For the past week I have had an insane workout schedule. Take yesterday, for example… I rode mountain bike for a couple hours, went straight to Crossfit, and then had a 2-hour dance practice in the evening. Needless to say, I slept like a baby. Yet, even though I have kicked ass lately in the gym, I have been feeling very sluggish and, well…. fat.

Now, I know the holiday season is in full force. I had two very “merry” Christmas parties this weekend – one for my gym, and one for my cycling team. It can be hard, mentally and physically, to stay conscious of what we eat during times of community and celebration. In fact, eating clean during the holidays can really seem like a burden.
No matter, I am hereby re-committing to eating clean again. Maybe not 100% paleo, but like 80/20.  I DO cook a lot, and I eat 100% better today than I did a year ago. But I really think that a little bit of added awareness will make me feel way better. I figure that if I really make a concentrated effort to eat clean this last week of work, it will set me up to be way stronger mentally during my 2-week vacation. I’m not saying that I’m going to pass on a slice of cheesecake at my grandparents’ house on Christmas Eve, but if I can get back to a good feeling of healthy moderation, I won’t have to feel guilty about it 🙂

Here are some pretty simple guidelines I’ve committed myself to as a starting point:
1. No sodas, whether it be regular or diet or zero or whatever marketing wants to label it to make it seem okay. None.
2. No fast food.  I’m usually pretty good about this.
3. At least one salad everyday.  I know that Caesar salads aren’t the best calorie-wise, but I’m going to let this fly as my salad for the day if that’s what I have.
4. Eat enough.  My number one downfall is not being prepared with healthy snacks, and going from “not hungry” to STARVING.  And once I reach “starving”… you can bet I’m not reaching for a wholesome snack.

So here we go… so far I’m on track with my fruit plate breakfast and salad for lunch.  Dinner will be all about my meat and veggies.  Happy Monday!