My one week- no processed challenge

lexington87 · December 2014

I've been in a rut health wise for a year now. Injury/recovery/medication etc has side lined me long enough and I've made the decision to take it into my own hands.

This week I am challenging myself to a "no processed food" week. Since sweets and salty pre-made garbage has become my emotional crutch this is going to be tough. Hopefully posting on here and tracking everything will be enough to keep me honest and accurate. Though I know it is going to be tough giving up sugar, I may be setting myself up for "outs" but the one thing I cannot give up right away will be my coffee- hey maybe that's next week's challenge.

Anyone else tried? Have suggestions on avoiding the cravings?

zyxst · December 2014

Just posting to wish you luck on this. It's something I can't do.

sheepotato · December 2014

I've done it before.

If you are used to heavily processed foods you may get headaches or be abnormally grumpy for the first few days but by the 4th day you will feel normal or possibly better.

If you keep at it, you will get reaquianted with natural flavors and find that it takes much less sugar, salt, added oil for foods.

As far as suggestions, I don't really have any. It's going to suck the first 3 days and you may want to quit during that time but if you don't then it's easy after that point. Drink a lot of water and keep yourself occupied and try not to think about it. Make sure if you live with other people that they are forewarned, to avoid conflict or temptation. Try to put the first few days across a weekend so you don't upset anyone at work if you find you do get snippy.

And yeah it's a good idea not to give up coffee at the same time.

HeidiCooksSupper · December 2014

Treat yourself with tasty food that isn't "processed." For example, clementines are great, sweet treats. Use plenty of good ingredients in your meals. For example, "dress" your vegetables. Toss green beans in coarse mustard, honey and dill relish. Cream spinach. Turn any leafy green (parsley, cilantro, etc.) into a pesto by whirring it in the food processor with some nuts and a bit of oil. No need to give up chicken nuggets -- google 'baked chicken nuggets recipe' and you'll find a bunch of easy suggestions. In fact, that gives me ideas for supper tonight -- dressed green beans and baked chicken nuggets. Yummy.

jonnyman41 · December 2014

I did it recently but to help gallbladder issues and it certainly did that though I did not lose any weight. the thing that worked best for me was preparation so that there was always something nice to eat that I did not need to do much too. Breakfasts were smoothies made with pre bought fruit (blue berries and chopped apple plus spinich) and oats and no fat yogurt, (bought a large tub to last the week) Lunch was home made soup made at the start of the week and frozen in little plastic cups so I could take to work and just heat up. Also salad (used bagged leaves and just added cherry tomatoes and tinned fish!) Tea was simple stir fries or sweet potato and chicken/fish and veg. Very quick to do. I also had snacks of unsalted pre measured nuts or berries . It worked much better than I expected. i used coconut oil to flavour the salads and drank water apart from one cup of tea in the morning as I just had to have that lol.

lexington87 · December 2014

Thanks for the advice all! Sheepotato- I feel like I'm going to be wearing a caution sign on me all week but it's pushing me more since I hate that food is "controlling" me like that.
- HeidiCooks I love the pesto suggestion and am going to be working that out this afternoon

Thank you!
- Jonnyman those are great suggestions smoothies are going to be my go-to I think

lemurcat12 · December 2014

I don't eat much processed stuff anyway if what you mean is packaged items. Mostly just smoked salmon, yogurt/other dairy, olives, stuff like that. However, I did have crutch items, typically sweets that would be in my office break room, as well as a tendency to use ice cream or sweets (homemade, but that hardly made them healthier) for emotional purposes. So when I started I gave all that up (no sweets, no snacking between meals) as a break the habit effort for a couple of weeks, and it helped immensely just by teaching me I didn't need them.

I now eat some sweet stuff in moderation, but feel like I am more in control. I still don't snack other than a scheduled snack I might decide to have regularly with preplanned food or for the (quite rare) office treat that is truly worth sacrificing other calories for.

Sabine_Stroehm · December 2014

Always good to be more mindful of what we put in our bodies. Congrats on taking control. cheers!
(and expect the usual thread crappers to appear and challenge your use of the word "processed")

PeachyCarol · December 2014

sheepotato wrote: »

I've done it before.

If you are used to heavily processed foods you may get headaches or be abnormally grumpy for the first few days but by the 4th day you will feel normal or possibly better.

If you keep at it, you will get reaquianted with natural flavors and find that it takes much less sugar, salt, added oil for foods.

As far as suggestions, I don't really have any. It's going to suck the first 3 days and you may want to quit during that time but if you don't then it's easy after that point. Drink a lot of water and keep yourself occupied and try not to think about it. Make sure if you live with other people that they are forewarned, to avoid conflict or temptation. Try to put the first few days across a weekend so you don't upset anyone at work if you find you do get snippy.

And yeah it's a good idea not to give up coffee at the same time.

Agreeing with this with one caveat. The first 3 days are the worst. After that, it is much easier. You'll still get cravings for things you're avoiding, but you won't feel awful while you're having them.

BTW, my caveat? I may not eat processed foods other than protein bars and some condiments, but you'll pry coffee from my cold, dead hands

ana3067 · December 2014

I "ate clean" and not processed for a few years. didn't have any "transition" issues. I also didn't stick to it because it wasn't sustainable and wasn't enjoyable.

So I don't really have suggestions for avoiding cravings other than.... Well, I honestly don't really think that doing these types of dietary changes are healthy or necessary unless it's done for a specific medical purpose, which is what makes avoiding the food really easy. Otherwise, I just advise learning moderation and tracking all intake. If you feel gross eating a lot of unhealhty stuff then you will naturally gravitate towards "better" food. If you don't really notice a difference at all in how you feel, and you are doing this because you think it will kick-start weightloss, then all you need is to set up your calorie deficit and then eat foods you love and that satiate you.

lemurcat12 · December 2014

mamapeach910 wrote: »

BTW, my caveat? I may not eat processed foods other than protein bars and some condiments, but you'll pry coffee from my cold, dead hands

I forgot protein bars and sometimes powder in my list of processed foods I eat and coffee/tea also. And I agree with you. ;-)

(Not saying this makes OP's efforts not worthwhile, just an aside.)

fat2strongbeth · December 2014

You should check out October unprocessed. There are great suggestions, recipes, etc.

https://eatingrules.com/october-unprocessed-2014/

lexington87 · December 2014

Thank you again for those of you supporting this and batharin I will definitely checking out the October unprocessed.
For me processed is the junk food, the breads and cereals and loaded with sugar/salts/fillers. Pretty much the stuff in the middle isles of the supermarket. I realize stopping all of it will not be possible or long term feasible but for 1 week if I can break the habit maybe I can change how often I go for it.

Fruits/Veggies/Meat- raw or cooked, no juices- water, tea, fruit enfused water only. That is the goal

My one week- no processed challenge

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