"Clean" eating here I come

Starting June 1st, I am refocusing. Since I started feeling better in the fall my diet has slowly, but surely, gotten off track. Not surprisingly, I've noticed some health issues and I've had some gallbladder flare-ups as well. Got to refocus. Now that the summer is upon us again, I've decided it's time to refocus, especially while fresh, local, healthy produce is so abundant.

Here is the goal of the diet:

1. "Clean" foods only. Whole foods, no processed or genetically modified food. With the exception of a few "clean label" snack or breakfast products I must make everything from scratch.
2. Organic whenever possible. Local as much as possible. This maximizes nutrient availability of the food.
3. Portion control, portion control, portion control. Three small meals and 2-3 small snacks in between.
4. Vegetarian primarily, though fish and small amounts of fresh turkey or chicken are okay a few times a week. Since I can't eat beans, lentils, or nuts (food allergies) I need to have a few protein options.
5. Dairy free.
6. Gluten free.
7. Corn free.
8. No refined sugars. Sugar can only come from agave, honey, or raw organic brown sugar.

While it looks like a lot of rules, it's the diet I followed last summer during the first three months. Shouldn't be hard. Plus I am hoping to test out a few potential food intolerances during the process to see if those might be the culprits to my diseased gallbladder and possibily some of my other allergies and health issues. Hopefully this will lead up to a liver/gallbladder flush, too. I'm warming to the idea and think it's a step I need to take, and it will be much easier to do when following this diet.

I've recruited my coworker Martha to follow the diet with me. Things are always easier when you have a support system and friend to do it with you. My husband isn't willing to go so far, but he loves the homemade whole wheat (high fiber!) bread I made for him the other night (pic to come) so he's agreed to eat that bread for his sandwiches. Now, since it's not gluten free, I won't be eating it but I'm glad he's at least taking a small step toward a healthier diet. His diet is horrendous if I'm not feeding him!

If you want to follow the same diet, let me know. You can be part of the time to eat healthier- which is not only healthier for you but the planet as well! Like usual, I'll be blogging about it right here!