Five-Day Clean Eating Group and What it Did for Us

Wow. Eating Clean and LIVING Healthy REALLY DOES WORK!

Karl (my hubby) and I did our first 5-day Clean Eating Group and were shocked to see the results. No magic pills. NO fake food (fat-free/sugar-free) crap. No starving. No meal replacements.

AMEN TO THIS!

Karl - Down 6 pounds (imagine if fitness was added to this!! That's coming next. Karl can't wait! He, he.)
Christie - Down 3 pounds (I also was doing PiYo and stair stepper)

My goal has ALWAYS been to get stronger during this pregnancy and to find more ENERGY. I need ALL the energy I can get. I hate feeling sluggish. HATE IT (hate is a strong word for me!). I'm just NOT myself. Nothing gets accomplished. I'm bumming out. Then everyone else in my family is out of sorts too.

So did I find the energy? YES. Should a HEALTHY pregnant person be losing weight? NOT totally. But, I promise you I've been teetering on the 30 lb weight gain. An average HEALTHY weight gain during a pregnancy is about 20-35 pounds (a 1-pound gain per week). Do not fear - I will easily go above that. I gained 39 pounds with Jackson (my first).

Ready for my honesty? I started to get a little out of control the past couple weeks. I mean, ice cream for my lunch dessert? Sure! Ice cream for my dinner dessert? YES! Chocolate after breakfast? Oh, for a snack too? Why not! Lunch? Another snack? Call the Schwan's Man over to deliver more ice cream? Why not! We're good buddies these days. YIKES! He was bummed when I waved him off the porch on Friday ordering NOTHING. Like I said, I wasn't making the wisest decisions and I think the latest eyebrow raise from the nurse at my 30-week check up was the push and look I needed. My other thought was if I work on ME and get REALLY strong, maybe, just MAYBE I won't have 37.5 hours of long labor this time around.

Worth a try, right?

Exactly. There is no failure except in no longer trying!!! You DESERVE a HEALTHY YOU!!!!

What is this 5-Day Clean Eating Group?
We provide a grocery list of all the clean foods you need to eat for 5 days. And you eat clean. And you're held accountable. THAT IS IT.

I'm a Beachbody Coach. My goal (AND PASSION) is to HELP others GET HEALTHY. That's IT. And that's what being a Beachbody Coach is all about. I have always loved health, fitness and nutrition. I LOVE Beachbody so far. LOVE. I don't remember when I've been this excited and passionate about something in a real long time. I have my OWN business and I absolutely LOVE it. I'm my own boss!!

FYI - I plan on running a FREE 5-Day Clean Eating Group at least a handful of times throughout the year, keeping it to once a month for now. I want to help you ALL. There has been TONS of interest for the next one so another one is coming in September. Keep your eyes open. And remember: it's only 5 days. It's FREE. That's it. Eating CLEAN for five days and feel AWESOME. You can do it. You can at least TRY!

What are "clean" foods?
NOT PROCESSED. Think about the earth and what types of foods it provides for us. What comes naturally from mother earth? Grains. Veggies. Fruits. And YES, meat, fish and some dairy is involved too. Like I said, a grocery list is provided. If you look on the back or side of the item you are consuming right now as you're reading this blog post and there is a list of long-named ingredients, probably NOT clean. Sorry. Stick to items that have 3-5 ingredients MAX in them.

Hardest Part for Us?
For Karl - No alcohol. Again, just 5 days. If HE can do it, YOU can do it. He did. But try going alcohol-free for 10 months!!!!!!!!!!! And in the summer!!!! Akkk. It's OK. You will survive. For me - No cheese. This was TOUGH, but again...survived.. No sweets. Duh. No CHOCOLATE. Sad. No milk...or butter. Unsweetened almond milk becomes your new friend. NO bread. It really is OK.

What I loved? 
The accountability of the group. LOVED this. I knew I was being held accountable the whole time and I knew I needed to snap a photo of my favorite Clean Meal of the day. I was totally motivated! AND, I LOVED how well I was sleeping at night. Being 30-weeks pregnant at the time, I can't say sleep comes easily, but I was sleeping like a ROCK by the second day. The energy was GREAT too. Would do this again, and again and AGAIN! Karl on the other hand was definitely detoxifying. He struggled more with his sleep.

Sound interesting?
I would LOVE for you to hop into my next 5-Day Clean Eating group coming in September. All you need is a Facebook account (don't worry. A closed group is set up so nobody else will see your posts except those in the group) and bring an open mind when it comes to the grocery list! Be ready to see some awesome results.

Like my Facebook page and you'll be notified of the next one! - http://www.facebook.com/coachchristiekoester

OUR CLEAN EATING PLAN for the 5 days (recap)

Breakfast Options:

I always had LOTS of fruit on hand - all chopped and ready to go! Cantaloupe and blueberries here. Being prepared totally HELPS. 

Karl made a HUGE batch of his healthy pancakes over the weekend so we could freeze. Basically he takes ANY pancake recipe and turns the requested 2 cups of flour and mixes up his own natural, healthy grains. The shopping list in the clean group lists all the grains we can consume. So he took raw almonds and blended them. Took oats and blended. Used wheat flour. Used brown rice and blended. Used quinoa and blended. HEALTHY!

Some mornings I made Old Fashion oats with unsweeted almond milk. Added NATURAL peanut butter (you get this by grinding peanuts up) and added flaxseed, walnuts, fresh berries and a little honey on top. 

I really love my oatmeal in the morning! 

Two eggs with organic kale, baby bella mushrooms and pork. A side of Karl's healthy pancakes topped with flaxseed, berries and honey instead of butter and maple syrup. 

GO-TO CLEAN Snacks (need to eat every 2-3 hours)

Raw almonds and a nectarine. Lucky that Jackson LOVES this snack. I also consumed 4 bottles of the water bottle seen in this photo per day. Take your weight, divide by two and drink that amount of water in ounces!!!

Tomatoes, a quarter of an avocado and a hard boiled egg with pepper. Cumin tastes really good too! I am a protein girl! It holds me over really well. I get crabby when I'm hungry!

Lunch Options

Lunch was ALWAYS leftovers from the night before. I did have to make lunch for myself on Friday because I'm off on those days. I find that it's MUCH harder to avoid grazing and snacking throughout the day when I'm at home because food is ALWAYS staring at me in the face. That's why cleaning out the pantries of all the crap is the way to go!

Chicken salad with beets and balsamic vinaigrette. A side of watermelon and berries

Sample of leftovers. I couldn't make another tortilla flaxseed shell while at work, so I took the leftover fajitas from a dinner  posted below and made into a salad. Tasted like Chipotle. Dressing was fresh homemade salsa!

GO-TO CLEAN Afternoon Snacks (need to eat every 2-3 hours)

I'd whip up a Shakeology shake from Beachbody. These are AWESOME. Packed with probiotics and vitamins. I'd throw in a bunch of fruits and veggies and we'd be good to go! NOT using as meal replacement because I am pregnant, active and need the calories!

Apple slices with NATURAL Peanut Butter (made from blended peanuts)

LOVE this snack. PLAIN, FULL-FAT Greek yogurt (with three ingredients), frozen organic blueberries, a little bit of honey and ground cinnamon

Celery dipped in either Natural Peanut Butter or Natural Cashew Butter. Can use Almond butter too!

Water consumption is SO important. I kept dressing mine up! NO LEG CRAMPS ALL WEEK!!!!!!!

CLEAN Dinner Options

Day One: Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon with Asparagus and beet salad. Recipe for the beet salad.

Day Two: Steak Fajitas with a homemade flaxseed tortilla shell. Flaxseed Wrap (makes 1 wrap) ~ * 3 tablespoons ground flaxseeds * 1/4 teaspoon baking powder * 1/4 teaspoon onion powder * 1/4 teaspoon paprika * pinch of sea salt or celery salt * 1 tablespoon coconut oil melted (plus extra to grease the dish) * 1 tablespoon water * 1 large egg

Kept our fridge stocked with fresh cut up fruit. 

Day Three: Simple grilled chicken breast with a side of grilled veggies and fresh fruit. SIMPLE and yet, SO GOOD!

Day Four: Chicken Quinoa Salad with black beans and a side of grapes and unsweeted almond milk! I also added mangoes. Recipe for the quinoa salad. 

Day Five: Tried to make my own Spaghetti. Brown rice and Flaxseed noodles and then tried to follow this recipe without adding cheese! I added mushrooms. (Recipe Here). Served with a side of Greek yogurt and blueberries.

Day Six: I wasn't sure if this was TOTALLY clean, so we went for 6 days! Asparagus with lemon rind, zucchini cooked with coconut oil and delicious steak!

CLEAN Dessert

Energy Balls - no-bake energy bites 1 cup dry oatmeal 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1/2 cup NATURAL peanut butter 1/2 cup ground flaxseed 1/3 cup honey 1 tsp. vanilla. TASTES LIKE COOKIES!!!!

PHOTO RESULTS:

Guess I was feeling rather GOOD on the inside and outside so I took Jackson to the pool IN A BIKINI at 30 weeks pregnant and 30 pounds heavier. I'd normally COVER UP. I mean, I do have veins popping out of my legs right now and there are some softer spots in places AND I see cellulite, but I didn't care. I was in a real good place!  I felt so great. Guess what? WE HAD FUN!!! TONS OF FUN!! And that's what life is about, right?? ENJOYING every MOMENT and being the HEALTHIEST we can be!

Who's with me? Want more information?? Like my Facebook Page or email me! Would LOVE to hear from you! Also, ask about my 30-Day Challenges where we pair FITNESS and NUTRITION together for AMAZING results!! SO much fun!!!!!!