Note: You can sign up for the Clean Eating Boot Camp here, completely free!
This week… is break time.
I need to get y’all caught up on cooking recipes, and we need time to talk about the struggles thus far. To catch up, every new week, you will add on to the previous week’s challenges to keep it going. So, for now, you should still be doing everything from weeks 1-7.
What are you having difficulties with? What kinds of plans of attack can you create to get better at it?
For example: are you struggling with the no fast food? Is it because you wind up stopping at a traffic light right in front of a fast food joint? Could we change/fix that by taking a different route home?
For recap, or to just re-acquaint yourself with the previous week’s challenges, check out the list below:
I’ll be going back and linking all of the recipes to their items (particularly weeks 5, 6 and 7) and posting recipes like a madwoman this week to get everyone caught up. Let’s just say I got side tracked with the YouTube channel and a couple other things coming out this week!
And, lastly, let me know in the comments how you’re doing! Someone else mentioned afew weeks back that they were hoping to be able to discuss their challenges more with the group and possibly get suggestions, and I want to encourage that more. What can we troubleshoot with you? Stop lurking and share!
15 comments
I seem to be able to keep up with all of the steps but every night, I mean EVERY NIGHT I have a craving for chocolate. It’s always right when I’m about to go to bed. I’ve tried to cut up fruit to have it handy and not keeping candy in the house in the first place, but it is STRONG!! So strong that I don’t mind getting dressed and walking 2 blocks in a foot of snow for a bar of Godiva because otherwise I’m not going to sleep. The whole time I’m doing this I feel guilty for hindering my progress like this, but nothing I’m doing is stopping me from eating it. I don’t eat the whole thing. After 1 or 2 squares I’m perfectly fine. However, I hate the drug fiend ways I behave before(can’t sleep), during(rolling my eyes in ecstasy) and after(feeling guilty and put myself down mentally for having no will power) the whole episode. I feel like Pavlov’s dog as soon as I visualize it! I even tell myself over and over that it’s poison, but NOTHING is turning me off. Please help.
Out of curiosity…is it a particular brand that you keep coming back to?
YES!!! It’s always Godiva milk chocolate. I’ve been studying the label, but the only thing I instantly recognize as being ‘most harmful’ is the sugar. I feel a little better that they use actual sugar as opposed to the dreaded HFCS but not much.
Hm… what happens if you just decide to keep it out of the house and, when the craving hits, you do something else productive – like a shower, a workout video, read a book or something – instead?
I struggle with my eafing diary (myfitnesspal). When I know I’m not doing well, I don’t wanna post! I could really use some support/accountability. If anyone would like to “friend” me there, my name is KayKari
Hi Erika,
I’m actually doing better than I thought I would. I thought the fast food would be a huge challenge for me but it hasn’t been. My gym is right beside a McDonald’s, so I have to smell the french fries going in and coming out – lol.
My nephews went to the gym with me on Saturday and begged for McD’s hotcakes; so I took them in and watched them eat and I didn’t get a thing and I love their hashbrowns and egg mcmuffin.
I think the biggest challenge for me is planning. I am not a morning person so my workouts happen after work, usually from 6-7. By the time I get home it is 7:30 and I don’t feel like cooking and having to cook and chop all day on Sunday isn’t much fun either.
I just ordered one of your meal plans so I am hoping that will help me out a lot.
I loved the taco salad I had for lunch today 🙂
I’m actually doing pretty well with most of the steps except the food journaling. I know it’s because I’m afraid to really confront the reality of what I’m eating. Now that I have more info about the goodness of clean eating and the problems with processed foods, I guilt trip myself. I don’t have a completely clean kitchen so I’m agonizing over every food choice. I avoid food until I’m so hungry that I no longer care what I eat. Intellectually, I know it’s not good at all but I guess the fear is holding me back.
So…a solution to this is to have more “clean” food options available to me. I know I don’t like to put much energy into cooking/prepping any meal but dinner so I need to spend some time at the beginning of the week getting everything ready to go.
I think I’m going to plan out my meals (all of them, not just dinner) and then just check them off as I eat them and let that serve as my journal. And if I go off plan, just right it down along with what I’ve already put in the plan.
And…thanks Erica for opening up the space for us all to talk about the struggle.
I have had a hard time with the food journal and eating veggies. I use My Fitness Pal, but am not consistent. It is currently my busy season at work and it is not uncommon for me to work 10-12 hours a day. When I come home, the last thing I want to do is cook. Sometimes I will just eat some popcorn and call it a day.
I’m doing good with the water, and surprisingly for breakfast I cut up some fruit, put it in the blender and that is breakfast on the way to work. (I just use what I have on hand.)
I’m not a good veggie eater and that has been a challenge. I want to do well, lose weight and get healthy. My goals are to 1) be able to stop taking my high blood pressure and cholesterol medicine, 2) feel good about how I look physically and 3) feel better. Sometimes I feel so defeated. Tomorrow is a new day.
Hey Shawn,
Don’t feel defeated – tomorrow is a new day! If you messed up today start over tomorrow (you need to read Erika’s 80/20 rule) 🙂
I too am on medication – high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol but I think I have finally gotten to the right place mentally…..it’s not a quick fix and this is a gradual process that will take some time.
I’m trying to focus on the week by week and eventually it will become second nature to eat healthy.
We’re starting with baby steps and keeping it moving forward. One day we will both be off our medications!
Hang in there 🙂
Thank you.
I’m doing OK with the water, I love the new food items and recipes and the amount of money I save following this plan. However, I haven’t written anything down since the first day you told us to start food journaling and I have been eating out on the weekends. On some days when I just don’t feel like packing a lunch I’ll head over to Whole Foods and get something out of their lunch section.
I’m going to use this week to RE BOOT and take another shot at following all the steps of boot camp.
I have been doing pretty good with all the steps except journaling as well. I was doing really good for about a month and then I just stopped being consistent. I will however put in my workouts every time I go to the gym and say oh I’ll put the food in later before I go to bed; as was suggested. Ughhhhhh!!!!!!!
Food diary–check, I hate it most days but I am forcing myself to do it just about everyday. I have to catch up a day and weekends are harder but I am continuing
Water–i got this annoying water app that tells me when to drink. It’s so annoying but it’s been helping me get the water in. also since I gave up soda at the beginning of the year, it’s been easier to get the water in
Fast food–pizza count? I get it for my kids on occasion luckily we only do it 2-3 times a month and it’s value menu. I got off the rails for pizza, it’s pizza Fridays in my house.
I am like Ericka your first post. I do crave chocolate but anything cakey or bread at night. I am trying something new this week and limiting my carbs after 7pm. It’s hard though because I really, really, really want chocolate or crackers, cookies, other processed snack stuff like that
I caught the flu so all this (expect the water intake) pretty much went out the window for two weeks. Even tho’ I didn’t eat much and lost a bit of weight, I’d rather it be to healthy eating and excercise rather than sickness. My biggest challenge is NOT eating fast food. There are so many healthy options here in So Cal, it’s easy to be lazy and not prepare the day’s meals because I know I can just stop by the Whole Foods Salad Bar for lunch. I am liking the extra cash not eating fast food is keeping in my pockets.
I’m also not much of a cook, so whole the recipes are helpful, it would be great if there was a master shopping list somewhere for the majority of them. (apologies if there is one, i couldn’t find it)
Thanks for reposting everything in one place, now I can catch up.
I honestly am struggling with the water and recording right now. The past two weeks have been very stressful and chaotic and my response to high stress situations is sleep. I don’t want to cook, I don’t want to work out, I want to sleep and/or eat. If it were just me in the house, I wouldn’t cook and would probably just sleep or eat once a day. But since I have two little ones, it’s been fast food. Something to get them fed, typically pizza. I’ve tried to make it healthier pizza (opting for veggies like spinach or mushrooms and replacing my pepperoni with chicken). Now that the stress has passed, I’m back to cooking again and making green smoothies and I’m proud of my eating choices. Lots of veggies and fish. I even planned my meals for the week and bought veggies I’ve never tried (radishes, turnips, and parsnips).
I just don’t know how to deal with the emotional/mental health side of this weight loss process. I’m hoping if I can deal with that part I can stick with what I know works (drink water, limit sugar, plan meals, whole grains, lots of veggies, move!). I just don’t know how to deal with that part :/
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