Not real food…..do we call it processed food, packaged foods, sugary foods, calorie dense foods, nutrient lacking food, junk food, or something else?
And then what do we call Real Food—I mean, it can be in a package, right (frozen veggies, canned fruit, jars of nuts)? It can be calorie dense (butter, coconut oil, avocado, egg yolk, chicken skin….the list goes on). It can be in a package or not.
This month we are having a “More Real Food” Challenge in my free private FB group.
And I’m teaching live every. single. day. (Think lots of hats before I go work out! ha ha)
But I want us to learn and grow together–and change our eating habits in such a way that we have an impact on our overeating, overhunger, over craving, and over desire.
So…we are first of all PLANNING and determining a way to MEASURE (not like weighing our food or anything!).
And then we are learning, learning, learning….I am answering questions all month like
What is real food?
What is not real?
How are triggers connected to the not real foods in my life?
How does The Hungry Brain’s 5 Trigger Foods apply to not real food?
How does real food affect stomach distensability, digestion, appetite, fullness, cravings, and more?
How does not real food affect ghrelin?
How does real food affect our ability to hear leptin (the satiety hormone)?
What should I consider real or not real?
How should I keep track of my not real foods?
How much is too much–and how frequency of not real foods affect dopamine…
AND….so much more!
So if you would like to learn how to eat more real food, how to decrease cravings for not real food, and all the things….I’d love to have you join us!
And…to show you what you might have missed so far….
Here are the mini outlines and the videos from the first five days.
Day 1: April’s “More Real Food” Challenge
Join anytime or just watch and learn. No pressure!
Let’s start with a plan and a measurement
1. For thirty days, I’m going to tell you everything I know about real food and processed food’s effect on hunger, leptin, grehlin, stomach dystensibility, brain, dopamine, rewards, weight, size/inches, and more….but for today, make a plan to either reduce processed food or increase real food…just a micro change.
2. For now, make a way to measure this plan–simple note on your phone, three fruits on the counter, sticky note in your wallet…a simple way to measure.
3. Tell us below what your plan and measurement are for today
Day 2: April’s “More Real Food” Challenge
1. What is real to you?
2. What do you want to decrease–and why?
3. How will you PLAN and MEASURE today?
Day 3: April’s “More Real Food” Challenge–MORE Tips for Determining Real vs. Not Real
Notes for Today’s Broadcast:
1. Don’t forget to comment! Excited to see people ADDING real food and not just focusing on subtracting non-real!
2. Benchmark for making your “not real” list (foods you’re going to “decide ahead of time” and have only those times)
a. My Trifacta
b. One benchmark: Which foods are your triggers?
i. Example—no triggers from homemade sugar-free treats
ii. Example—no triggers from low sugar snacks with flour
iii. Triggers for me come when I bring three or four of the “5 Triggers” from “Hungry Brain”
iv. These foods that you can’t stop eating, that make you want more, that trigger you to over eat or over desire—these are foods that you’ll want to make rare/treats
3. Tomorrow–WHY real foods
Edited: Assignment for those who want to participate today! Comment below:
A. Your real food vs non real food PLAN today
B. Your way to MEASURE today’s plan
C. Start your non real food list with foods that trigger you (like my trifecta foods!)
Day 4: More “Real Food” Challenge– WHY Real Foods
1. Real foods have the ability to fill us up way more than processed foods in terms of bulk
a. Calories per gram/size/bulkiness
b. Fiber
c. Water
2 Real foods often have protein
a. Most thermogenic macronutrient
b. Takes 14% of its calories to process it
c. Stay in digestive system longer, not as much room for other foods
Assignment:
1) PLAN your real and non real foods for today
2) Decide how you will MEASURE (jotting them on a sticky note, making notes in your note section on your phone, writing them in a journal, etc)
3) Keep adding to your non-real food list (which you will try to reduce frequency of eating) as you see what foods affect your cravings, appetites, over hunger, over desire, etc (examples—my Trifacta Foods with flour, sugar, and fat are at the top of my non-real food list).
Day 5: April’s “More Real Food” Challenge
1. Real foods affect grehlin more (hunger hormone/tells brain stomach space)
a. We can train grehlin through Intermittent Fasting
b. Grehlin training takes consistency just like parenting!
c. We can trick grehlin through stomach filling of more nutrient dense, less calorie dense, more fibrous, more watery, longer lasting foods
2. Real foods aid in digestion
a. Fiber and water aren’t just “fillers” for our stomachs
b. They help move foods and toxins through at a healthy pace
Assignments —“You only propel what you plan; you only move what you measure!”
1) What’s your real food vs non real food PLAN today?
2) What’s your real food vs non real food MEASUREMENT today?
3) Continue making your non-real food list with foods or combinations of foods that you will only have as a planned “fun food”—not daily food
a. Pay close attention to your triggers (usually a combo food—like salt and starch and fat like chips; or flour and sugar and fat, etc)
b. Don’t worry about having a perfect list—can be specific foods or trigger combos, etc
Let’s feel great and live well,
Donna
P.S. If you have questions, I have answers! Sign up for April’s workshop, “Ten Intermittent Fasting Questions”! (It’s free!!)
