Well, the consensus is...
I've gained two pounds.
You heard me.
I haven't touched a burger, sniffed a slice of Gouda, rubbed my face on a mozzarella for four days and I've gained two pounds.
But, we did it. We've nearly made it to the end of the week eating nothing but fruits, veggies and whole grains in moderation. (No white flour for us!) It didn't suck as much as I thought it was going to. It wasn't the biggest earth-shattering experience of my life, either. However, what we did discover was this:
1. Most of our food budget was being consumed by the meat and dairy portions. We'll scale back, as it was very nice having a little extra cash to spare at the end of the week.
2. We prefer being heavier on the veggie side- we found that a 24 ounce steak wasn't really as appealing as we thought it was, but a little bit-with some creamed spinach and potatoes- sounded heavenly.
3. We like dairy more than we like meat. We missed cheese and half and half in our coffee and a glass of milk with a cookie at the end of the day more than we missed a pork chop. I guess that's good to know.
4. My daughter loves grilled, portobello mushrooms with olive oil and garlic. She ate it like she was starving. Which she is, most of the time. Because she refuses to eat most things. Except blueberry yogurt and macaroni and cheese. And now, grilled portobello mushrooms. We never would have expanded her food intake had it not been for this little experiment. What one year old loves MUSHROOMS?!?
All in all, I would say it was successful. We learned what was good for us, what works for us, and how we want to feed our kids. And you know what? You can't decide how long you're going to live, but you can choose to live the days you've got as well and healthy as possible. And that calls for more fruits, more veggies and more grains- and sometimes, it just calls for a big, hot fudge sundae. With sprinkles. With a steak on the side.