2 Weeks Clean Eating Challenge Experience

I consider myself as one of those people who likes to challenge themselves. While mostly the challenges consist of something I'm sure I can handle (iya gw emang rada2 cemen (-..-)) but still, if I think I can do it despite what people say, I'll definitely go for it. Haha!

Speaking of which, I don't know if I have ever mentioned it before, but last year I had done something that I thought I'd never ever done, yep, it was changing my eating habit. At first, I did it for 2 weeks only, but then it had become my habit to watch what I eat. The diet plan itself was inspired by the Atkins diet and the South Beach Diet that I googled researched before just to see how it went. So I started to switch my food. You know, cut out all the carbohydrates and sugar, eating only lean protein and lots of fiber, no junk food at all (sayonara KFC... goodbye Indomie...), etc. Seems not not difficult to do, right? I was so confident about it I keep reassuring myself that this wasn't gonna be as hard as it seems. I was wrong. Imagine that you have to avoid any form of starch and sugar at all cost while you live here in Indonesia, where RICE (yes, of course rice is carbohydrate) is the staple food. Most of the people here have a mindset that you haven't had your meal if you haven't had rice no matter what. You had sandwich as your lunch? No, that wasn't lunch. You had Bakso for dinner? You're kidding. Then what about noodles? Kwetiau? Bihun? Cassava? Sweet potato? Regular potato? Bread? Pasta? Noooo!!!! No, no, no, no, no, no, and no. All of them are forbidden. ALL of them. "Then what about 'teh manis'?" you said. No, Darling, you also can't have it. Seems like an impossible task to do, right? But it isn't. I did it once and survived :)

I don't even know how I managed to do it, but I just did. For someone who loves food like me, it surely was a great challenge. I mean I usually munched anything I desire, even anything in moderation, but who could refuse 2-3 pieces of 'gorengan' in the afternoon? Or some bites of cakes and pastries? Or noodles? I love noodles! (Yes, Mie Goreng, I'm talking about you). Even my parents and siblings were skeptical at the beginning. They thought I wouldn't be able to start let alone maintaining that kind of diet. Well, actually more like they thought it wouldn't last long, 2 days maximum (as I usually did). But hey, I proved them wrong. Ha! You underestimate my power.

Why did I do it anyway? What happened to me? Have I been abducted by some health concerned alien and being brainwashed by them? No. Of course not. My sister was pretty sure I had gone mad because I refused all kinds of snack she offered me, she kept telling me I was crazy. But no, I just thought that I might want to take a better care of my health, and also, I don't work out (unless using stairs almost everyday at the office was considered as a work out). I hate it to the moon and back, I'm not willing to do it. I know myself all too well so I decided not to force it on myself. Besides I don't want to make have time to do it, I'm a lazy busy woman after all. So I thought why not started with something more... doable? Yes, controlling the food that I consume. And yeah, basically just like that, I did some research about the diet plan, what should and shouldn't I eat, etc.

The main purpose was actually just to eat healthier, to change my mindset about food, and also the 'my body is my temple' thing kind of make sense to me. But guess what? Magically, I also dropped more than 10 Kg as a bonus! For me, that was truly an achievement as I actually don't really care about it as long as I am healthy. Well done, Debby, well done! *pats shoulder* For as long as I could remember, the most body weight I've ever shed was just 3-4 Kg, and it didn't last long. That's when I realized my main goal had been wrong this whole time. I shouldn't aim for weight loss, but aim for a healthier body. The weight loss was really just a bonus, it shall come naturally though.

Anyway, as persistent and determined I sound in the previous paragraphs, I actually have been neglecting my diet this past few months, and I'm thinking about doing it once again before I get back to eating recklessly again (TBH I don't think it's totally wrong to eat recklessly sometimes though, just keep it moderate :P). I know I'll probably have to go through all the crazy-craving, mildly disoriented, cranky/hangry phases again, but oh well, like I mentioned before, I did it once and survived, I'm sure I can do it again. Btw I'm gonna keep a journal of it and post it later. It will be about how I feel and what I eat during this 2 weeks self clean eating challenge.