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NorthSide Reaction

Posted January 31, 2012 - 12:07pm by Tracy

How to survive your first week without processed foods

The Well Community team has made it through the first week of our unprocessed food challenge, and we can’t stop talking about everything we have learned and laughing about our “bloopers” along the way.

One member of our team searched the entire grocery store looking for unprocessed granola, only to realize that unprocessed granola is indeed just steel cut oats. Personally, I learned that filling a slow cooker nearly to the top with uncooked beans and checking on it five hours later is a recipe for disaster — as it turns out, beans expand when they cook.

But for all our mistakes this week, we have had far more wins. As a group we are learning (or relearning) how satisfying and delicious cooking from scratch can be, the importance of having a weekly meal plan and how much better you can feel when you eat well. But perhaps the biggest lesson from our first week was the power of a support system. The challenge is not just about giving up processed foods; it’s about sharing recipes, tips for quelling temptation, ideas for healthy take-out options and commiseration when birthday cake just cannot be avoided.

Week one of the 28-day unprocessed food challenge was not easy, but it was an overwhelming success. If you are embarking on your own challenge or are just trying to eat better, check out our team's tips for success:

1. Your slow cooker will be your best friend
You do not want to find yourself hungry and scrounging for meal options during the first week. So prepping meals, making big batches and getting creative is key. Take the advice of Kate Kinne, a registered dietitian and Eating Well blogger, and make big meals that can stretch from dinner to lunch or be frozen and eaten on another night when you are busier. Many on our team roasted chickens, saved the meat for future meals and used the bones to make chicken broth in the slow cooker. Others made homemade marinara or slow cooked black beans.

Also, a few of us are feeling a little burnt-out in the kitchen after a week of cooking, so it’s nice to have meals in the freezer for nights you are too busy or need a break.

2. Hummus is embarrassingly easy to make at home
This tip needs little explanation: Just blend cooked chickpeas (canned or home-made), garlic, olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper to taste and a bit of tahini (if you have it) and start munching. Hummus is delicious, has a ton of protein and makes a great snack with vegetables. 

Truly, making the food is the easy part; the challenge is the careful planning so you have all the ingredients on-hand. Know what you plan to make for the week when you head to the grocery store.

3. Stick to your definition of a “whole food”
Before the challenge starts, establish your goals for what you will and will not eat throughout the month. Unexpected, questionable items will likely pop-up in the first week, but if you started off the challenge knowing how you will handle basic foods like packaged pasta, bread, yogurt and vegetable oil, decisions are easier when questions come up. Also, remember that the idea is not to punish yourself — if you need a little chocolate to get you through the afternoon, that’s okay. But swearing off candy bars on Monday, then getting a craving for them on Wednesday and deciding they “don’t count,” is what you want to avoid.

For help deciding what counts as a whole food, check out an upcoming blog post with tips from Jenny Maloney, a registered dietitian at Galter LifeCenter.

4. Don’t feel bad about cheating
You don't want to associate bad feelings with delicious food, so if you do “cheat” and eat something that is not part of the challenge, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just enjoy it and get back on track the next meal or next day. That said, try not to cheat at all in the first two weeks if possible. This will make temptation easier to resist in later weeks. If you find that the rules are too strict for you to follow, scale back on the strictness until you find a good balance.

5. You really can do this
 Skeptical that you can do this? Or wondering if it is really worth the effort? We were there too at the start of the week and in the days leading up to the challenge. Packaged foods, processed sugars and fast foods are everywhere — and they do make life easier in many ways. But trust us, it’s worth trying to cut them out to whatever degree works for you. You will likely feel better physically, you may lose weight and you’ll feel good knowing you did something difficult. Even if you are not strict about the rules, you are still thinking about what you are eating, and that is already a win.

Also, you don’t have to buy in completely or have the answers to every nutrition question. That is what makes this a challenge and a learning process.

What lessons have you learned while eating healthy? 

We’d love to hear your advice and tips. Please leave your comments and questions below or join us on the Well Community Facebook page.

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