SNEAK PEAK........

May 1st is going to be here before we know it.  Will you be ready for the 30 Day Challenge?  Anyone can do anything for 30 days.....it's not hard!  I will give you step by step instructions from grocery lists to recipes, to the menus. To start getting prepared for this challenge you will need to:

1.  Clean your cupboards
2.  Clean out your refrigerator

Your home environment can make or break you.  We want to get rid of processed foods such as candy, cookies, chips, donuts, pastries--any foods that have an ingredient list a paragraph long.  These foods are going to keep the extra pounds on us, make us feel tired and bogged down.  Believe me, when we eliminate these foods from our diet, we begin to FEEL so much better, lighter and energetic.  

We will be stocking our cupboards and refrigerator with all kinds of WHOLE FOODS--potatoes, rice, beans, vegetables, fruits, oats, quinoa and other whole grains.  Your grocery bill will absolutely go down as we will not be buying meat for 30 days--the MOST EXPENSIVE item in the grocery store is MEAT--it will not be on our menu.  

So, I will give you a peak at the GUIDELINES we will be following for this challenge:

EAT UNLIMITED AMOUNTS OF :

• Raw vegetables (1 pound per day)
• Cooked green and non-green nutrient rich vegetables--eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, and cauliflower just to name a few--(1 lb per day)
• Beans, legumes, bean sprouts and tofu
• Fresh fruits (up to four per day)

EAT LIMITED AMOUNTS OF:

• Cooked, starchy vegetables or whole grains--butternut squash, corn, potatoes, rice, cereal (limit to 1 cup per day)
• Avocados (2 oz maximum daily)
• Ground flaxseeds (1 tablespoon maximum)

OFF LIMITS:

• Dairy
• All animal products 
• Fruit juice
• Oil

These are the guideline for MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS.  If your goal is to get off medications and be healthier and weight is not an issue for you, then you can also eat unlimited amounts of the starchy vegetables, avocados, nuts and seeds.  There are many people that just want to eat healthier and do not want to lose any weight, such as athletes--in that case, again, eat unlimited amounts of the starches, nuts and seeds.  

So there it is--the BASIC guidelines we will be following for our 30 Day Challenge.  Please don't think that we will just be eating salads--we will be making wraps, burritos, buddha bowls, burgers, loaded potatoes, etc.  

The food will be amazing--but just remember, we will be preparing all the food ourselves.  With a little planning in the beginning of every week, this will be a breeze.  

However, the SECRET to eating this way is PLANNING.  

IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL!!  With a plan in place, you can only SUCCEED--I promise!