Spring Clean Eating

Alright, friends. It's March. Can you believe it? Quite a bit of time has passed since we all signed on the dotted line for $0 down/$19.99 a month at our local gym to sweat it out with all our newfound friends at the gym. So… how’s it going?

I think March is a good check-in month to assess our progress in working toward our fitness goals we established at the beginning of the year. In doing so, I suggest we take advantage of this season of spring cleaning. And no, I don't mean bleaching your floors and scrubbing your baseboards with a toothbrush. (Though, my kitchen could certainly use a little T.L.C.) I'm talking about a major primary key to reaching our fitness goals: clean, healthy eating. Knowing how to properly fuel your body is half the battle (if not, more so) in attaining the healthy habits we’re aiming for.

My mindset for clean eating is not an “all or nothing” mentality. I mean, a girl’s gotta have a cupcake on her birthday, and I’m all about the occasional trip to grab fro-yo! However, while you’re meal prepping and making grocery lists for yourself and your family, it’s a great idea to have some general guidelines in place. The fundamental concept of a food plan (I don’t love the word “diet”. It’s a little too rigid for me.) that I like to follow is between a Paleo and a Whole 30 plan (you can check out more about Paleo and Whole 30 here!).

I think it is extremely important to figure out what works for YOUR body, which includes having a conversation with your doctor before trying either of these food plans. The great thing about both is they eliminate many items that could potentially be mild food allergies that we are not aware we have until we take a food away and then reintroduce it back into our diets. So check them out and let us know what you think!

While on the topic of “finding what works” for your body while you “spring clean” your kitchen, I’ve found that for me nixing all types of grains while long distance running doesn’t really cut it for me. I’ve adapted a recipe for Homemade Energy Bars (like Cliff Bars!) that I LOVE to eat before my workouts that I’d like to share. Spring clean eating really is all about knowing what is IN your food and what it is composed of, so rather than stumbling through a long list of ingredients, make some pre-workout bars yourself!

Homemade Energy Bars

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups old fashioned oats

Cinnamon (to taste)

¼ cup ground flax seed

¼ cup chia seeds

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips / cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 mashed bananas

1/3 cup of nut butter of choice (peanut, almond, etc)

3 tbsp honey

1 egg

Mix ingredients together and spread into a square on a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes, let cool and cut into squares. Makes 8-10 servings.

Enjoy! And remember, what we eat directly affects how we feel during the day and during our workouts. Our bodies are His temple (1 Corinthians 6:19) -- let’s feed them like we believe it!