I am generally a healthy eater. However, sometimes I take advantage of the fact that I am physically active by adding random treats into my daily diet.

I may stop at the coffee shop and buy a cake “for my husband” so that I can have a bite, or munch on a few chips at a friend’s house.

We all get caught up at work, at sports days, or with the children’s lunches, adding additional snacks that are not included on our meal plan.

Last week I was talking to a friend about how I like to snack throughout the day.

He said: “I bet you can’t eat clean for a week.” I love a challenge, so I committed to it.

I strived to have a mixture of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fruits and vegetables. Some things I learnt “again” this week were:

• The struggle is real

Knowing that I was restricting myself even from just random foods made the first few days challenging.

It felt kind of like crash dieting. You get really excited and dive right in and then think, ‘I can’t possibly do this’.

I even thought that I’d stop it midweek, have a treat then start again. However, I started to relax and actually felt excited about the challenge.

• Food is expensive

Buying in bulk can help to ease the pocketbook. I also searched for locally grown items or went to Windybank Farm for lots of fresh vegetables.

When purchasing food, I tried to have a list ready or a specific meal that I wanted to make, that way I didn’t pick up unnecessary items.

When cooking, if a recipe calls for half a portion of a particular food item, try to use it all.

The other half tends to go to waste in the fridge, therefore wasting your money.

• Clean eating takes time

I aimed to prep mostly on Sundays, however, on Wednesdays prep time rolled around again.

So my evening looked like this: arrive at 7pm, spend an hour prepping dinner until 8pm, eat then clean up until 9pm, assemble meals until 9.30pm, take photos for social media (not an average part of clean eating) at 10pm, then finally bedtime at 10.30pm/11pm. So give yourself time to prep. That is key.

• Healthy foods fill you up

Last week I made salads that included beets, arugula, goat cheese, quinoa and lentils.

I found that I was eating more than I’d normally eat. Instead of eating banana bread, I’d eat a large salad with delicious flavours mixed together that would give me visual and physical satisfaction.

Chicken breasts and broccoli are not all that clean eating has to offer your menu. Get creative! Last night I made sun-dried tomato and spinach chicken burgers.

Lastly, this challenge helped me to get my meals back on track.

It’s also given me a new appreciation for a variety of foods that I wouldn’t normally eat.

Clean eating is not boring. Everyone can do it! Get creative and B-Active For Life.

• Betty Doyling is a certified fitness trainer and figure competitor with more than a decade of experience. Check her out on Facebook: www.facebook.com/B.ActiveForLife