This past weekend, a few friends and I headed over to Princeton for a quick detour before our apple-picking adventures. Truth be told, being on a college campus just made me feel old. It reminded me that I am no longer the bright eyed and bushy tailed 21-year-old that I was when I left Cal. In fact, I’m turning 28 next month and I can’t help but feel like I’m going through a bit of a quarter-life crisis.
In the fall, leaves have a chance to change their whole appearance before turning a new leaf in the spring. I have adopted this mentality to try to get over my aging-anxieties. Earlier this month, I got an ombre. This was after 27 years of never having dyed my virgin hair (yes, that’s a thing)! LOL. If that doesn’t scream quarter-life crisis, I don’t know what will. It felt like a step in the right direction.
Besides feeling the need to seize the moment and to live up my last few years of “youth”, the voice in my head has also increased it’s nagging. It wants me to take better care of my body. I’ve already told you about some fitness goals I have set for myself in 2014, but it’s almost the end of the year and I don’t feel like I’ve really achieved much at all.
I’ve been pretty flip-floppy with my overall diet, and lately have been craving and allowing myself to have more unhealthy foods than I would like. A cookie here and a bag of chips there might seem innocent once in a while. But when you forget how to say no, it has its multiplying effect. To ensure I don’t snowball out of control over the holidays, I’ve decided to put myself on the Clean Cleanse for the next three weeks leading up to my birthday.
I’m calling this my CLEAN 28 challenge. I want to be the best and healthiest version of myself when I turn 28 next month!
3 changes I want to see with the cleanse
- Cut back on sugar cravings. I was able to make the claim a few years ago that I didn’t have that much of a sweet tooth. However, I have noticed ever since my daily gelato binges in Italy, I have been wanting something sweet after most meals.
- Enable more portion control. Having done the cleanse in the past, I know I don’t need to eat as much as I am eating now to feel satisfied. Lately, I have been eating like a monster.
- Feel less bloated. This one is self explanatory: I wanna look good on my birthday! Also it’s pants season again and mine are feeling a little tight.
I did the Clean Cleanse earlier in January during the polar vortex and just found myself not wanting to eat salads and drink smoothies at all. Instead, I constantly carb-ed up on brown rice pasta more often than I would like to admit and kind of failed on the cleanse. Since it is a bit warmer this time around, I hope can manage the whole thing better and get better results in terms of weight loss.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress, and hope to develop a few more CLEAN meals ideas to share with you all!
Curious about the Clean Cleanse? Learn the basics here.
