( well, almost nothing ) unclean. I removed processed foods from my vocabulary. I changed my habits, my thought patterns, my attitude towards food.

What have I learned?

1. I've learned that I need a lot less food to satisfy my hunger than I used to think I needed. Eating unprocessed,
natural food has shown me the inherent nutrition in food, and I am satisfied with a lot less. 6 months ago, lunch would have been a large hamburger or club sandwich, potato chips or fries, and a Diet Coke. Today, I had a small portion of tuna, some green beans, a pear, and water. This fundamental change was one of the first that occurred once I embraced CE.

2. I've learned that my body runs a lot better on premium fuel than low grade, cut rate cr*p. Not only have I lost weight ( Since August, I'm just shy of the 40 lb mark lost ), but my skin is clearer, and I don't have a heavy, bloated feeling at the end of the day.

3. I've learned that yes - a woman can stop drinking Diet Coke and live to tell the tale. I was slavish in my devotion to the stuff...and now, the idea of it repulses me. I crave water. Lots of water...which brings me to...

4. I've learned my body needs a lot more water than I was ever giving it. 6 months ago, if I drank 20 ounces of water a day - that was a lot. Now, I see and feel and understand the difference water has made to my overall health. I have kidney issues, and what I was doing was in no way a kindness to my kidney. I hope that since upping my water consumption, my kidney health has improved.

5. Finally - I have not just learned, but come to understand that Clean Eating isn't the magic bullet I was looking for all my life. It is the way normal, healthy, slender / athletic people eat. Since starting Clean Eating, I have become keenly aware of what other people are eating - not to judge, or to think "Gosh, if I only had that big hunk of bacon!"...but just observing people and their food. Across the board, the people I see and meet who don't have an issue with weight are eating mostly unprocessed foods. They are leaning towards healthier choices on menus, and brown bagging wholesome, whole foods.

I am eager to see my post in August, 2011 - the one year mark. I wonder what else I will have discovered about myself?