One Month Challenge: Eating Clean, Week 1

February 4, 2012 5:00 pm     Posted in Food, Health  Candy -- NYU g+ page


By Candy

Eating Clean: The act of eliminating foods that are processed and/or nutritionally devoid.  (This includes choosing complex carb products over simple – i.e. brown rice over white rice.)

Advocates of “eating clean” tout a laundry list of benefits – more energy, better skin, weight-loss, and better muscle definition, etc…  They say that one should see a different within a couple of weeks – so I thought, how about a month? Then I thought, why keep all these benefits to myself? As your kindergarten teacher would say, sharing is caring!

So how is this really a challenge? As a recent college grad trying to make my way in the big city (NYC) with a roughly 50-60 hour work week on average, my schedule is pretty tight – especially if I want to fit in regular workouts, maintain my friendships and read CollegeCandy! [Editor's Note: Awwww!]

Originally, I had sort of thought it would be an easy challenge since I usually make a point of eating as healthily as possible. Well, as I went to the grocery store to do some preliminary research, I noticed that one had to be focused on finding foods that fit the criteria for “eating clean.” Shockingly (or maybe not), some of the worst offenders were the “healthy” or “diet” choice options. Now I realize that successfully completing this month’s challenge is going to take commitment, and so the next week will be about making a plan to deal with any potential pitfalls – i.e. working late at the office (a major point of concern in my line of work).

I just want to emphasize that this challenge is not about promoting a new diet fad nor a quick fix for rapid weight-loss.  In fact, in some ways it’s about just the opposite – it’s about forcing myself to take a hard look at what I am putting into my body on a day-to-day basis.  It’s high time that I deal with the inescapable fact that I cannot recognize half the ingredients present in my dinner – without a degree in Biology or Chemistry…

Feel free to join in and share your own experiences and of course yummy recipes are always appreciated!

13 Comments on "One Month Challenge: Eating Clean, Week 1"

  1. Marysa says:
    Sun, 5th Feb 20122:06 am 

    I have actually been trying this for a few weeks. I am so excited to follow along! PS: I suggest getting some Lara Bars. ;)

  2. sara says:
    Sun, 5th Feb 20121:20 pm 

    could you post a link or write a few tips in your next post of some example foods to eat and some to avoid? i want to eat healthily but sometimes i have no clue what the best way to do this is. thanks!

  3. Ashley- GWU says:
    Sun, 5th Feb 20122:55 pm 

    I'm going to join you in this one month challenge…I could definitely pay better attention to what I'm eating. What is classified as "clean" food though?

  4. nerdygirlatw says:
    Mon, 6th Feb 201210:35 am 

    I will definitely be posting foods, etc!

    As for what is "clean" – I am still figuring out what that means myself. My first decision has been to cut out fried foods and eat as little as I can of what comes out of a box – i.e. no meals containing enough preservatives to guarantee existence in 2050…

    Hope that helps and there will be more with my next post!

  5. KAlex says:
    Mon, 6th Feb 20122:04 pm 

    I follow Tosca Reno's Eat-Clean Diet! It is the only way to go, I was able to get lean and toned before my vacation to Costa Rica. I had abs, I almost died. I highly recommend The Eat-Clean Diet® Recharged for beginners. http://www.eatcleandiet.com/about_the_diet/the_bo…

  6. Professor says:
    Mon, 6th Feb 20123:56 pm 

    does Eating Clean mean gin instead of Jack Daniels?

  7. i4piggy says:
    Mon, 6th Feb 20126:59 pm 

    Im in!!! its nice because it feels like an entire support system

  8. Larhonda says:
    Mon, 2nd Jul 20121:46 pm 

    Then I thought, why keep all these benefits to myself? As your kindergarten teacher would say, sharing is caring!

  9. Royce says:
    Sat, 29th Dec 20125:47 am 

    I have been surfing on-line greater than three hours lately, yet I

    by no means discovered any fascinating article like yours.

    It is pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made good content material as you probably

    did, the net will likely be much more useful than ever before.

    my weblog: rasberry keytones

  10. Elva says:
    Tue, 1st Jan 20135:39 am 

    I constantly spent my half an hour to read this blog’s articles or reviews all the time along with a cup of coffee.

    Feel free to visit my site :: Elite Esig Reviews

  11. Kent says:
    Wed, 2nd Jan 20139:49 am 

    I drop a leave a response whenever I like a post on a website or I have something to contribute to the discussion.

    It is triggered by the fire communicated in the post

    I browsed. And on this post One Month Challenge: Eating Clean,

    Week 1 : CollegeCandy – Life, Love & Style For The College Girl.

    I was actually excited enough to leave a thought ;) I do have 2 questions for you if

    you don’t mind. Could it be only me or does it look like a few of the responses appear like they are coming from brain dead people? :-P And, if you are posting on additional online sites, I would like to follow anything new you have to post. Would you make a list every one of all your social sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?

    my website; White Kidney Bean Pure

  12. Juliana says:
    Thu, 10th Jan 20134:22 pm 

    Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog

    and wished to say that I’ve really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you

    write again soon!

    my blog; Elite Esig Review

  13. Erin says:
    Tue, 16th Apr 20131:02 am 

    Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve visited this web site before but after browsing through a few of the articles I realized it’s new to me.

    Regardless, I’m certainly pleased I found it and I’ll be book-marking it

    and checking back frequently!

    My homepage: Buy White Kidney Bean

Tell us what you're thinking...