challenge check-in and some eats

so, it's friday, and day FIVE of the cleaner life challenge. how have i been doing so far? well, pretty darn good if i do say so myself.

i certainly have been eating some things on the "no-no" list, but overall my choices have been better, and i just feel better in general. i know the challenge has only been happening for 4 days, but i've been trying to slowly make changes over the past weeks, and i have noticed a difference!

someone even commented to me that my face looked thinner and asked if i'd been losing weight :) i am, in fact at my lowest weight since high school, which was, oh, well too many years ago to really say ;)

it's somewhat surprising to me since i haven't been counting calories, or measuring (unless for a specific recipe). in general i've been eating foods that fill me up, that are more nutritious, and i've been listening to my body. eating when i'm hungry, stopping and not finishing if i'm full (shocker!), and also indulging in real treats, on occasion, which leave me more satisfied than the fake stuff.

i've also been eating a whole lot of peanut and almond butter, like a ridiculous amount, like a little less than a jar a week, but i guess that's another story...

anyway, here are some of this week's eats:
monday
breakfast

• nature's path rasin bran with flax cereal
• 1 banana, sliced
  
• handful of walnuts
• almond breeze
• 1 cup iced coffee with almond breeze and agave syrup
  

lunch

• salmon salad made with canned salmon, chopped celery and miracle whip

• 1 whole wheat english muffin
• side salad with mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, celery, feta cheese

dinner

• whole wheat cous cous
• chick peas
• roasted assorted veggies including onions, zucchini, squash, eggplant, asparagus
• 2 tbsp sabra greek olive hummus

desert

• fig newman's with pb&co. "the bees knees" peanut butter

(sorry, no pic of this yummy dinner- i left my camera memory card at work!)

tuesday
breakfast

• nature's path rasin bran with flax
• 1 sliced banana
• handful of walnuts
• almond breeze
• 1 iced coffee with almond breeze and 1 packet stevia
  

lunch

• salmon salad with chopped celery
• whole wheat english muffin
• side salad with celery, tomato, cucumbers, feta
• 1 pear

same as yesterday for brekkie and lunch so i'll spare you the pics of everything but the pear :)

snack

• 1 serving trader joe's peanut butter pretzels
• chocolate almond breeze

dinner

• whole wheat cous cous
• chickpeas
• onions, squash, zuchini, asparagus, peppers

wednesday
breakfast

• nature's path blueberry cinnamon optimum cereal
• 1 banana, sliced
  
• handful walnuts
• 1 container trader joe's organic greek vanilla yogurt, 0%
• 1 cup iced coffee with almond breeze and agave syrup

this yogurt bowl combo was EXTREMELY filling- i couldn't finish it! i ate probably about 3/4.

lunch

• salad with mixed greens, chickpeas, dried cranberries, walnuts, feta, cucumber, tomato, celery

snack

• 1 serving peanut butter puffins
• chocoalte almond breeze

dinner

• whole wheat cous cous
• blackbeans
• corn
• tomatoes
• onions
• cheddar cheese
• salsa

desert

• fig newmans with pb & co. "the bees knees" peanut butter

thursday
breakfast

• nature's path blueberry cinnamon optimum cereal
• 1 banana, sliced
  
• handful raw peacn halves
  
• almond breeze
  
• 1 cup iced coffee with almond breeze and 1 packet stevia
  

lunch

• chopped spinach salad with:
• portabello mushrooms
• hearts of palm
• wheatberries
• blue cheese
• asparagus
• a little bit of sherry shallot dressing on the side
• 1 small piece whole grain bread
• 1 orange
  

snack

• peanut butter puffins

beverage

• 1 and a half bottles of magner's cide - yummmm

this, i'm sure is not part of the cleaner life challenge, but i did say there are some things i wasn't going to give up ;) we went out for a co-worker's last day so i counted it as a treat :)

dinner

• whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce
• sprinkle of pecorino romano
• 1 whole wheat english muffin with pat of butter
  

(sorry- the camera ate my picture of this yummy-ness!)

what's good:

• nut milk instead of skim
• stevia/agave syrup instead of splenda
• no meat
• no soy
• whole wheat grains
  
• lots of veggies
• beans
• nuts
• organic greek yogurt
  

what's questionable:

• processed foods and snacks like pretzels, cereal, cookies
• not enough fruit
• non-organic cheese/too much cheese
  

i think the fact that my good list outweighs my questionable list isn't too shabby :) also, even though i'm eating processed food like cereal, it is organic and lower in sugar than some other alternatives.

so far so good, although i am contemplating a bagel with tofu cc toay... ;)

next week i hope to cut back on the dairy and cheese.

does anyone have any exciting plans for the weekend? i have a run with Team for Kids saturday, and the rest of the weekend is up in the air :)

happy friday!