30 Day Challenge! Who’s with me?

Ready for a change?

Wanna clean up your diet & get healthier?

I have the best plan for this.

It’s not a diet.  It’s not restrictive.  You won’t be hungry.  You won’t feel deprived.

And the Results?

I’ve haven’t felt this good in years.  Really, it’s true.

I’ll tell you – Sometimes all we need to get motivated is a friend who will go with us.

One of my readers is starting a 60 day challenge with her hubs and some friends.

Their goal:  only real food, no labels, no ingredients, no sugar, or white flour.

I thought I’d join them on their mission & wanted to invite you to do it too.

If you have been thinking about getting healthy, cleaning up your diet or doing a little detox – Come join us!

Since 60 days can sound like an eternity I’m proposing a 30 day Farm Fresh Challenge.  We’ve all got 30 days in us?  Right?

My Dad would tell you, “30 Days is nothing.  You can hold your breath that long.”

This is such a great time to start fresh, clean up and go healthy.

THE FARM FRESH CHALLENGE – Eat Real for at least 30 Days

Eat only real foods for at least 30 days.  Why 30?  30 days is long enough to break some addictions and allow your body to reset.  30 days is also long enough to see some positive changes in your health, but short enough that it’s doable for most people.

It couldn’t be simpler.

Just eat real food.

If it’s real – eat it.  If it’s fake – don’t.

Once you decide to do it – it’s time to get some meals planned and head to the supermarket farmer’s market.

How does one make the switch to real food?  What can I eat?

Eating real food is easier than you may think.

Here is a list of real foods that You can eat:

1. Any whole foods.  These are foods you can picture in their natural state in nature.  All fruits, all vegetables, all leafy greens, all berries, nuts, seeds, eggs, etc.
2. Any natural sweeteners.  This includes real maple syrup, honey, molasses, stevia (the leaves, not the powder) and anything that is naturally sweet (fruit juice, carrot juice).
3. Healthy meat.  For me, this is local, pastured meat.  I don’t get hung up on organic or grass-fed because there are all sorts of issues with those labels.
4. Any fresh, wholemeal grains.  This includes:  fresh milled flour, fresh milled grains, organic corn, organic oats, etc.
5. Organic Dairy products (raw if possible).
6. Any natural fats.  This includes:  pastured lard, cold pressed olive oil.  organic coconut oil, organic butter, bacon grease, sausage grease, grease from your bone broths, ghee, tallow, and I use organic grape seed oil for bread making.
7. Snacks: fruit, nuts, seeds, popcorn or a healthy baked good made with fresh milled flour (like a scone or a muffin).
8. Any natural drinks.  Milk, 100% juice, coffee, tea, water, natural adult beverages are OK too.
9. Anything you make using real foods!  You can make scones, muffins, pancakes, crackers, pasta, bread, rolls, hamburger buns, tortillas, lasagna, manacotti, empanadas, the sky is the limit.  Use only wholemeal flour (fresh-milled is best) and approved sweeteners (see #2) and bake your heart out.

Sounds Easy!  What’s the catch?

Here’s what you CAN’T eat.

1. No processed, refined, bleached or otherwise tampered with grains.  This basically means:  no flour from the grocery.  No cornmeal from the grocery.  No flours that have been processed, whitened, enriched or messed with.  Wholemeal grain only.  This means “The WHOLE grain”  endosperm, bran & germ all still intact.  The best way (and healthiest way) to know you are consuming entire grains is to purchase whole wheat berries & mill them yourself.  More on fresh flour here.  The truth about store-bought flour and why you shouldn’t eat it here.
2. No processed sweeteners.  No table sugar.  No Aunt Jemima’s syrup.  No corn syrup.  No splenda or other fake sweeteners.
3. No processed fats.  No refined oils.
4. No fast food.
5. No processed foods:  This is pretty much everything that comes in a box, bag or can (think soups) from the grocery.  A good way to tell if it is real food is to read the label.  If you recognize all the ingredients and can picture them in their natural form in nature then it’s food.  If there is an ingredient your 2nd grader can pronounce it’s not food.
6. Nothing Artificial: no artificial colors, preservatives, additives, or chemical enhancements (like MSG).
7. Nothing with labels or ingredients.  Real foods don’t usually have ingredient lists or labels (like: eggs, meat, fruit, veggies, grains, etc).

If eating real food is a new concept to you be sure to download my FREE mini-book “How to Eat – an eater’s manual.”  It will lay out the program & encourage you as you begin a real food journey.

For even more recipes, content and instructional videos on enjoying a real food lifestyle – consider a membership.

Here are some Survival Tips:

1. I encourage you to stay on the plan as long as you can.  If you have it in you, 30 days would probably change your perspective on food forever.
   • You’ll learn to cook foods you’ve never attempted.
   • You’ll (hopefully) break the sugar addictions.
   • You eyes will be opened to how delicious real food is.
   • You’ll feel better & be healthier.
   • Your body will change (for the better).
   • You’ll probably never want to eat processed foods again.
2. Consider your kitchen a new frontier to explore and think about making things you’ve never made before.  Things like crackers, tortillas and pasta.  It’s not that hard and the homemade goods are so much healthier.
3. Think about adding an electric mill to your kitchen.  A grain mill is one of the wisest investments you can make.  It doesn’t cost that much and will turn your kitchen into the most nutritious bakery in your county!  Go here to read all about grinding your own wheat.

Search my site for fabulous recipes you can make and enjoy while on the challenge.  Go to the “kitchen” icon above to find dozens of real-food recipes to get you started!

Who’s with me?

-Candi