Clean Eating Challenge

I joined a challenge on facebook by livefitjourney to kick 2013 off right by eating clean for the month of January (starting on the 2nd). The idea is to eliminate refined sugars, wine, sodas, and processed foods from our diet for 30 days with the focus being on consuming whole/natural foods and exercising. Giving up the wine and soda is the easy part since I don't drink them. What I do drink is coffee. What I stopped drinking is coffee. I replaced it yesterday with my husband's Celestial Seasonings Morning Thunder tea (black tea that contains caffeine with energizing, healthy mate). I didn't miss the coffee. I drank the tea again this morning and surprisingly I didn't miss it again. The good thing about replacing the coffee with tea is I drink my tea plain - nothing but the hot tea. I'm saving myself between 210-315 calories a day in just creamer. Plus all the sugar and crap in the creamer. 
I have the eat clean companion book that allows you to track all your food. It's really nice. There are two pages for each week and it breaks down by 6 meals. Under each meal it marks LP (lean protein), SCC (starchy complex carb), CCFV (complex carbs from fruit and vegetables), and a place to mark your water intake along with boxes for HF (healthy fats) and S (supplements and vitamins). I also stuck Jamie Eason's meal plan (and food options) to my fridge so I can look at it when I'm hungry. So far it's working really well. I ate clean all day yesterday except for after my workout I had a Luna bar. 
Monday morning: 1 egg, 3 egg whites mixed with black beans, spinach, 3 black olives, diced tomatoes along with my hot tea.
Midmorning Booster: 3 oz chicken, quinoa, mixed vegetables
Lunchtime Refuel: 4 Pumpkin Protein Bars (Jamie Eason)
Midafternoon Munch: Luna Bar
Dinner Delight: Protein smoothie: natural cocoa powder, natural peanut butter, almond milk, protein powder, honey, banana (got the recipe from my Oxygen magazine)


Here are the rules to the challenge:

NO's
-No Soda ( that means diet!)
-No Alcohol or wine -No fake Fake sugars (aspartame, acelsulfane, saccharin, sucralose, etc)
-No fast foods, fried foods or packaged foods
-Limit Dairy

YES's
-Honey and Stevia are good sweeteners in moderation
-Fruit and vegetables
-Almond milk
-Lean meats (chicken, turkey, eggs,etc)
-Lots of water
-Healthy fats (all natural peanut butter)

What to do
-Plan your meals on Sunday and prep for the week
-Read labels
-Eat every 2-3 hours
-Always have an emergency snack in your bag
- Exercise 3-4x week for min of 30 minutes and include cardio and strength training
-Find someone who can do this with you 

I ran into the emergency snack problem yesterday after the gym. All I had in my bag was a Luna bar from before - I completely forgot to pack something. I'll have to plan a little better. So far the group has been pretty active and helpful. It'll be interesting to see how it goes as the month progresses. I'm hoping to have my eating under control by the 16th when the Gold's Gym Challenge starts...not looking forward to those before pictures on the 15th, but I guess we've all got to start somewhere and my somewhere is better then it was last year.