**This post is part of the Get Real series. Please remember that this is meant as a learning community. We know that many of you are passionate about what you do and we want you to express that, just please do so in a way that will be an encouragement and aid to others making a transition. We want this to be a “safe space” for participants to learn. For that reason, we reserve the right to delete any comments that are not handled in this manner.
Welcome to the start of a new chapter in your life! We are so happy to have you join us in this journey and we hope to provide you with information, tools, and resources to keep you going throughout the year!
First, stop by and make the pledge to Get Real with us! By making this pledge you are not only making a commitment for success, but you are entered to win fun prizes each month that you participate! Our brand sponsors will be helping to provide these special prizes for the drawings.
January is the beginning of a new year and is full of buzz words like resolutions, goals, milestones, and big plans. Although it seems like by the time April comes around, everything we’ve set back in January has fallen to the wayside and given in to life’s realities. That is not our plan for this series! Having the series last through the entire year helps this become a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely).
This first month in the series we will be providing you with a list of resources that will help you research why changing to a more whole/ real foods lifestyle can only improve your health and quality of life. We’ll be hosting a movie week and discussion! If you are too excited and want to get ahead of the group, head over to our Get Real Amazon store for our list of books and DVDs that will expand your knowledge! I would also encourage you to check out your local library for these books and DVDs, since checking them out is FREE, positive for the local economy, and your fuel tank.
With all the resolution talk this past week, I am sure you have heard the saying, “It takes six weeks to make a new or break an old habit.” Right? I truly believe that it takes WORK and DEDICATION to create new or break old habits. We will go over some of the hardest habits to break while transitioning. We will talk about what brand loyalty means for you and how it can affect your buying habits through the transition. And with the help of Lisa Leake of 100 Days of Real Food, we will be focusing on purging your pantry and also ridding yourself of things that can tempt you down the road.
While it is true that everything is fine in moderation, we need to first start with a clean and fresh slate. There are also resources out there that will provide you with a cleansing diet to start your plan. However, I believe this transformation is gradual and doesn’t need to be a shock to your system. (Plus you still have a freezer full of OAMM meals to go through right?)
January Week 1 Action Item:
- Leave us a comment on our Get Real Facebook Fan Page or below, and let us know what is driving you towards a more whole/ real foods lifestyle and the goals you hope to achieve through this series.
- Time to take inventory! Go through your pantries, cupboards, and freezer and mark down all of the pre-packaged foods, highly processed meals, and processed ingredients that you wouldn’t consider whole/ real foods. Mark your list with what you feel is a whole food and what you feel is real. It will be great to compare with our guest post next week, Lisa Leake of 100 Days of Real Food, and what she has in store for us!
- Plan your purge. Once you’ve made your list, make plans to use what you can of these foods and get rid of them for good! Now we don’t like to throw out perfectly good food. You can go to Menu Builder and enter in the ingredients that you have and create a custom freezer cooking day to use them up! Using a weekly or monthly meal plan can help you to get through what you have so we can begin to restock with more whole and real foods in your home. You can also donate non-perishable items to your local food pantry, church, or shelters if you feel inclined or give your freezer meals to a friend.
January Get Real:
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