I have been trying to eat cleaner, too. I worked as a barista and baker at coffee shops for the last five years, so I am pretty much addicted to sugar and caffeine. But, I quit that job and got another one and have been cutting down on sugar a ton. I eat pretty healthy; I eat mainly local food (I live in Alaska, so all the meat you can possibly want is obtainable- especially if you have a partner that hunts!!), so I eat a lot of vegetables, whole grains, and super lean wild meats and fish. I found a great website, www.damyhealth.com, that has great recipes for free. I was looking mainly for healthier dessert recipes, as that is my weakness. I have tried a bunch of desserts and food from her and they are fabulous. The best thing is I can find all the ingredients here in AK which is hard sometimes unless you go to the city. I recommend the pecan pie bites, the quinoa breakfast muffins, and all her raw do over candy bar recipes. Also, if you are on instagram, unprocessyourfood, is an AMAZING account!! She posts some of the most yummy and easy recipes!! My biggest downfall with trying to eat healthier was trying to do it all at once. If I were to do it over again, I would have started off with just trying to drink more water; eat at least one veggie per meal; and have backup fruit and veggies as snacks ready. I've been on this HUGE pizza kick lately, so to balance that, I have been doing 45 minutes of core power yoga five times a week. Another thing I ran into was not allowing myself to have something just because it "isn't healthy.". I will have pizza, I will get a chocolate almond milk mocha, I will share that vegan brownie with a friend, and I go out for drinks and consume homemade wine at home every once in a while. You have got to treat yourself. Most things in moderation are totally ok (I have to repeat this to myself a lot!!). Oh, and one last thing, I have been making these granola bars from the minimalist baker to have on hand as a snack, dessert, or even breakfast on the go. I do toast the oats and the nuts together and I have done this recipe with just almonds, but recently I tried a combo of almonds and pecans and, oh man, it is so yummy!! I recommend trying these bad boys out http://minimalistbaker.com/healthy-5-ingredient-granola-bars/. I think this is a great discussion as I think we all should support each other in being more healthy!!
