Monday, January 6, 2014

21 Day Challenge Grocery Haul

Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well. The 21 day challenge started yesterday and so far so good. I had a chance to go grocery shopping today and I figured I'd show you the haul. This haul is courtesy of Trader Joe's. I had some gift cards and this is an expensive lifestyle so it definitely helped out to have this first haul almost completely taken care of :) I am aware that this is probably not even a week's worth of groceries but I have to take space into account and it should get me through a few days. I also don't like overbuying and throwing things out. That drives me nuts :)

Here's the haul:


First up are staple fruits: 2 bags of oranges, lots of apples and pears.


One bunch of bananas (I buy them one bunch at a time), two containers of grapes (one to be frozen for smoothies, yum!), one container of dates (I don't eat a lot of these because they are so super sweet on top of sweet fruit), some frozen blueberries and as a treat some pomegranate seeds. I have a few more bags of fruit in my freezer as well.


Four bags of greens: Baby romaine, arugula, baby spring mix and kale (for smoothies).


More veggies: Zucchini, 2 containers of grape tomatoes, 3 giant cucumbers, celery and basil.

The crazy thing is that this is a TON of produce and it probably won't get me through a week. I guess I'll have to see how far this gets me. I'll be back later this week to show you some food I've been eating. The plan is a giant smoothie for breakfast (with added greens since my salads won't be as giant as recommended), a fruit meal for lunch, some more fruit before dinner (probably bananas) and a big big salad for dinner. I think having that kind of structure will help me take a lot of the guesswork out of what I should eat and it will make planning a lot easier.

Hope you all have a great Monday and to all of my friends dealing with the horrific cold weather please stay warm and safe!!



16 comments:

  1. That's a ton of beautiful produce! I think doing this for 21 days is a good idea. It gives you a light at the end of the tunnel to focus on. Best of luck!

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    1. Thanks Molly!! It is a ton of beautiful produce for sure... sadly I doubt it'll last more than a few days... this cleanse is EXPENSIVE. I don't even know if I can afford 21 days but I'll do the best I can ;)

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  2. Good luck girl! You seem very well prepared so you'll do awesome! What a wonderful excuse to eat lots of fruit!

    Can you drink teas or use spices at all during this? I'm just imagining all that raw produce and I'm worried you'll be cold- make sure you stay warm, the weather is terribly cold these days!

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    1. Thanks Gabby! I'm already miserable haha it's just so cold to be doing this.

      I don't think tea is allowed and spices are typically frowned upon. I've seen people use sparing amounts of cinnamon on occasion but for the most part there aren't really spices to be found. I'm miserably cold right now and I'm kind of hating this cleanse because of it.

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  3. You are gonna be squeaky clean in a few weeks. Are you allowed any nuts, beans or avocados?

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    1. Haha! Or I'm going to be frozen!! Sparing amounts of nuts and avocado, no beans. Totally miserable, I'm so cold!

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  4. Beautiful produce! Seeing as day two is finished, and I recall day three is the hardest - I am sending you lots of yummy and positive vibes! I can't wait to hear about the smoothie with frozen grapes! Will you be doing juices, too? I would love to reach in and help myself to one of those delicious oranges. Yum! Enjoy the week, and I am looking forward to the peek at your meals! There are a lot of exclamation points in this comment! ;)

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    1. Thanks Ingrid!! Day 3 has been pretty miserable but it's because of the cold. I was going to use the grapes in a smoothie this morning but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Hopefully tomorrow! I'd like to do juices but those will probably have to be a weekend thing because they are so time consuming to make. Thanks so much, you too!

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  5. That is a whole lotta produce!! Sounds like a good meal strategy so you have a balance to all the fruit.
    I'm going to say that if drinking hot water with lemon or herbal tea helps you stay on the cleanse longer then do it- it's too damned cold! Hope your pears from TJ's are more ripe than the rock hard ones i bought nearly a week ago....
    Ttrockwood

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    1. It really is a lot of produce!! I've found that I am just not equipped to do a 100% raw diet. Every time I try I'm just miserable and feel horrible. I'm debating jumping ship to a different cleanse after a week if I still hate it. It's just too cold and way too high maintenance.

      Haha My pears have been ok so far!! Too bad yours weren't good! I find TJs produce to be hit or miss.

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  6. Cherry smoothies are probably my favorite, followed closely by blueberries. That really is a ton of food--so how long did it last you? How are you feeling?

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    1. I LOVE cherry smoothies too! Couldn't find any on that trip but I'll have to try Whole Foods. I feel pretty crappy, I kind of hate this cleanse. It's just a really ridiculous amount of food and effort and I feel like it's really difficult to live this way in a FRIGID climate and with a full time job.

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  7. Hey Sarah, things have warmed up a bit by now so hopefully you're not so cold! maybe you can make an all-vegetable soup? Or even just veg broth? Not sure how the cleanse works. I definitely have been thinking about doing a cleanse but maybe I will wait a while longer.
    I totally get what yr saying about it being hard with a full time job! I always feel like, who are these people who can afford this and do this?? I hope it's working out for you so far and you're beginning to feel the positive effects.

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    1. Hey Maud! I'm not as cold but I'm just as cranky. The cleanse was 100% raw and it really just sucked the life out of me so I decided to change up the plans a little bit.

      You should have heard me cursing people out before HAHA! I was like do any of these people who eat this way work a regular job? Do they enjoy bringing 10 pears to work for lunch? Because it's ridiculous! And how much do they make?! It's insane. I feel better knowing that the plan has changed a little and better days are ahead ;)

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  8. Seeing this post now after catching on to your blog, excited to see how the challenge goes for you. Hello from a new reader!

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    1. Hi Pamela !Thank you so much for stopping in, welcome!

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