Your Healthy Dinner Meal Plan
Congratulations on making it to your dinner habit! Now that you have a full dinner meal plan created, it is time to put it to use. With this change, that means you’re now only one meal away from completely embracing the 40FRESH diet. Scary, right?
In fact, this stage of the process can be quite terrifying. Once we convert our lunch eating habits to 40FRESH friendly options, that truly means goodbye to ultra-processed foods. It’s natural to feel a bit panicked by this prospect. At this point, you are probably noticing quite a few of the changes we talked about on day 12.
No matter how good your body is feeling, however, it’s very likely that you still have cravings. Rest assured that these will go away with time, but it will be hard in the short term. That’s why today we’re taking another look at your systems.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your system.”
James Clear
Author & Habits Expert
Today’s Checklist
If you’re following along with the 40FRESH Challenge, here’s your homework for today:
Read this post
Start eating 40FRESH for dinner
Review your systems
Mourning the Loss of Your Old Diet
If you’re feeling sad at the prospect of never eating ultra-processed foods again, you’re not alone. Even at this stage, you’ve likely seen and felt just how integrated they are into our daily lives. Simply put: they’re everywhere. In your face. All the time.
What’s more, they’re not just pervasive in their distribution. They are also culturally integrated at a very deep level. Think about it… Pizza parties at work. Ice cream after winning a game. Burgers and hot dogs at a weekend barbeque with friends and family. Cake on birthdays. Candy on Halloween. The examples go on and on. When we opt out of ultra-processed foods, there’s a good chance we’re opting out of a portion (or all) of those shared experiences.
Granted, there are accommodations you can make in the aforementioned situations to stay 40FRESH friendly, but they are accommodations. You still might feel left out or like you’re being unnecessarily difficult. To be honest, it sucks to have those feelings and you’re likely to encounter them again and again throughout this process. It’s okay to mourn the loss of your old diet, because you’re also mourning the loss of certain traditions.
Will I Always Feel This Way?
Fortunately, no!
The more you eat 40FRESH foods, the less you’ll crave their ultra-processed counterparts. Additionally, you’ll develop better and better strategies for accommodating your diet in difficult situations, like the ones mentioned above. Eventually, you’ll reach a point where your habits become the new normal and you don’t have to give a second thought to them.
Once you’ve reached that point, you can begin to ask yourself whether or not you’d be able to handle an occasional detour into ultra-processed land without it spiraling into an out-of-control food meltdown. The answer to that question will be different for everyone. Some people may never be ready while others have an easier time. Forming a new habit can take as little as 18 days or as long as 254 days. On average, it takes 66 days. That’s a really long time! Given the addictive nature of ultra-processed foods, it’s likely to be on the higher end of that scale for most people.
After you complete your 40th day of 40FRESH, we recommend you keep going for at least 40 more days before you consider reintroducing ultra-processed foods. If you do choose to reintroduce at that point, we’d remind you to never miss twice.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso
Solidify Your Systems
When it comes to 40FRESH, part of learning the rules like a pro is to ensure that your systems for supporting your habits are rock solid and unbreakable. Below is a reminder of all the tools you have at your disposal. Even if one of them doesn’t resonate with you strongly, we’d still encourage you to try it out for the duration of the program to see if it grows on you.
Make Healthy Choices Attractive
Humans are lazy. Given the choice, we will most often take the path of least resistance. So if all your ultra-processed foods are the first thing you see, how long do you think it will be before you crack?
Time spent on reorganizing your environment to make it easy to make healthy choices is time well invested. Lock up your ultra-processed snacks. Get into the routine of doing your meal and snack prep ahead of time. Find ways to optimize your food preparation system so the healthy choices are your first choices.
Your Health Mantra
I care about my health and I make healthy choices.
I’m sure some of you felt this was silly and have already stopped reciting your mantra. This is the tool that feels most unnatural to me, but I’ve found it is also one of the most effective.
Several times, I’ve gone into the pantry to contemplate my food future and contemplated digging for an ultra-processed snack. There’s something to be said for saying your mantra aloud. It interrupts your internal thought process and allows you the time to consider your choice. When you make a choice that’s in line with your mantra, it’s another vote in favor of the identity that you’re trying to form.
If you’re like me and need reminders to do this practice, I’d put up sticky notes in places where you’ll see them frequently. Some places to consider: your bathroom mirror, the pantry, the fridge, around your workspace.
Never Miss Twice Mindset
One of the hardest parts of 40FRESH is dealing with the temptations that constantly bombard us. Unless you are one of the most disciplined people alive (I’m not), you’ll eventually crack. It might be just a quick snack out of convenience when there’s no other options available, or it might be a full blown diabetic coma-inducing meltdown.
We’re human. We err and make choices we regret. If and when that time comes for you, don’t toss all your past success aside. Be honest with yourself, restate your intentions (your mantra), and don’t miss two days in a row. If you can abide by this rule and offer yourself a little bit of grace, you’ll be well on your way to successfully completing your health transformation.
Accountability Calendar
You’ve been tracking on your accountability calendar for almost a solid month now. Maybe you have a solid string of days marked off or maybe you’ve circled a few where you missed. Either way, it’s incredibly satisfying to mark each day off when you’ve completed your daily checklist.
It is very important to have a physical copy of your accountability calendar, so I’d encourage you to print it out, if at all possible. Digital copies are easy to get lost behind a multitude of browser windows and apps. A printed copy can be pinned to your wall or placed somewhere that you’ll be forced to look at day after day. I keep mine on my office desk. While the visual cue itself is beneficial by itself, it’s also wayyyyy more satisfying to check off a day with a pen than it is to digitally check off.
Your Food Journal
Your food journal is another tool that is very similar to the accountability calendar. When you make an honest account of everything you eat, it acts as an accountability partner.
You’re more likely to make healthy choices when you feel you’re accountable, even if it is only to yourself. It’s also useful as a tool to help you identify your cues for falling back into old patterns. Understanding and preparing to deal with those cues is vital to your success.
Habit Stacking
We went through a few strategies on day 6 that can help make habits stick. One of those is “stacking” another action whenever you make a choice that aligns with your health mantra. This week, add on a (non-food) reward for yourself every time you make a 40FRESH dinner. That will make your new habit far more satisfying and create a positive association between healthy choices and rewards.
Up Next...
We wish you the best of luck as you start adopting 40FRESH for dinner today! Give yourself a hard-earned X on your accountability calendar and remember that you have what it takes to do this.
One of the most challenging parts of eating 40FRESH is handling situations where you’re outside the house and can’t prepare a meal. We’ll talk about some strategies for dealing with this tomorrow, along with some 40FRESH friendly options you can find if you’re eating out.