All forty days of the 40FRESH Challenge can be found here. If you’re new to the program, you’ll want to start with day one. To learn more about the program, see the 40FRESH System.
As you embark on your 40FRESH journey, you’re going to notice changes in your body and health. Even though you’ve only changed your snacking and drinking habits, you may already be seeing some of the changes we discuss below. Certain changes are to be expected and others may surprise you. Let’s dive into the most common changes so you know what to expect moving forward.
Before we move on from snacks, we thought it’d be a good idea to cover some helpful tips that will ensure your continued success with your 40FRESH snacks habit. Regardless of how well you’ve set up your home environment, things will be much different once you leave the house. From the vending machine at work to the free donuts after church, you’re bound to run into temptations everywhere.
Welcome to the start of our third phase in the 40FRESH Challenge: Layering. Thus far, apart from the change to our drinking habit a few days ago, we haven’t really made a ton of changes to our diet yet. As we discussed early on, the reason for that is simple–transformation is hard. On average, it takes 66 days for a new habit to become automatic.
Unsurprisingly, if you look through lists of the most popular snacks in America, you’ll find that the overwhelming majority fall into the 40FRESH Nope category. Chips. Crackers. Cereal. Most lists have the top three spots rounded out with a variety of candy. When we snack, we tend to reach for things that are salty or sweet and, above all, convenient.
It’s the start of your second week and today you’re starting things off by eliminating ultra-processed drinks from your diet. Hopefully you’ve lined up some suitable replacement drinks for yourself. Personally, I drink a lot of Spindrift and smoothies that I make in my Vitamix. If you love smoothies, give this recipe a whirl.
First off, congrats on making it through to the end of the first week! Buckle up because we are going to be staring our first habit tomorrow: replacing our drinks. Judging by the sheer number of canned and bottled beverage options at the grocery store, this is going to be a challenging one for many of you. Don’t worry, I promise you’re not going to be confined to a life of boring drinks.
For many of you, the past couple of days probably felt like a lot. It was a lot. Most people who start diets will abandon them at a certain point because they focus on quick fixes and not lasting change. As we discussed on day one, true transformation requires a shift in your identity.
If you’re like me, a trip to the pantry usually doesn’t result in healthy choices. I rarely choose to cut up slices of cucumber or apple when I could simply pop open a bag of chips. When I’m hungry and not feeling particularly motivated, I sacrifice health for convenience. Breaking these habits is challenging if our environment is not setup properly to encourage good habits.
Congratulations! Today marks the beginning of the second phase of our program: PLAN. For the next six days, you’ll be doing some research that will help prepare you to transition to a diet like your great, great grandparents used to eat—no more ultra-processed foods.
Today is going to be a little harder than the previous two days as it will involve a bit more work on your end. But first, let’s break out that food journal and write today’s date followed by your mantra:
I care about my health and make healthy choices.