I am not the healthiest broad. I mean, I love food. And it's only recently that I've learned to love myself despite my weight and my body. But I read a lot of information about food, and I've learned about the supposed "natural" ingredients put in foods to preserve them.
So, with all that in mind, I found Buzzfeed's 2014 Clean Eating Challenge. I roped my sister into doing it with me, and we decided to do it the two weeks following Thanksgiving.
Here's what I learned:
First of all, even though the plan was published last May and is meant to be consumed during the summer, the ingredients weren't all that hard to find. We were able to find everything on the grocery lists, and if we couldn't find it, we made due (such as buying regular tomatoes when we couldn't find beefsteak).
Secondly, it wasn't as expensive as we'd thought it would be. The first week, you buy the majority of the food, and it cost us $86 apiece. The second week cost even less at about $50 apiece. We shopped smart, buying the cheapest or Kroger brand (in our quest for the cheapest, we made a few mistakes, like buying salted pistachios instead of unsalted. Whoops).
We also saved $15 by using a Kroger card. And we cheated a bit and didn't buy some things. I mean, a quart sized container of basil for both of us? Seems unnecessary. The second week, we had leftovers, so instead of buying more, we decided to use what we had.
As a working college student, it is really hard to eat every 2-3 hours. The plan is designed so you eat breakfast, lunch, a snack, dinner, and then another snack. I don't think that I ever ate at the right times.
Weirdly enough, the plan helped me feel different as well. I felt more alert, even if I didn't get very much sleep. I'm also one of those really annoying people that cries at every emotion: when I'm stressed, when I'm angry, when I'm irritated. Since it was finals week, I was stressed, but for whatever reason, I was able to keep my emotions in check. I don't know if there's science behind this, or if it was just some weird fluke.
Lastly, I learned a lot about food. For the most part, the meals were actually good. I learned about what I really liked to eat: carrots, pears, and what I could live without: bok choy, fennel, cabbage. Some of the recipes, Banana Avocado Pudding or Roasted Eggplant with Chickpeas and Cauliflower, were good enough to eat again, even after the plan was over.
I enjoyed this plan, and I learned from it. But mostly, it made me want to commit to eating healthier in our world with GMOs, "natural" ingredients, and processed foods and this plan proved that it doesn't have to be that hard. Like I said earlier, I didn't necessarily want to lose weight, but I ended up losing seven pounds in the two week period!
