Recovering JUNK

It's officially been one month since I starting taking great care and purpose with the food that goes into our bodies. I will say that it's been both a wonderful and challenging experience all the same. There have been days when I've wanted nothing more than to chow down on junk food, days that I have done nothing but chow down on junk food, and days that I have felt so sure about this new journey that I just knew I would never even think about junk food again (haha).
Despite the good days and the bad days, eating clean foods with purpose for this past month has completely changed my outlook of food and it's affects on our bodies altogether. They say you are what you eat and here are a few of my top reasons why I absolutely believe it!
1) Junk food makes you feel like JUNK.
Can I make it any clearer? One night last week I had fried chicken for lunch and pizza for dinner from fast-food places. I felt guilty at first but then told myself that we all have bad days and figured I would get back to eating my healthier, clean foods the next day. But the next day I felt so horrible, I didn't want to do anything. I had a headache, absolutely no energy, and zero motivation to do little more than sit in my recliner and watch TV. When I've ate nothing but a clean palette of food for several days, I wake up in the morning and am ready to tackle my day while feeling energized and great doing it.
2) Junk food makes you look like JUNK.
Despite the obvious weight-gain that junk food can cause, junk food can also wreck havoc on things like your skin and hair. One month ago it would be completely normal for me to wake up in the morning and have a huge pimple growing on my face. But over the course of the last month, I've noticed something amazing...my skin has begun transforming into something almost completely unrecognizable. I have no pimples, my complexion is evening out, and it has a sort of glow. I have wore little to no foundation or concealer in the past two weeks because I simply feel as if I do not need it. I've also noticed my thin hair becoming thicker and shinier - and who doesn't love that? Mentioning that 'obvious' weight-gain that comes from junk food, I've lost almost 20 pounds in one month. TWENTY POUNDS. I've watched the weight fall off faster than ever simply by eating clean foods.
3) Junk food makes you think of JUNK.
I absolutely, 100% believe that food can be an addiction. If you've never struggled with food as an addiction before, then bless your heart because you have NO idea how hard it is. I think most of us have - we do know first hard how hard it is to say 'no' sometimes. This has been my biggest challenge, despite the benefits, it is so hard sometimes to say no to junk foods. I've also noticed that if I eat a bunch of junk one day, then the next day it's what I crave. The night that I mentioned before, with the chicken and pizza? Despite feeling like absolute junk the next day, I literally had to talk myself out of eating the leftover chicken. I wanted it so badly even though I was currently suffering from it's poison from the day before. The more junk you eat, the more you want it, the harder it is to resist it, and the more often you'll give in. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
I feel great after a month of clean eating. Does this mean I will never eat junk food again? Absolutely not. But it does mean that I'm moving forward being more in tune with my body and the new found knowledge of the effects that junk food has on me. If you're looking to feel better, look better, and think better, consider clean eating. It sure has done wonders for me!
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With all the different clean-eating definitions floating around out there, I thought I would give you a quick definition of what it means to me:
Food that are natural, unprocessed and without additives. Essentially I have cut all processed foods, sugar, white flour, pork, and most diary from my diet. I still eat, I just eat things that have been prepared by me and come from reliable sources. There are very little boxed, canned, bagged, or bottled food left in our house.
My goal is to eat with purpose, and I purposely want to know where my food comes from and what is in it so I can best nourish mine and my family's bodies.