I have received a lot of emails asking questions on what you can or can not eat during the two day challenge. My original two day challenge was too vague so I have decided to revise the rules. Through the many emails I can tell that people are up and ready for this challenge, this gets me excited! RULES:
Challenge must be two consecutive days, and the new end date will be this Friday night (January 6th).
All produce is OK.
All fresh meat, polutry, and sea food is ok.
Hormone FREE eggs are OK.
IF your food comes in a package this is what you are to do:
1. READ the label.
2. Can you draw a picture of everything that is in the ingredients? If there is even ONE thing in the list that you cannot picture in your head, that food is NOT OK.
To test my new rules I looked through my own cabinet and started reading labels. I was surpised at some of the things I found. My WHOLE WHEAT Tuscan pane bread would NOT be ok to eat. I read the ingredient "Vital wheat Gluten". Because I did not know what Vital Wheat gluten was I looked it up and read:
"Vital wheat gluten is like a super-powered flour that is all gluten and very little starch. It's not technically flour itself, but it's made from wheat flour that has been hydrated to activate the gluten and then processed to remove everything but that gluten. It's then dried and ground back into a powder."
I also read the ingredients in my 'ORGANIX 42% CACAO' and this was NOT OK! I read the ingredient "soy lecithin" and had no idea what it was! So I looked it up and learned that soy lecithin is a by product of soybean processing. I read THIS article and think you should to! It was really helpful.
My Old Fashioned oats are OK
My Trader Joes hummus is OK
My Greek Yogurt NOT OK
My multi grain pita chips NOT OK
Just because some of my foods are OK or NOT OK, does not mean that your particular food will follow suit. Everything is made differently. That is why I want you to READ your labels and ask yourself, can I really visualize everything there. My advice to you is when choosing foods think, "What is the most orginal state this food comes in?" For example : a tomatoe VS ketchup. Keep it simple. Keep it real! Whole vegetables and fruits. If you have more questions please post them below or email me. GOOD LUCK. Start planning.
Breakfast can be tricky since many of us just grab for the cereal, or bars. Here are some breakfast ideas:
- diced avocado, cucumbers, tomato, EVOO, squeeze of lemon
- old fashioned/steel cut oats... READ YOUR LABEL
- eggs with sweet potato
- Fruit and nuts
- banana or apple and scoop of ALL natural almond butter/peanut butter (read the label; peanuts or almonds should be the only thing listed)
The reason for this challenge is to encourage you to start actively reading labels and for you to be aware of what you are putting in your body.
SIDE NOTE: you can have milk. It is processed but it is pasteurized to kill bacteria
DISCLAIMER: I am not a dietitian or a nutritionist. This contest is based on my own thoughts of a fun and creative way to bring awareness to reading food labels.
