The first step to a successful challenge is optimizing your environment.
Most of us aren't cyborgs, we are being influenced by our environment on a minute by minute basis.
For example, as this is getting written I am sitting with a big glass of water right next to the computer to remind me to drink more. Guess what? I drink more water when I have a glass next to me! That's the power of the environment.
How many times have you mindlessly grabbed something to eat because you saw food lying on the table or some "goodies" in the staff break room? You weren't hungry at all, but you saw the food and you unconsciously grabbed a small handful.
This happens all the time. Unfortunately, we can't always control our environment when we are at the office or out and about. In those instances, we will have to rely on willpower. But, the one place you do have COMPLETE control over is your home.
The place where you spend a large majority of your time.
This isn't some hokey-pokey hypothesis I just "made up," either. Science has my back on this one...
Our environment has a strong effect on our food decisions.
By simply fixing our environment we can "nudge" ourselves into making better decisions with food. It is pretty cool and doesn't even take any willpower.
So, your task for today is a Kitchen Klean-Up. (Yes, I know we spelt klean wrong but I was going for the alliteration :)
Now, you have two options for a Kitchen Klean-up!
Option 1: Throw out (or donate) any and all processed food that is not going to support the next six weeks. We will get to the details later...
Option 2: Take all the food that is not going to support your journey over the next 6 weeks and put it in ONE specific cupboard. Preferably out of the kitchen (maybe even store it in the attic)....
Now, Option #1 is going to be the best because if it's out of the house you won't have to worry about temptation. But, I know many people have kids (like I do) or stubborn significant others (like I do) that still need "their" food -- so if this scenario resembles your household; it might be better to opt for Option #Two.
Now, what needs to get the boot?
Beverages:
Any calorie containing beverages need to go. This is not an exhaustive list but...
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soda
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fruit juice
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milk (yes, for right now toss the milk)
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sports drinks
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healthy green drinks
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coffee creamer
Replace with....
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Water, Unflavored Coffee, Tea
Grains:
This is going to be most things that are in a package. Things like....
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cereal
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bread (even "some" whole wheat bread)
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crackers
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cookies
Replace with...
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Fruits
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Vegetables
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Whole grains (quinoa, steel cut oats, millet, buckwheat, brown rice)
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Legumes
Snack Bars:
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Cliff bars
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Power bars
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Nature Valley bars
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Granola bars
Replace with...
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Fruits
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Vegetables (baby carrots, broccoli florets, celery sticks)
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Nuts
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Seeds
Sweets:
This category is pretty straight forward
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candy
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ice cream
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flavored yogurts
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fruit juice
Replace with...
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Fruits
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Berries
Bad Fats:
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Vegetable oils (soybean, vegetable, canola, cottonseed, etc...)
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"I can't believe it's not butter" butter
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Margarine
Replace with...
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Fish Oil
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Coconut Oil
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Avocado Oil
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Olive Oil
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Whole avocados
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Nuts / Seeds
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Almond Butter
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Peanut Butter (nothing but peanuts and salt)
Condiments:
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Jelly
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Ketchup
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Mayo
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BBQ
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Commercial Salad Dressings
Replace with...
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Homemade Salad Dressing (oil, vinegar, spices)
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Mustard
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Hot Sauce (Tabasco, Frank's Red Hot)
Baking Ingredients:
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all flours
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gluten (if you're allergic)
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thickeners
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basically anything you would use to bake a cake
Replace with...
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Nothing, don't try and create baked goods with "healthier" items - stick close to nature.
Packaged Meat:
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Pepperoni
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Hot Dogs
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Brats
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Packaged deli meat
Replace with...
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Lean meats
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Eggs
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Fish
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Legumes
If you want the "easy button" here it is.
Remove all packaged, processed foods and replace with whole foods. Replace the foods with labels with the foods that do not have any labels or have less than 5 ingredients on their labels.
This isn't an exhaustive list so if you do have any questions if a food is "acceptable" first ask yourself if you could kill, pick, dig up, harvest, or grow this food... If the answer is yes, it's probably real food.
If something has a label and lots of ingredients, it's probably overly processed.
You don't see spaghetti growing in fields but you can sure see broccoli as long as we are not living in Alaska in the winter.
Still have a question? Post it to the JAO FitnessFacebook group HERE!
You have roughly 2 days to complete your kitchen klean-up. I created a helpful little guide below (in case you didn't get it yesterday).
What are you waiting for, time to get to it!!!!
Resource Section: