First of all, let me get this out of the way.
I’m not selling anything.
There. Now you can relax.
This post is an outgrowth of me posting a photo of what I was having for breakfast on Instagram. Later that day, I decided to go ahead and post what I was having for lunch. Then I figured why not dinner.
The next day, someone asked me around lunch time what I’d had for breakfast so I posted again… and so on and so on.
I posted every meal for seven days. And I lost 9 pounds.
Now let me start by saying that I don’t expect to lose 9 pounds a week from here on out. Last week was an anomaly.
If you’ve ever watched the Biggest Loser, you know that at the end their first week on the ranch, the contestants weigh in and experience the loss of crazy amounts of weight. There’s a reason for that.
When you eat clean, there are two things that you lose a lot of right off the bat. 1) Water and 2) Gut sludge.
Our standard American diet (SAD) is extremely high in sodium and crud that doesn’t move easily through our digestive systems. Lots of salt leads to water retention and lots of crud leads to gut sludge. When you eat clean however, you remove those factors from your diet and your system works to rid itself of excess product it would rather do without.
In laymen’s terms, clean eating is eating food that is not processed or eating foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. If you want a more in depth explanation of clean eating you can check out this one from CNN.com here. You can also Google, “what is clean eating”. You will be overwhelmed but you will have plenty of information.
A few years back I discovered the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. To this day I have his basic principles of what to eat/not eat posted on my fridge. That doesn’t mean I always look at before I open my refrigerator door to get something to eat. I’m just keeping it real here. But it is definitely a reminder.
After a holiday season that, for me, started out with pretty successfully dietary decisions but then quickly plummeted into a a gluttonous binge, an increased struggle in food choices, I decided to get back to eating clean and used Dr. Fuhrman’s guidelines as the base for what would go into my mouth. My desire was not to eat this way in an unbalanced or extreme way but to use it as a guideline for making good, solid, food decisions on a daily basis. You will find as you look at my daily food diary that I had a few hiccups now and again but overall I ate pretty good and clean.
Enough already… you say?
Get to the details… you say?
OK… Here’s how I ate and exercised for seven days. If you want to view my menu in detail with measurements, macros, and calories, you can check out my food diary. (I used myfitnesspal.com)
I’ve added a few photos to add some eye-candy to the post, but if you want to see all of the pictures, just browse my Instagram feed from last week.
Unless otherwise specified, assume I drank water – lots and lots of water.
OK… here we go…
Monday
Breakfast – 1/2 cup oatmeal, finger banana, 2 tsp peanut butter (Whole Foods freshly ground… yum), “Skinny Greens” green juice from thejuicebardallas.com
Lunch – 1 cup of pinto beans, romaine salad w/ 2T dried cranberries, 2T of sunflower seeds, and a squeezed lemon (no dressing)
Dinner – 3 oz of grilled tilapia, 1 cup of steamed green beans, 1 cup of fresh cut pineapple
Snack – 2 Biscoff cookies (the kind that Delta hands out for a snack… ridiculously tasty) and 4 oz of sweet tea.
Exercise – Caught the last 15 minutes of a spin class then got on the treadmill for a 2 mile jog.
Tuesday
Breakfast – “Chocolate-Goodness-in-a-Blender” – 1 scoop of Garden of Life Raw Protein meal replacement/protein mix, 1 cup of rice milk, 2tsp of raw almond butter, 1 tsp of Kyo Greens, 1 banana
Lunch – 3 oz of grilled tilapia, 1 cup of steamed green beans, 1 can of Amy’s Organic Lentil Soup
Dinner – 3 oz of grilled tilapia, 1 cup of steamed green beans, 3 oz of Jerk chicken with mango sauce (recipe coming soon) over 3 cups of romaine lettuce
Snack – 2 cups of Skinny Pop (low fat popcorn), 1 small apple, 1 oz of raw mixed salted nuts.
Exercise – Nada
Wednesday
Breakfast – 2 egg whites w/2T of shredded mozarella and spinach, 1/2 cup of apple/cinnamon oatmeal, and a banana
Lunch – Leftover Jerk Chicken from Tuesday’s dinner w/leftover Mango salsa over a bed of greens on an Ezekiel bread tortilla. Topped off with one glorious tablespoon of guacamole.
Dinner – 4 oz of grilled tilapia, 1 cup of steamed green beans, 1/2 cup black eyed peas (cooked w/leftover bacon… oops!), treated myself to a 16oz Sweet Leaf peach tea
Snack – finger banana w/2 tsp peanut butter
Exercise – Taught my first fitness class ever at 24 Hour Fitness!!! Whooop! One hour of spinning!
Thursday
Breakfast – 1 hard boiled egg, 4 Late July crackers, 1 oz of natural cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup of fresh mango chunks, finger banana w/2 tsp peanut butter (yes… again)
Lunch – Treated myself to Panera Bread. Pick 2. Fuji Chicken Apple Salad and French Onion Soup. Not super clean but clean enough. And yes… I got bread as a side item and ate it.
Dinner – Leftover redesigned… again. Same meal as Tuesday’s lunch. This one is a winner!!! Getting permanently filed in the recipe notebook!
Snack – Nada
Exercise – Tried a Zumba class with my 18yo and my sissy. I’m not a good dancer but I still had a good time shaking my pa-tooty.
Friday
Breakfast – “Chocolate-Goodness-in-a-Blender” – 1 scoop of Garden of Life Raw Protein meal replacement/protein mix, 1 cup of rice milk, 2tsp of raw almond butter, 1 tsp of Kyo Greens, 1 banana
Lunch -Pan sautéed halibut (love it in restaurants so decided to try at home), 1 cup of black eyes peas (mixed with a bit of leftover baked beans), large romaine salad w/1T sunflower seeds, 1T dried cranberries, dash of Spike, and a spritz of lemon (no dressing)
Dinner – 16 oz C-Blast green juice from thejuicebardallas.com. Meant to eat black eyes peas and salad but passed out before that happened.
Snack – finger banana w/2 tsp peanut butter
Exercise – Ran +4 miles to the post office. Don’t be impressed. I’m a s-l-o-w runner.
Saturday
Breakfast – “Barebones -Chocolate-Goodness-in-a-Blender” – 1 scoop of Garden of Life Raw Protein meal replacement/protein mix, 1 cup of water, 2T of Just Great Stuff- Organic Powdered Chocolate Peanut Butter, and 1 tsp of Kyo Greens.
Lunch – Out running with my kids and we all went to Chick Fil A. Asian Salad w/fried chicken. Used 1/2 of the dressing, 1/2 wontons and no almonds.
Dinner – My sister forced me to join her for mexican food. So that made two #cheatmeals for today. 1/2 beef quesadilla, a bit of guacamole, sour cream, pico, and a few swigs of a FABULOUS Coke. Oh…and I lost count on the chips.
Snack – 2 Biscoff cookies and 4 oz of milk.
Exercise – Taught two spin classes at a local private fitness studio
Sunday
Breakfast – My “big” Sunday breakfast. Homemade whole wheat waffle w/1T of pure maple syrup, one boiled egg, and one SLAMMIN’ piece of turkey bacon (no nitrites!)
Lunch – 2 Bananas. I was too busy and stressed working on cleaning out my closet to take a break.
Dinner – Large plate filled with Southwestern Chopped Salad (romaine lettuce, black beans, corn, tomatoes, orange bell pepper, green onions), 2T of Ken’s Creamy Balsamic With Honey
Snack – Costco samples after church
Exercise – Nada
So there you have it folks – 9 pounds in 7 days. Do I expect to have the same results next week? Nope… my gut doesn’t have as much sludge to deal with and I’ve already released much of the extra water I was carrying around.
Do I expect to continue to mostly clean eating and exercise. Yup!
Oh! And please don’t be discouraged by the exercise part if you can’t do or don’t want to do the kind of exercising I did. How you move doesn’t matter as much as that you get moving doing something.
Exercise definitely helps but the food is the main thang ya’ll. I’ve blogged about my fight with the #fatdemon and what I tell people when they ask me what I’m doing to lose weight. Be sure and check out that post if you haven’t already.
I’m on a journey and I plan on staying on this road to better health. God is calling me into unchartered territory in this season of my life and I want my body to be able to keep up with the tasks that He’s giving me to do.
I hope that this post has encouraged you to make small changes in your food choices or the amount of movement that you do everyday.
So far in my weight loss journey, I’m down over 40 pounds over the last 18 months. I’m a homeschool mom of five kids and I wear like a-zillion hats. If I can do it. You can do it.
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I’ve added a few photos to add some eye-candy to the post, but if you want to see all of the pictures, just browse my Instagram feed from last week.
Unless otherwise specified, assume I drank water – lots and lots of water.
OK… here we go…
Monday
Breakfast – 1/2 cup oatmeal, finger banana, 2 tsp peanut butter (Whole Foods freshly ground… yum), “Skinny Greens” green juice from thejuicebardallas.com
Lunch – 1 cup of pinto beans, romaine salad w/ 2T dried cranberries, 2T of sunflower seeds, and a squeezed lemon (no dressing)
Dinner – 3 oz of grilled tilapia, 1 cup of steamed green beans, 1 cup of fresh cut pineapple
Snack – 2 Biscoff cookies (the kind that Delta hands out for a snack… ridiculously tasty) and 4 oz of sweet tea.
Exercise – Caught the last 15 minutes of a spin class then got on the treadmill for a 2 mile jog.
Tuesday
Breakfast – “Chocolate-Goodness-in-a-Blender” – 1 scoop of Garden of Life Raw Protein meal replacement/protein mix, 1 cup of rice milk, 2tsp of raw almond butter, 1 tsp of Kyo Greens, 1 banana
Lunch – 3 oz of grilled tilapia, 1 cup of steamed green beans, 1 can of Amy’s Organic Lentil Soup
Dinner – 3 oz of grilled tilapia, 1 cup of steamed green beans, 3 oz of Jerk chicken with mango sauce (recipe coming soon) over 3 cups of romaine lettuce
Snack – 2 cups of Skinny Pop (low fat popcorn), 1 small apple, 1 oz of raw mixed salted nuts.
Exercise – Nada
Wednesday
Breakfast – 2 egg whites w/2T of shredded mozarella and spinach, 1/2 cup of apple/cinnamon oatmeal, and a banana
Lunch – Leftover Jerk Chicken from Tuesday’s dinner w/leftover Mango salsa over a bed of greens on an Ezekiel bread tortilla. Topped off with one glorious tablespoon of guacamole.
Dinner – 4 oz of grilled tilapia, 1 cup of steamed green beans, 1/2 cup black eyed peas (cooked w/leftover bacon… oops!), treated myself to a 16oz Sweet Leaf peach tea
Snack – finger banana w/2 tsp peanut butter
Exercise – Taught my first fitness class ever at 24 Hour Fitness!!! Whooop! One hour of spinning!
Thursday
Breakfast – 1 hard boiled egg, 4 Late July crackers, 1 oz of natural cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup of fresh mango chunks, finger banana w/2 tsp peanut butter (yes… again)
Lunch – Treated myself to Panera Bread. Pick 2. Fuji Chicken Apple Salad and French Onion Soup. Not super clean but clean enough. And yes… I got bread as a side item and ate it.
Dinner – Leftover redesigned… again. Same meal as Tuesday’s lunch. This one is a winner!!! Getting permanently filed in the recipe notebook!
Snack – Nada
Exercise – Tried a Zumba class with my 18yo and my sissy. I’m not a good dancer but I still had a good time shaking my pa-tooty.
Friday
Breakfast – “Chocolate-Goodness-in-a-Blender” – 1 scoop of Garden of Life Raw Protein meal replacement/protein mix, 1 cup of rice milk, 2tsp of raw almond butter, 1 tsp of Kyo Greens, 1 banana
Lunch -Pan sautéed halibut (love it in restaurants so decided to try at home), 1 cup of black eyes peas (mixed with a bit of leftover baked beans), large romaine salad w/1T sunflower seeds, 1T dried cranberries, dash of Spike, and a spritz of lemon (no dressing)
Dinner – 16 oz C-Blast green juice from thejuicebardallas.com. Meant to eat black eyes peas and salad but passed out before that happened.
Snack – finger banana w/2 tsp peanut butter
Exercise – Ran +4 miles to the post office. Don’t be impressed. I’m a s-l-o-w runner.
Saturday
Breakfast – “Barebones -Chocolate-Goodness-in-a-Blender” – 1 scoop of Garden of Life Raw Protein meal replacement/protein mix, 1 cup of water, 2T of Just Great Stuff- Organic Powdered Chocolate Peanut Butter, and 1 tsp of Kyo Greens.
Lunch – Out running with my kids and we all went to Chick Fil A. Asian Salad w/fried chicken. Used 1/2 of the dressing, 1/2 wontons and no almonds.
Dinner – My sister forced me to join her for mexican food. So that made two #cheatmeals for today. 1/2 beef quesadilla, a bit of guacamole, sour cream, pico, and a few swigs of a FABULOUS Coke. Oh…and I lost count on the chips.
Snack – 2 Biscoff cookies and 4 oz of milk.
Exercise – Taught two spin classes at a local private fitness studio
Sunday
Breakfast – My “big” Sunday breakfast. Homemade whole wheat waffle w/1T of pure maple syrup, one boiled egg, and one SLAMMIN’ piece of turkey bacon (no nitrites!)
Lunch – 2 Bananas. I was too busy and stressed working on cleaning out my closet to take a break.
Dinner – Large plate filled with Southwestern Chopped Salad (romaine lettuce, black beans, corn, tomatoes, orange bell pepper, green onions), 2T of Ken’s Creamy Balsamic With Honey
Snack – Costco samples after church
Exercise – Nada
So there you have it folks – 9 pounds in 7 days. Do I expect to have the same results next week? Nope… my gut doesn’t have as much sludge to deal with and I’ve already released much of the extra water I was carrying around.
Do I expect to continue to mostly clean eating and exercise. Yup!
Oh! And please don’t be discouraged by the exercise part if you can’t do or don’t want to do the kind of exercising I did. How you move doesn’t matter as much as that you get moving doing something.
Exercise definitely helps but the food is the main thang ya’ll. I’ve blogged about my fight with the #fatdemon and what I tell people when they ask me what I’m doing to lose weight. Be sure and check out that post if you haven’t already.
I’m on a journey and I plan on staying on this road to better health. God is calling me into unchartered territory in this season of my life and I want my body to be able to keep up with the tasks that He’s giving me to do.
I hope that this post has encouraged you to make small changes in your food choices or the amount of movement that you do everyday.
So far in my weight loss journey, I’m down over 40 pounds over the last 18 months. I’m a homeschool mom of five kids and I wear like a-zillion hats. If I can do it. You can do it.
Thanks Chrystal for this post, you gave great and simple examples of eating clean and exercising. You also reminded us that we do not have to be perfect or crazy about eating only grass and moving our bodies every second in a day. Well, I’m with you on this journey because I am tired of being FAT and Tired :). Thanks again.
Hey Chrystal
Thank you so much for the encouragement! I have been making small changes in my diet and it has paid off. My clothes (undies and all lol) have been fitting much more loose than before. I am a very picky eater, however I would love to try a “cleaner” way of eating. I love how you said that “you want your body to be able to keep up with the tasks that God is giving you to do”. I have often said that you should make a good effort to keep your body in optimal condition so that it’s not a hindrance to you completing the work/assignment God is calling you to do. This was an awesome and very timely post for me
Love you much!
OH Chrystal following your journey with the fatdemon on your tail has been so encouraging!
I too lost 9 lbs this past week doing pretty much the same thing. I started fasting from meats and sweets on the 11th so in preparation I sat down ahead of time and did some menu planning. My family gets a box of fresh local veggies each week from Greenling.com so I cooked every meal at home during this week and had only one meal out (after church on Sunday).
I also felt the Lord telling me to give up snacking. So I only ate at the typical 3 times and through His strength I was able to overcome the tempting voices of the fatdemon. I’ve been praising the Lord all week and sharing with anyone who will listen. I did menu planning again this week and I keep asking myself why I was so stubborn and thought it would be too much trouble. In fact, planning ahead of time made my week so easy. Why did I ever doubt?
I use myfitnesspal to track my food and I was surprised one day that a friend and I ate the same amount of calories in one day but I ate 3 yummy meals (steel cut oats and nuts for breakfast, madras lentils w/jasmice rice & power greens salad for lunch, spaghetti squash with butter & garlic & a salad for dinner) while my friend only ate 1 meal and a snack–mostly of packaged store bought stuff for the same calories of yummy homemade food! That alone was enough to convince me I am on to something.
I now know this is all through God’s strength. I have tried and failed so many times, but like you said these small consistent changes are life changing! I know getting an exercise routine is up next and I don’t nearly feel as discouraged. I just have to show up each day, lean on my God for his strength (and devour his Word—that’s also been a huge part).
Thanks for sharing! It just feels so good to eat healthy. I enjoy a treat to whole foods too! I am inspired to really get back to speed walking…thanks!
Thanks Chrystal, I am doing the same thing. Eating Clean is the way to go! God Bless you Chrystal!
Great Post Chrystal! You are doing an awesome job staying focused on your journey and inspiring many others.
And YOU keep inspiring me!
Chrystal you are Rocking it! Congratulations and thanks for sharing. Also for keeping it real.
You should keep posting what you’re eating. I gry inspired! Keep up the good work. Hoping to get back on track.
Thanks Chrystal for your post of how you lost 9 pounds in 7 days. Gives me a little encouragement I am presently trying my hardest to loose some weight according to my children and one pair of my jeans I am loosing, but I still can”t see it. I have a goal I want to meet and I am determined that I am going to make it. I have a big birthday coming in October and that is one of my gifts to myself get down to a size that I am happy with., again thank you for your encouragement.
Awesome, totally gonna reread that book and try again. I’m a little older I think I can do it this time. Thanks for the encouragement!!!
I really just want to be healthy I don’t event care about the weight loss anymore.
I hear ya. Health first.
Wow! Thanks SO MUCH for the insight and encouragement. I fell off the “healthy” wagon several months ago and have been struggling to get my act together so this was definitely right on time… God bless you!
So proud of you Chrystal!
My own weight loss journey…well, the real one, not the pretend one I’ve been saying I’ve been on for the last four years…began in December. My sister made a comment to me in early December when my blood pressure jumped off the charts of “Well, since getting up really early is the only time you have to work out, think of it this way…Get up early or die early.” Ha!
So I have. Every morning for over a month now of 5 am in home workout. I switch between Pilates, Abs, and hand weights each day always combined with a 2 mile/3 mile walk video. Plus, I’ve been eating fresh fruits and veggies and discovering different ways to make them (so the kids will enjoy OUR healthy eating journey as well).
Blood pressure down. Stamina increased.
And, just today, I’ve decided to stop calling it a weight loss journey, but a healthy lifestyle commitment because, well, that just makes more sense.
Thanks for being an inspiration. It’s all about just making a decision and making a move.
You decided. You’re moving. And, you’re bringing us on the journey with you. 🙂
~Melanie
melharper.blogspot.com
Keep it up Mel! You can do it 🙂
This was helpful! Thanks for sharing 🙂
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