The 21-day Reset is over but I’m still hanging on to some of the new practices that I hope will become lifestyle changes. The hardest part of this for me, once I got over the initial sugar cravings, was taking in enough good food. I was almost always hungry. Granted taking on this challenge during marathon training may not have been the best idea. Nevertheless, I survived, lost a little weight and feel more in control of my eating. Many of you have asked me what kinds of foods I’m eating so I’m going to show you what a typical day 21-day reset-style, looks like:
Breakfast: Black coffee, water, eggs, either hard boiled or scrambled with spinach, mushrooms and onions or a banana and almond butter if I’m running.
No snacks between breakfast and lunch. This is nothing new.
Sweet Potato-Tomato Soup
4-5 medium sweet potatoes
1/4C olive oil
6 plum tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
1T balsamic vinegar
4T butter
1 red onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
6C chicken or veggie broth
2T sea salt
1t black pepper
2t dried thyme (or 8-10 sprigs fresh)
2T chopped fresh chives
1T chopped fresh sage (or 1t dried)
Juice of 2 oranges
Preheat oven to 450F.
Rub sweet potatoes with a little of the olive oil and roast 40 minutes on a baking sheet until tender. Cool, then remove and discard skins.
While potatoes are roasting, toss tomatoes and garlic with 2T olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Roast 30 minutes until tomato skins shrivel. Cool, then tear tomatoes into small pieces.
Melt butter and remaining olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute the onion, carrots, and celery, stirring often. Add broth, salt and pepper, reduce heat and simmer uncovered 20 minutes. Add sweet potato flesh and simmer 20 minutes more. Stir in thyme, chives and sage and allow to cool slightly.
Working in batches, pour soup into a food processor or blender or puree directly in the pot with an immersion blender. Add tomatoes and their liquid to puree, add orange juice and stir to combine. Makes about 3 quarts.
Lunch: Leftovers or salad with protein or soup. I swear the backbone of this reset for me has been soups, stews and chili, with all veggies coming from my garden. There are no longer any post-lunch sweets. This is a big change for me as I’d always grab a cookie or something, which set me up for an afternoon of snacking.
Snack: Kind Bar or Larabar or apple with almond butter or baby carrots/hummus. The biggest key to avoiding the afternoon graze was taking myself away from the scene of the crime: home. You can’t eat food if you’re not around it.
Dinner: Lean, grass-fed protein, veggies. There are no longer any post-dinner sweets.
Results: By the end of the third week I was down 3 lbs. Although this was not about weightloss, this thrilled me as I managed to pack on 10 lbs over the past year. Thank you peri-menopause. The super bonus is I feel like it’s all off my waistline. I’m running better, and I mentioned before my complexion is clearer and brighter. All good. Really good.
Overall the real change for me was cutting out the sweets and crap. I was already cooking a ton, mostly gluten- and dairy-free and eating mostly grass-fed meat. I also stopped the mindless, I’ll call it scrapping. Eating the kids’ grilled cheese crust, a spoon of mac n cheese etc. It all adds up.
Going forward. I’m an all or nothing kind of girl. I succeeded with this reset because I told myself I do not eat those foods. And for the most part I didn’t. I’m going to continue with this way of eating except I’m allowing myself a “treat day” the day before my long run. I’m also going to go back to taking gels when I run long. Running fuel was never the problem.
Final words. I highly recommend the reset. It teaches you things about the way you eat. Getting over cravings is tough but doable and, in the scheme of things, goes quickly. It’s a great way to chip away at old habits and replace with new, healthier ones.
Have you ever done a reset? Did you enter my giveaway?
I recommend this reset too. It is not as stringent as some cleanses/reset programs. I got rid of the every day candy and treats and stuck with whole foods. I only lost ~1 – 2 lbs b/c I ate a lot (also marathon training) of nuts and stuff. I have not gone back to candy. Yay me. I included wine (one night each weekend) and running gels in my reset b/c I needed it! The fuel. Well, the wine, too!
Surprising how quickly cravings pass – I hardly ever miss bread now. Flour tortillas are another story… 🙂
This is how I felt after the 30 Clean– it was totally doable and something I will do again post pregnancy and baby! Way to go! I love hardboiled eggs for breakfast or lunch for that matter! Huge pregnancy craving of mine!!
When you say no snacks between breakfast and lunch, is that because the reset suggested it? I typically have a fruit between those meals and if I didn’t, I would have to have larger breakfasts to hold me over until then.
I would love to have a garden but I don’t really want to dedicate the time it takes to take care of it! Good job on the reset/getting healthier.
Sounds like you did great with this reset. I really need to take a hard look at doing something that will help me with my late afternoon snacking!
I’ve never done a reset. But I eat pretty clean anyways because I have those pesky GI issues. I’m always looking at my diet to see what my triggers might be. But I sure couldn’t give up my post meal chocolate! 🙂
Mmm your sweet potato soup sounds amazing!!! Pinning that for later!
That sweet potato soup looks fab! I’m saving so I can try it!
YAhoo Marcia! Glad it worked for you! YUP, peri & meno sucks for the bod stuff! 😉
I am not an all or nothing gal BUT I do eat pretty decent so I don’t really do these types of things AND you know about my treat cookies from my posts! 🙂
Yahoo for tweet & share buttons!
I’ve never done a reset, but I do try to stay away from processed foods. Of course soda is my nemesis…but I am drinking an organic one now. Still not sure it’s the best for me. LOL Your soup looks delicious…I am in soup mode right now because it is pouring rain outside! Thanks for linking it up with us at Foodie Fridays.
yay! glad you finished strong and feel better. It’s worth the extra effort, yes?!
I can see how the reset would make you a lot more mindful of eating patterns and unconscious habits. I could have done with being a bit more mindful yesterday when I managed to eat an entire packet of jelly lollies before going to bed.
Congratulations on such great results from the reset! I find that slowly replacing bad habits with good ones is what works for me. The soup looks delicious – I love sweet potatoes!
Congratulations! Sounds like a definite success – and those meals sound tasty, too!
I am a HUGE sweet addict and most of my bad decisions come from processed dessert foods. I have been scared to try one of these, but really do need too after hearing so many great reviews.
i just finished my weekend with a nutritionist and it was eye opening. i need my little snacks/mini meals bc i am too hungry. but my breakfast pre-run has been to big and my afternoon snacks are too heavy, too. i don’t think i would do a reset, bc i already eliminate so much, but it’s interesting to learn this new process about fueling.
Love this challenge. I need to jump on board and do a reset myself. Thanks for sharing your fabulous recipe with us this week at Foodie Fridays. Hope to see you again this week. I’m sure you’ll be cooking up something delicious!
Blessings,
Shari
A reset sounds like something I definitely need to do! (I’ve kinda been binging on cruise food for the past 2 weeks. 😡 ) This soup looks super good! 😀 I love sweet potatoes, but never thought of putting it into a soup with tomatoes!
Thanks for joining us on Foodie Fridays! :] Hope to see you back again!