Alright here it is. It’s that time of year again. The time of year where I get so fed up with myself and my crappy eating that I have to do a bold challenge to get myself back on track. Last year, I started the challenge towards the end of May. This year I’m starting today! And I’m almost through day 1 already and feeling strong. That’s the first step! :)

Last year, I called it the 42-Day Nutritarian Challenge, based off of the principles of Dr. Joel Fuhrman and how he suggests you go “nutritarian” for the first 6 weeks at a full 100%. That means, all vegan (no eggs, fish, meat, dairy, cheese, yogurt, etc), no oil, no salt, and limited grains.

This year, I’m doing the same exact thing except I’m calling it the Eat Good Challenge cuz like…it’s way funner to say. :P (and it’s so obviously proper English:)

So I made a video to describe the whole deal, and you can watch it here, or just keep reading:

What’s the Motivation for the Eat Good Challenge? Video and Easy Recipes!

Basically, I completely subscribe to Fuhrman’s mentality on health. That is is equal to the amount of micronutrients you take in per calorie. Therefore, eating higher nutrient-density foods will equal better health…longevity, disease-fighting, the whole shebang. I completely get it. I completely believe in it. Does that make automatically make me a perfect eater?

Nope. Not even close.

But I can say one thing. Since I’ve started doing these challenges periodically since 2013, my eating has changed drastically. Not like, quickly or perfectly, but if I could line up Past Cheri with Current Cheri and compare the two…well, let’s just say Past Cheri wasn’t a stellar example of a nutritious eater.

See, it comes and goes in waves for me (like many other things) and it’s dependent on a lot of factors. Hormones, time of month, current weight, where I live, activity level, work level, whether or not my husband is home, etc. And I’m sure for many of you, it has so much to do with your kids, your spouse, your families, your friends…all that influence really adds up and makes it difficult to stay on track.

It makes it quite challenging to remain at our normal healthy weight, get enough nutrients and feel full and satiated all the time. I mean, that is so hard. I know. And I don’t even have kids yet!

So I do this challenge once a year to get me back on track. I would really love to be one of those people who could do this 100% of the time forever, like a light switch, but I have found that for me it’s this push and pull. And these strict challenges make me do better on the whole, over time.

I do the challenges when I’m fed up with myself. And hey, I live in a new city, surrounded by new opportunities to camp and hike and rock climb, which are all my favorite things in the world…that I feel like it’s time for me to step up my food game again too, and get some insanely proper nutrition. LET’S DO THIS!

Outline of the Eat Good Challenge

• 42 Days
• 100% Nutritarian
• Eat only fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, beans and legumes
• No oil, no salt, limited amount daily of dried fruits and heavy fat foods like nuts/seeds/avocado
• No calorie counting
• Try new recipes each week

Benefits of the Eat Good Challenge

• Weight Loss! (I could stand to lose some, for real)
• New tastebuds that appreciate the taste of low salt foods
• Learn new cooking techniques and recipes
• Save money
• Better appreciation/ability to eat large quantities of vegetables
• More energy/feel better

Watch Me and Follow Along

So I will be live blogging a lot of this first Eat Good Challenge, and there are a lot of places you can follow along with me. Even feel free to do some or all of it along side me! I’d love the company! Here are the places you’re most likely to get more scoop on where I am in the current challenge:

Snapchat Code

Snapchat

@thewatermouth

I have become obsessed with this little social media app because I can do really casual, short vids to show progress and little details. (Today I showed you how I caved at the end and had to make a smoothie to soothe the 4 PM Sweets Monster.) This is where you’ll see the true behind-the-scenes. And my cats.

Instagram Profile

Instagram

@thewateringmouth

This is where I post a lot of personal pictures that aren’t related to the blog, of weekend activities, etc. Along with some blog paraphernalia. A good one to follow if you’re into that sort of thing.

Periscope Profile

Periscope

@thewateringmouth

Here is where I will do the occasional live feed from when I am doing something of interest — usually food blogger-y stuff. The last few weeks, I’ve been Periscoping how I do food photography or videography. I may do some live Periscopes of recipes soon, though I’ve been doing those more on Snapchat lately.

Facebook

@thewateringmouth

I mean, I use Facebook because you’re supposed to but I’m kinda disenchanted with it and feel like it’s a waste of my time lately. I’ve been posting funny pictures and some recipes, but I don’t know if I have the heart to keep on with it. But find me on there if you like to laugh. :)

ALRIGHT! I’m off to go continue kicking butt on this challenge! I hope you will follow along or join me. Stay tuned!

Have you ever done a nutritional challenge like this? What was it like?