A New Start: Clean Eating!

Over the past few years, I've had recurring minor health issues and needed to lose weight. This week was the final straw when I went on a major sugar binge one night while watching movies with friends. I felt bad and out of commission for almost two days, I kept taking naps and having trouble waking up in the morning. Something is definitely out of whack. I've decided to re-dedicate myself to exercise and eating healthily. My friend Julie and I are taking hour long walks around Town Lake in the evenings. I've also awakened to the idea of clean eating. My inspiration comes from a relatively new magazine called Clean Eating.

Though this mag is fairly expensive, it's well worth it as it's chock full of clean eating recipes, which means lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats while cutting back on the dairy and keeping it low fat. There are dessert recipes in this publication but they are sweetened with agave nectar, which is a low glycemic, natural sweetener, and they are low fat. I'm looking forward to posting my new adventures with clean eating.
Some things I've tried recently that are healthy:

Last weekend, Julie and I made a return visit to Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse, 1501 S 1st St. It was a partially cloudy morning so it wasn't too hot yet as Bouldin doesn't have much in the way of a/c. The wonderfully friendly woman at the counter was the owner, as I found out when I saw her pic in this week's issue of the Chronicle. Once again, the food blew me away. I had the Oven Cake platter which included a blueberry oven cake, sort of a cross between cornbread and a pancake, served with butter and agave nectar. My platter also came with scrambled eggs and I added an order of beans. Beans are one of the most ordinary items one can order, but these were very special, with perfect, exquisite seasoning. I was energetic and buzzing for the rest of the day. I can't wait for cooler weather to try out more of Bouldin Creek's menu and did I mention, it's very inexpensive!

I'm really enjoying the new to Austin grocery, The Natural Grocer, 3901 Guadalupe St. They have many hard to find items.
I really enjoy Sahale Snacks, which are seasoned nut blends.

My favorite is the Sing Buri Cashews, which is comprised of roasted cashews, dried pineapple, lemongrass and mild Chinese chili. This is the only place in town I can find them. Other stores carry the Sahale snacks, but not the cashews for some reason. They also have been having great sales lately. Today I went in for two items and came out with a boxfull of things because of the great sales items. If I absolutely must have chocolate, the Natural Grocer carries several chocolate items made by Sunridge Farms and by Fruitsource, that are sweetened with malted barley and corn, or with powdered rice syrup and grape juice, instead of sugar. They are pre-bagged in the refrigerated section and in small amounts, which is nice.

One disappointment: I've always enjoyed the hemp milk made by Living Harvest. It has been sweetened with rice syrup, which is good for those of us who can't have sugar. I saw at the store today that they have new containers and also a new recipe that includes evaporated cane juice! This is sugar! I was really disheartened. I'm sure using the sugar is probably cheaper for them, but it rules out their products for me.

I'm going to do some clean cooking within the next few days and I'll post the results, have a healthy weekend!