It’s been over 36 hours since my last Diet Coke! Yesterday wasn’t too fun – I complained most of the day to my co-workers, ALL I wanted was a Diet Coke (or 4) and I was convinced my life was the WORST (in the dramatic-temper-tantrum-throwing-sort-of-way, in reality, I know I’m very blessed – but humor a homegirl’s dramatics for a minute – OKAY?!) 
HOLY COW! I haven’t been able to say I’ve gone that long without drinking pop since I was probably about 17 years old. I never drank pop when I was little, but once I hit my junior year of high school – I was addicted! I’ve always only drank “Diet” versions – because that is what I started on – so “Regular” pop actually tastes pretty gross to me. But either way you drink it – no pop is good for you!
Day 1 of the Cleaner Life was tougher than I anticipated, but overall I feel I did pretty well – let me fill you in on all the nitty gritty – and just for being patient with my ramblings – I have a HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE END OF THE POST! 
Yesterday – I started with spicy oats. These are pretty “clean” – as far as I can tell. Farm fresh eggs, Steel Cut Oats, Dried Chives, and my Frankie Baby (which is just hot peppers and distilled vinegar). Anyone disagree?
Thanks to my market trip over the weekend – I was ready to take on the rest of the day with a bunch of natural food, fruits, and veggies. Green grapes for a pre-lunch snack:
And for lunch – some carrot sticks with a colorful salad – and balsamic vinegar and EVOO for dressing.
I totally forgot about all the additives that SALAD DRESSINGS have… Anyone have any advice for more natural, organic options (THAT DON’T COST A FORTUNE) to top my pretty salads with? This baby had:
- tri-color bell peppers
- banana peppers
- cucumbers
- red onion
All washed down with a side of sweet, sweet watermelon:
My new favorite addiction (I know it’s the first day – but this may be the BEST thing to come out of this challenge):
Spicy & Tangy almonds from TJ’s! They are flavored with hot pepper and lemon – and they are KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF AMAZING (and HOT!). And yes – I did just use the phrase “knock your socks off”. Why? Because I’m just that cool! 
Dinner is where things went a little south for the Clean Life Challenge. I had the leftover tofu from Sunday, and I HATE to throw food out – so I finished it up as my “side” with dinner. 
I also had some cucumber slices, and some delicious, pan-seared brussel sprouts. This was my first time actually cooking brussel sprouts, and I was really pleased with the end result:
Here’s where I knowingly did something “bad”. I loved the brussel sprouts, but they were really dry. So without thinking – I reached into the fridge to get some spray butter to finish off what was left. Then I though “UH OH!” (okay – actually I thought a swear word…) – and turned the bottle over - to find some frightening ingredients...
…and then proceeded to use it anyway. Not my proudest moment, but at least I’m being honest. As Rose and Heather both said to me yesterday – small steps – right?! 
My last little slip-up of the day – was a delicious dessert. I have 2 of these left in my freezer, and they are about to go bad…so they just had to be eaten! 
The ingredient list actually wasn’t too terribly frightening – although that sneaky soy did find it’s way in there. Oh Soy – why must you be in so many things?!
By adding in the blackberries – I canceled out the fact I was eating soy. Agree?
ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!!!!!!!!
(did you read the post or just skip down to here after you saw my note?)
Can you see what the entry form is for, and which box I have checked?????
I did it! I OFFICIALLY SIGNED UP TO RUN THE COLUMBUS MARATHON (yeah – I said marathon – as in 26.2 miles) – on October 18th!
Have I lost my mind? Possibly.
Am I scared out of my mind? Definitely. 
Will it be an interesting challenge? You bet!
26 Comments so far
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For on top of your salads my vote is – mix together a little extra virgin olive oil and any kind of citrus (lemon, orange, etc). Maybe even throw in some poppy seeds, a little salt and pepper.
It sucks that every creamy salad dressing is bad for you. Good luck!
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By Mandy on 06.09.09 11:22 am | Permalink
you dirty hoooooooer! you will ROCK the columbus marathon! i cant wait to come cheer you on!
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By kristin on 06.09.09 11:41 am | Permalink
YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! You go girl! That is amazing!
Who are you training with?! I am picturing it now, we could have a spaghetti dinner at my house!
You may have just convinced me to do it! I mean if you are doing it and I would have a buddy!
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By The Healthy Hostess on 06.09.09 11:53 am | Permalink
You’ll get through the Diet Coke withdrawal! I promise. And then when you drink it later, you’ll think “Yack. That stuff is bad.” I already feel that way about sweet n’ low!
HOOORAY!!! for the marathon!!! I know you can do it. You rock, girl!
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By Rose on 06.09.09 12:34 pm | Permalink
GO YOU!!!!! No diet coke AND a marathon?! wow!
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By Mara @ What's for Dinner? on 06.09.09 12:44 pm | Permalink
Hang in there with the no diet coke – you are doing a great job. Good luck with the Marathon Training. I look forward to following you through the process. Those TJ’s Almonds sound yummy.
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By Sammie on 06.09.09 1:48 pm | Permalink
You’re doing fabulously sans diet coke!!
Gorgeously plated ice cream & berries.
Good luck with the marathon!!
YOU OWE ME A SHOPPING TRIP, MA’AM!!
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By VeggieGirl on 06.09.09 2:52 pm | Permalink
Congratulations on signing up for the marathon! Woohooo YOU’LL BE GREAT!
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By Paige on 06.09.09 3:33 pm | Permalink
Trade Joes, Skinny Cow AND SPRAY BUTTER!?! All things I must have in my house at all times, hehe! and congrats on signing up I can tell it’s a huge deal for you and you deserve to feel great about it!
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By chelsea on 06.09.09 6:27 pm | Permalink
For salads, I mix spices (red pepper powder), use hummus, salsa, or just olive oil and vinegar. I must say, that is one GORGEOUS salad – so colorful
I need those almonds in my tummy! CONGRATS on the race!! You will be great!
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By K on 06.09.09 6:43 pm | Permalink
Hi,
I love your blog and I love that you are so honest about what you eat. You have totally motivated me to give up diet coke too. As for salad dressing we always just used oil and vinegar, lemon juice, basil, and red pepper flakes. Its pretty yummy and doesn’t cover up delicious veggie taste. Good luck with the challenge! And don’t forget you have someone going through soda withdrawal with ya!
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By Alison on 06.09.09 6:57 pm | Permalink
YOU GO GIIIIRRRRLLLLL!!!!! I have total and complete faith you will be a bossy marathon runner in no time!! And wooooppppppp no diet soda! You can do it shawty!!
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By Brooke on 06.09.09 7:30 pm | Permalink
Girl, hang in there. I was addicted to Diet Coke, too and drank it daily (several a day) since I was a teen. I have not had Diet Coke in over 3 months now!!!! Actually any soda for that matter. What helps, is to make Jeltzers! I do 1 part all-natural no-sugar added 100% juice, 3 parts seltzer water. We always keep a 12-pack of seltzer in the fridge to make these. A lot of juice is not necessarily good for you either, but the amount of juice that we use is really small, not even a serving size, and we only have them a few times a week or so. Experiment with proportions… you may find you need more or less juice to taste. This really satisfies the “fizzy fix” and is just as refreshing as the Diet Coke! You can do it, I’ll cheer you along!
Congrats on the marathon sign-up!
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By Beth on 06.09.09 8:14 pm | Permalink
Oh, and I did try a sip of Diet Coke to see if I still liked it, and it was gross! It tasted WAY too sweet to me, and couldn’t believe that I drank that stuff daily. Wow.
For salad dressings… the cleanest is to just do salsa or lemon juice. If you feel that is too “blah”, then do equal parts evoo & balsamic with a little s&p. Or rice wine vinegar (without HFCS) with a dab of chili paste stuff… not Sriracha, but that other stuff that the Rooster brand makes…it comes in a shorter jar.
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By Beth on 06.09.09 8:19 pm | Permalink
GOOD LUCK!!! I’m trying to work my way up to a half mary…… I will now use you as my inspiration!
-A
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By A on 06.09.09 8:47 pm | Permalink
is mustard allowed? i do a dressing with a tablespoon or so of dijon mustard, some finely minced garlic, evoo, and red wine vinegar.
i love franks too. BUT – have you ever looked at the sodium content of it? yowza.
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By Mel on 06.09.09 8:58 pm | Permalink
Hi! I am a frequent reader and an infrequest poster, but your marathon announcement definitely was worth a comment!! That is SO EXCITING! I am signed up for my second half-marathon (Philly Distance Run in Sept) and the thought of a marathon has been tempting me
Stick with the Diet Coke thing – I gave it up for Lent and really only have about 1 a week these days. I save money and just feel a bit better! I’ll be interested to see what you think when you have your first one after a month .. I thought it tasted kindof gnarly!
As for salad dressings, I love to mix olive oil with some kind of vinegar and something else. Love dijon mustard, balsamic, EVOO and s+p. I also love using salsa or hummus as dressing!
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By Amanda on 06.09.09 10:31 pm | Permalink
I definitely understand about the diet coke. I swear they have some addictive ingredient in there–I actually went through withdrawal with headaches and all that awfulness. You’re doing awesome on quitting! Keep it up
I think you’re doing well with the challenge. Small steps are important
Congrats on signing up for the marathon! Good luck
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By Anne K. on 06.09.09 10:47 pm | Permalink
Congrats on the marathon!
I’ve really tried to cut back on the diet sodas. But I did slip today and bought a diet soda. I can’t remember what it was called. Fanta? It wasn’t orange though.
Thanks for posting about your little slip-ups. We all have them and it’s always nice to read about other people who aren’t perfect either. It makes me feel like I too can improve my diet even if I’m not perfect.
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By Alison on 06.09.09 11:35 pm | Permalink
Huge congrats on signing up for the marathon!!!!! How exciting!!!
And congratulations on cutting back on the soda! In a few weeksn I’m sure you won’t miss them at all!
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By healthy ashley on 06.10.09 9:42 am | Permalink
Yeah!!! go for it!!! You will own that Marathon.
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By Murphy's Dad on 06.10.09 1:04 pm | Permalink
Congratulations on signing up for the marathon! I am thinking of a doing a half marathon that same day, so I look forward to following your training if you blog about it.
Brussels sprouts are great rolled in olive oil, roasted until brownish, then doused in some good balsamic vinegar. Yum!
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By meghan@traveleatlove on 06.10.09 9:08 pm | Permalink
WOOHOOOO on the marathon! I hope to see you there!!
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By Kim on 06.11.09 10:30 am | Permalink
Dude! Totally make your own dressing! Here are some of my favs:
Lemon-Tahini (Tahini w/ water and lemon juice)
Lime (garlic, lime juice, oil, tiny bit of vinegar)
Honey Mustard (mustard, honey or agave, vinegar, mustard seed)
Strawberry Vinaigrette (100% straw preservatives, vinegar, salt, pepper, oil)
The possibilities are ENDLESS. Just make sure you get unrefined oils. You can even use avocado oil, sesame oil, etc to mix it up.
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By Leah on 06.11.09 6:54 pm | Permalink
Yay for formally signing up for the marathon! I cannot wait to read all about your training — you are going to kill it! Just the motivation I need for my little 10K.
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By Kathleen on 06.12.09 8:28 am | Permalink
[...] Some of you may recall – I was SUPPOSED to be running my first ever, FULL marathon yesterday: [...]
By Green Dog Wine » Blog Archive » Columbus Marathon on 10.19.09 1:44 pm | Permalink
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