.…and beyond
One of our 30 Day eaters asked what to call this thing, this diet, once the 30 days was up, yet he wanted to continue.
That’s a good question, and I’m working through it. It’s good timing, too, since I’m way past 30 days, myself and I’m updating our 30 Days of Real Food to include some great new information, not the least of which is what to do after you’ve hit day 30.
30 Days
We picked 30 Days because it’s a manageable time frame to see real progress. 7 days is worthless, unless it’s a diet designed to give you a running start on a real diet. 21 days is fine, since it’s rumored to be the minimum time needed to develop a new habit. 30 days, on the other hand, while still a manageable, finite time, is a whole month.
“I made it a whole month without smoking.”
“I haven’t been sick in a month.”
“I lost ten pounds this month.”
I don’t claim to know why a month is so powerful; maybe it’s simply because our minds make it a manageable section of a year. Just 1/12th, yet a significant slice?
Yes, it’s somewhat arbitrary, but since so many traditions (paycheck, cable bill, workout program, menstruation) are built around a month, more or less, why mess with success?
Real Food
We picked Real Food because we wanted to focus on eating a diet that starts with raw ingredients, not boxes, cans, jars, and packages. It’s basically a paleo, primal, biblical, or otherwise ancestral diet, but approachable to all, no matter how old you think the universe is.
Sean Croxton, of Underground Wellness and the Underground Wellness Podcast has coined the term JERF, or Just Eat Real Food.
Here’s Galya wearing one of his shirts…
Galya Jerks in her JERF t-shirt (click to get yours)
Well, it’s not his shirt, per se, but a shirt from him.
The dilemmas
“I just eat Real Food” is a powerful statement, but “what do the rest of you eat?” is the seemingly unasked question.
One problem I have with the term ‘Real Food’ is that is sounds elitist, but maybe that’s okay.
I don’t want to alienate people, but I’m a little tired of humoring people who want me to tell them that cereal that’s not frosted and ‘contains whole grains’ is fine. That 100% juice juice counts as fruit. That huge burritos made with or without whatever ingredient they mistakenly think is either healthy or unhealthy is good food. That a lite soy chai anything is a good choice.
It’s not.
And by the way, it’s not the stuff in the burrito that’s the problem. The problem is that your sentence begins with ‘My burrito…’
That ‘Real Food’ is different for each person is problem #2, but maybe that’s okay, too. I don’t want our diet to be a cookie cutter plan; even Galya and I don’t eat the same exact diet. She does well on some foods that I don’t, and vice versa. Both of our diets are both based on the same principle of backing out the ‘options’ and ‘extras,’ giving ourselves time without, then testing the waters to see how we react.
The methodology of the 30 Days of Real Food is to strip your diet down to the bare essentials, then add healthy choices back in when appropriate. It’s also designed to break your addiction to sugars and a high carb diet, so you’re not as tempted going forward.
tempted?
We hope it’s a reset of your palate, leaving you to enjoy food at it’s simplest levels – far more than you enjoyed them when your tongue and brain were being bombarded with the scientifically engineered foods that can only come from a box or bag.
What’s in a name?
So, while the term ‘Real Food’ sounds good to me as a concept, by itself and without the ’30 Days’ part (aka ‘The Real Food Diet’), it’s too generic.
The 30 Day Real Food Reset is a good name, but what do we call this thing on Day 31?
We are open to suggestions, so please comment here or on Facebook, or shoot me an email with any ideas!
Thank you for reading!
Roland