30 Day Real Food Challenge

What is Real Food?

Real Food comes from a plant, it is not made in a plant. Michael Pollan says, “Eat real food, as in food that is unprocessed and doesn’t come from a factory. Eat the foods you want to eat that are, in general, closest to the way you might encounter them at their source.” The primary purpose of food is for our body’s nurishment, not taste. If there are no original nutrients, than the primary purpose can’t be fulfilled. You are left with the illusion of nourishing your body, but no real building blocks. For example an apple is a real food. You see the whole apple, and you can recognize it. What about apple fruit leather? Unless it tells me on the label that it is apple, I wouldn’t know. Say I read the label, there is only apple in the leather, and I know the company uses whole organic apples. Is it real food? No, more of a grey area brought to us by modern processing. Those grey area foods, I wouldn’t use in my daily diet. I reserve those for backup snacks for travel, where food storage is very important. Now, imagine you are looking at a bottle of apple juice, apple pop tart, apple jam. Are these real food? NO! The processing has taken out all of the original nutrients. Even if they add some back, it is not the same as eating an apple. For the main purpose of food to be experienced you need to eat the whole food with the least amount of processing.

There are some limitations. I would like to make everything fresh, freshly grind all my own herbs and flours (almond meal and coconut), know my grass fed cow, and pick everything from my garden. I would go crazy trying to accomplish all of that, all at once. The tortoise won the race, because he persevered.  Add one real healthy habit at a time. Integrate it into your meals. Then choose another health habit to incorporate into your life. Spend time with it. Merge it into your families habits. There may be initial resistance, but as you find your family’s recipes, it will be accepted. I have made much progress in my health and the health of our family by just doing what I can. Slowly adding time and money to the resources we give to healthful habits. My slow can be fast for others. Know yourself.

What is the Real Food Challenge?

The Real Food Challenge is 30 days of eating real food. You can use your own real food diet. I have descriptions of real food diets and their pros and cons in a handout to make your choice easier. RFC Real Food Diet Descriptions. Download and do your research. You will find many more real food diets, but I can’t list them all. Find the one that fits you best. Join me and your friends in person (Tuesdays at 6:30) or on Facebook (Wednesdays at 6:30) every week in January.You can vote for DaySpring or Facebook Live at this link. I want to keep this as organized as possible so I will be updating this post as we go, as opposed to creating new posts each week. Preparations starts January 1.

Print out: Real Food Challenge 30 Day Calendar (1 page glance of month with devotions and challenges)

• Week One: Prepare the way for success(Determine to succeed, Clear out the pantry/house, Have craving busters on hand, Have detox helpers on hand, Exchange numbers with one person you can call for prayer and support, RFC journal (Click to download Journal), Different types of Real Food Diets.) RFC Prepare for Success(Click to download, Prepare for Success handout, week one)
• Week Two: Powerful time saving tips RFC Time Saving Tips (Click to download week the 2 handout)
• Week Three: Herbs for Energy (sustaining energy, my thoughts on energy boosters) Handout:RFC Building Energy
• Week Four: Weight loss Tips (increasing metabolism, Sleep and probiotics, MCT) RFC Weight Management Tips
• Week Five: Exercise for Life (sit ups and push ups in bed) RFC Exercise for Life

What Real Food Change is Best for you?

There are two really important components in choosing an eating plan that is best for you.

1. What is your main goal? Is it weight loss, healthy family meal plan, heart condition, diabetes, thyroid, dementia, menopause…? If you have a specific goal in mind, you need a diet that can reasonably meet that goal. So many people pick a diet by looking at the allowable foods, this is not a sound way to choose an eating plan. Your taste buds don’t care about your health. Know your goal/goals and know yourself.
2. Who is going to use this diet? Despite the fact that Americans need to allocate more time to cooking food and more money to pay farmers (instead of doctors) that hard fact doesn’t accommodate for our current state of affairs. The rule of perseverance takes people wherever they are and moves them toward their goals at their own pace. I am a jump-in-the-water-with-two-feet type of person. When I make a change, it is all or nothing. Others do not prosper in that type of environment. They take much time and delineation. And still others want to go all in, but really should start slow and study. Be honest and know yourself. Don’t put off for tomorrow, what you should do today; but make small or large lasting progress, depending on what is best for you. (If you are a person with a current life threatening health crisis, my advice would change. Go all out! If your health continues to decline despite slow health changes. It is time to push yourself into a health centered lifestyle faster.) Too slow, too fast, that is up to you. I will add an additional caution. If you go too slow you may not receive the health rewards fast enough to encourage your continued perseverance. Knowing yourself and your goals is very important.

*Be open to problem solving when something isn’t working for you.

*Some conditions can make some diets ineffective or dangerous. If you have existing conditions, ask your doctor or research what diet is best for you. I will also be available for questions.

Videos

Preparing the Way- Real Food Challenge Week 1

Powerful Time Saving Tips- Real Food Challenge Week 2

Building Energy- Real Food Challenge Week 3

Weight Management- Real Food Challenge Week 4

Exercise- Real Food Challenge Week 5