The Clean Eating Challenge: Wednesday

I've challenged myself to go cold turkey on my beloved junk food and eat 100% clean for seven days straight. Well, maybe 95% clean... but I think that's close enough for a beginner. Here's what I ate today.

Breakfast
1/2 cup Quaker Old Fashioned Oats
2 tablespoons coarsely ground flaxseed
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 teaspoon honey
3 dashes ground cinnamon
1/2 cup fresh, local blueberries

Spinach omelette (1 whole egg, 1 egg white)

Coffee with organic half-and-half and sweetened with 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Morning Snack
1 red delicious apple
Small handful unsalted almonds

Lunch
2 cups spinach and spring mix greens
5 oz. marinated shrimp
     Marinade:
     2 teaspoons olive oil
     1 teaspoon lime juice
     Generous dashes of ground cumin
1/2 cup reduced sodium black beans
1/2 cup reduced sodium chickpeas
2 tablespoons chunky salsa

**Today's workout was the P90X Shoulders and Arms workout. It suddenly occurs to me that I was supposed to do the Ab Ripper X workout, too. Oops!**

Afternoon Snack (Post-Workout)
10 ounces organic skim milk
3 tablespoons chocolate soy protein powder
1 medium banana

Dinner
1/4 cup tricolor rotini (technically not clean because it wasn't whole wheat... whatever)
1/2 a medium zucchini sliced
10 kalamata olivs
4 ounces shrimp sauteed in garlic
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Evening Snack
4 tablespoons plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter

Nutritional Breakdown: 1,861 calories (48% carbohydrates, 21% protein, 31% fats)

Summary

I discovered a few things today. First, coffee with maple syrup is better tasting than coffee with honey. Second, a tablespoon of honey has 16-17 grams of sugar but a tablespoon of maple syrup has 12 grams of sugar. Third, I need to find a way to eat (or maybe buy?) only the egg whites. I hate throwing away the yolks. It just feels so wasteful. Fourth, I need to be a little more conservative with the olive oil. Fifth, it seems like I'm constantly eating all day but I'm actually consuming fewer calories than I normally do... without going hungry or feeling unsatisfied. I'm still eating too much fat, but at least it's almost all healthy fats (ie, almonds, peanut butter, olive oil, flaxseeds). So that makes it a little better. And lastly, cumin-marinated shrimp and salsa make a delicious salad topping!

And may the peace of the Lord be always with you.