So here we are- the night before our challenge starts! I want to address a few things and leave you with a few words of encouragement!

 2015 Spring Clean EATing: Let's go! www.claresmith.me

First off, let’s talk about the end of the week treat.

This does NOT have to be food-related! It’s totally up to you as to what that is. If you are doing this with a partner, maybe you can celebrate together!

Next, a question—“But CLARE–you always talk about sustainability. This doesn’t seem very–sustainable?”

Totally agree with you here. I am a big proponent of eating a way 90% of the time that you can follow 90% of the time, however the truth is, we get off of that plan! So having times like this helps many of us to re-focus and get back on track. After this challenge, it will be up to you to figure out if you want to continue eating like this or modify it a bit to fit your life.

Finally, you may want to consider journaling this week–and while food journaling could be a part of it, I really mean spirit/emotion journaling.

Depending on how extreme you are going, how new this is to you, and your current status in life, this may be a very deep process for you. If you typically have eaten during times of stress, then this will prove a challenge if you are trying to zip things up. This would be a perfect chance to journal, go for a walk, or call a friend. Find other ways to deal with stress other than eating!

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I shared with you Friday what my meal plan will look like for the week so be sure to check it out!

Here is a little bit of the food I am prepping tonight!

2015 Spring Clean Eating Meal Prep: www.claresmith.me

And now a few rah rahs from your fearless leader:

1.) This will be hard.

It’s supposed to be but it’s also why I chose only 7 days. Short and sweet. The first few days may be the roughest, but you can do it.

2.) You might mess up.

Actually, there’s a high chance that you slip. That’s cool. Just make the next choice the right choice and keep moving.

3.) Life happens.

Some of you will start this and 2 days into it, get sick, or have a child get sick, or have some odd unknown thing happen that will stop you in your tracks. No biggie. You can join our next challenge. Don’t beat yourself up. (Or do this in a week that works for you)

4.) Focus more on what you CAN eat rather what you can’t.

This will be PIVOTAL in your success this week

5.) Give yourself grace.

This may be frustrating for you and you may want to quit. You may walk away feeling really weak and defeated. I just want to encourage you to give yourself a little bit of grace. We are all works in progress and we are working on just that–progress-NOT perfection.

So are you ready?! Whoo!! Be sure to follow me on instagram where I’ll be posting a lot more of my meals etc and if you are into hashtags, then use #eatclean15. I will be checking this daily! Come back next Sunday night as we do our check-in! I can’t WAIT to hear how you all did!!

Here are the links to the other posts:

Challenge Intro

My Meal Plan