My Attempt at Clean Camping

A sample of some of our eats. Left - Just one of our mean and clean breakfasts - scrambled eggs, toast (none for me and GF vegan bread for my 6 year old), bacon, blueberries and some veggies.  Top right - I pre-marinaded and froze chicken thighs which we roasted on the fire with some fresh beets - delicious.  Bottom right - S'mores made with GF Oreo cookies, dark chocolate and marshmallows. Two of three of our kids had a complete meltdown that night. Hmmm - too much sugar maybe? Two of three of our kids said the best part of camping was the S'mores. Sigh. The third one can't talk. Damn that sugar is evil.

Hello Everyone! Hope you are having a great summer. 

I have been super low on the recipes and blog posts since I have been spending a lot less time in the kitchen and on the computer. Yay - I'm doing something right. 

After a rough start to our summer with my shoulder/neck problem reappearing, my severe anxiety in May, my adrenals taking a beating in June and my Candida problem trying to come back I am happy to say that I am feeling pretty great. For now. 

I have been working really hard at sticking to my no-grain, no-dairy, low sugar diet which is key. I have been trying to stay active without overdoing it. And I have been trying to get to bed on time. 

And it is working. For now. 

It is an ongoing battle. Especially during the summer. 

We just got back from a 5 day camping trip in our new (used) pop-up. Five people living in a 10ft tent trailer and eating out of a super small fridge and coolers for almost a week. And we still managed to keep it pretty clean. Well the food anyway. I didn't shower for 6 days so I wasn't very clean.

And I managed to stay active and still get in some workouts. So I really should have had a shower. Sorry to my fellow campers. 

I guess I am bragging a bit. But I'm also telling you it can be done so you are encouraged to try it. Don't just assume it can't be done and give up on eating the foods that make you feel your best (and more importantly staying away from the ones that make you feel the worst). 

It is hard to stay on track during the summer when you are surrounded by chips, alcohol, S'mores. When everyone else is eating Kraft dinner and hot dogs. We had some cheats here and there, but we also ate lots of veggies and good, clean, nutritious foods.

After the way I was feeling in June I was highly motivated to "stay on the wagon". 

You just have to plan. Plan. Plan. Plan. I'll say it one more time. PLAN. 

It won't happen if you don't plan for it. I pre-made high protein smoothies and took my Magic Bullet for a quick and healthy breakfast. I baked vegan GF muffins for my kids and my Chocolate pumpkin loaf and vegan GF bagels for me. I marinaded and froze meats before we left so we didn't have to rely on hot dogs. I pre-made lots of salads. We ate apple nacho's and nuts for snacks. 

That's just a "taste" of how we did it. But it can be done. It was a heck of a lot of work but this time after coming home from a week away from the house I didn't need a 5 day detox to get rid of my brain fog. In the big picture of things it was probably a lot less work - detoxing is harder that prepping food. And my moods were stable so I actually, really, truly, whole-heartedly enjoyed my kids. I relaxed not because I was too tired to move but because my mind felt still. I felt happy. 

I needed that.  Now let's hope I can keep it going. 

For exercising we did a LOT of biking. I love biking. Biking brings me joy and I have hardly had my bike out this summer so I got my fill. And I did lots of yoga. I had one of my best yoga practices ever right on the beach (see pics). Yes, my kids were talking and "fishing" nearby so I didn't have solitude but I had fresh air and water and it was fabulous. Thank you Rhea for introducing me to ALI KAMENOVA yoga. All you need it a smartphone and you can do your yoga anywhere.  Or your HIIT. Or whatever moves you.  No excuses. And for the record mosquito's love yogi's.