The Food Babe Way {Week 2}

At the end of Week Two of “The Food Babe Way” on my quest to lose my baby weight, I am down a total of seven pounds and feeling fantastic.

It was a bit disheartening to step on the scale this week and see that I’ve lost only three pounds, but I have to remind myself that I’ve been on a weight-loss plateau for about eight months so any downward movement on the scale is a win. And seven pounds in two weeks isn’t too shabby.

Last week, I focused on liquids and detoxing. This week, the focus was on the food going into my body. Some big changes I made this week:

• I’m drinking a green drink every day. This one was tough for me, but I’m doing it. I followed Food Babe’s basic green smoothie recipe and just told myself I had to drink it. I even had a glass of juice one day. With three cups of green vegetables per drink, this is such a great way to get more nutrients in my diet.

• I’m trying to eat raw more than half the time. This is really hard when you’re not a fan of salads, but I’m working on it. I’m trying to make one meal a day completely raw, which usually turns out to be a smoothie and salad for lunch. I’m also making sure I only snack on raw foods and eat something raw with every meal.

• I am detoxing from sugar. I know that cutting sugar from my diet was part of my huge weight loss success when I lost almost 90 pounds in a year after having my first baby. I’ve recommitted to not cooking with sugar in my home and sticking to using only honey or pure maple syrup in moderation.

• I’m eating less meat. Buying only responsibly raised, local meat is difficult and expensive. I’ve gone through waves, but usually fall back to buying organic meat from Costco. I’ll stick to local sources from now on. I’m aiming to incorporate meat into our meals just a few times a week and ideally never more than once a day.

• I’m choosy about my grains. I’m limiting my flour consumption and instead choosing sprouted grain products and whole, intact grains. We’re big on pancakes and breakfast bread items, so that’s the hardest area to make this switch. We’ve been doing more egg/veggie scrambles or yogurt parfaits for breakfast instead.

• I’m adding some super foods to my diet including fermented foods like sauerkraut and homemade yogurt, quinoa, sprouts, chia seeds and hemp seeds. I’ve eaten all of these things before, but I’m finding new ways to make sure I’m eating them every day.

In addition to my diet changes, I also completed week 2 of my 5K training program. I went running three times, walked on the treadmill once, and did a yoga/Pilates class this week.

As the head of the kitchen department in our house, these changes haven’t just impacted me. My husband and kids have been troopers in coming along with me and I’m amazed at the changes happening to all of us. My poor husband is losing weight and doesn’t have any to spare. Time to start working on adding in healthy fats to bulk him up!

My three year old would be considered a “good” eater, but has started asking for salads, drinks green juices and smoothies with us, and has eaten more and a wider variety of vegetables this week than I could have imagined. It’s more proof that not offering kids vegetables is a surefire way to make sure they don’t eat them.

Week 3 is about changing lifestyle habits, and I’m looking forward to it!

Are you on a weight-loss journey? Or trying to improve your health? I’d love to hear what you’re doing! Please share your story with me in a comment.