Making wholesale nutritional changes all at once is rarely successful, but fortunately you don't need to do that to make a lasting change.
For the next several weeks, I will offer a different nutritional challenge that you can try to incorporate into your lifestyle for seven days. If you like it, keep it up. If not, try the next one.
If you're feeling particularly ambitious, start adding the habits together and see how they help you improve your fat loss goals. But remember, the key to fat loss success is consistency, so don't overwhelm yourself.
For those who complete several of the challenges and see a change, send us your before and after photos!
See last week's challenge about replacing grains with greens here.
Week Three Challenge: Getting Rid of Packaged Foods
Here is a little secret: Just because something is edible does not mean its food. Unfortunately, we are inundated with “food-like” products that are devoid of real nutritional value.
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This week I challenge you to cut those “pseudo foods” from your diet. I’m not challenging you to eat like a cave man, but rather like your grandfather.
If the “food” you are about to eat is a packaged, processed food item in a container with its picture on the front, don’t eat it.
This includes prepared frozen meals, processed meats, packaged snack foods and typically anything labeled as a “diet” or “health.”
Instead, eat real foods with ingredients you can pronounce made by a real person. Instead of a food bar, eat a handful of nuts. Instead of a “100-calorie pack,” eat an apple.
Good luck!
Dusten Nelson is a Chicago-based strength coach, nutritional expert and practitioner of Chinese medicine. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and check out his website. You can email Nelson at info@DustenNelson.com.
Nelson is currently training Chicago filmmaker Kenneth Yoder to compete in a 100-day bodybuilding challenge. See the original story here.
