Edit 11/14: Here’s a pinterest board I started with recipe ideas. Some of the recipes need to be tweaked to fit within the challenge guidelines, but they are good ideas!

Back in November I participated in a mandatory 21 day challenge along with all of the other ladies my trainer trains. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the challenge because it meant giving up half and half in my coffee and diet coke. But once I signed the contract, I was COMMITTED. In fact, there were several times that I was peer-pressured to have a beer or some other treat and when I referred back to the fact that I had signed a contract, my friends gave me quite the hard time. That was until I started losing weight. In those three weeks I lost 7lbs, 2% body fat and about 1.5″. I ended up winning the challenge, losing the most percentage of weight out of all of the other participants which landed me a free month of training, just in time for the holidays.

So many people were so impressed by my results that I agreed to do the challenge again with them in January. We started today and I wanted to give a little bit more information for those who might want to join us.

The 21 day challenge is about clean eating, low fats and no sugar. Clean eating is basically eating only whole foods, nothing processed. On the challenge we also cut out high fats, so no high fat cheeses, butter or cream. The only oil you can use is olive. Also no sugars or artificial sweeteners except Stevia and Splenda. I don’t like Splenda because it really bothers my stomach, also I feel that it’s too processed so I don’t use it. No fruit juices, no simple carbohydrates like white breads or crackers, no chips unless they are baked and have simple ingredients like corn and oil, etc. Also, high starch foods like white potatoes should be limited. High quality granola is definitely a whole food, but because it’s sweetened, it should be avoided too. No bottled salad dressings. Homemade vinegrette would be great or oil and vinegar if you’re out.

What you can eat:
Any vegetable you can imagine including avocados which are good fats.
Any fruit: I like to eat dried fruits when I’m craving sweets.
Whole grains: So 100% whole wheat breads, just make sure they aren’t sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. Brown rice, whole oats and corn is a whole grain so you can have corn tortillas and baked Tostitos. Triscuits are a great cracker with only 3 ingredients if you eat wheat. Any other whole grain like barley, quinoa, millet, etc.
Lean dairy: Greek yogurt is your friend! Fage 2% plain yogurt only has 150 calories and 20 grams of protein. When I eat Greek yogurt for breakfast, I don’t crave carbs for the rest of the day… it’s amazing. Low-fat cheeses like motzarella and queso fresco. Low-fat milk, cottage and ricotta cheeses.
Lean meats: I’ve found that if I load up on protein, I can totally do this diet. Grilled chicken breasts, lean pork, ground turkey even lean ground beef. And lots of fish steamed, baked or grilled.
Nuts: Nuts are pretty high in calories so it’s not the best idea to eat tons and tons of them. But a handful of nuts with some dried fruit is a great snack in the middle of the day. You can also eat natural peanut butter. Natural as in no added sugars or oils. I’m not a huge fan of natural peanut butter so I opt for almond butter which is amazing with apples.
Eggs

What I eat:
*Lots of veggies and hummus.
*baked tortilla chips and salsa. Vitamin Cottage has this amazing black been dip that’s by the hummus that’s low cal and great with baked tortilla chips. I treated myself a couple of times to baked potato chips too. I just made sure and get the plain chips rather than something flavored.
*Brown rice cakes (Lundberg brand) and almond butter or melted queso fresco.
*Dried fruit and nuts.
*brown rice crackers and queso fresco or almond butter or with lunch meat.
*plain Greek yogurt (I don’t mind plain, but it’s pretty good with some frozen berries mixed in.)
*Spinach shakes: spinach, Greek yogurt, berries, frozen banana.
*Grilled chicken or fish or pork tenderloin with lots of veggies on the side. Braised greens like collards or chard are amazing!
*Baked sweet potato fries. Peel, slice, brush with olive oil and bake until tender and a little crispy. These are great with a whole-grain mustard.
*Lots of tacos. Fish tacos, lean beef tacos, breakfast tacos. Whenever I go out to eat, I try to eat places like Cafe Rio or Chipotle where I can choose what’s on my food. If you skip the cheese and sour cream and make sure you get un-fried corn tortillas, tacos are a great choice. Also the pork tacos at Bin 707 are delish if you find yourself there.
*Burgers without the bun. Because I try to eat gluten-free, this is something I do anyway. But when you’re at a restaurant and faced with another boring grilled chicken salad, a bun-less burger is a great option. (Of course if they had 100% whole wheat buns, that would fit in the challenge.) Just make sure to avoid high-fat toppings like bacon, mayo or cheese. Instead of fries for your side, try a side salad with oil and vinegar or cottage cheese or fruit.
*Club soda when I crave Diet Coke. Or unsweetened iced tea helps sometimes too.
*Fruit: Apples with almond butter. Dried mangos, dried bananas, dried apples. Clementines.
*Frozen banana shakes – just a frozen banana, low-fat milk or almond milk, handful of berries, blend. It’s the consistency of ice cream.
*Popcorn popped with a little bit of olive oil and kosher salt. I have a Stir-Crazy popcorn maker which makes the very best popped corn.
*Chili. This is a good option if you find yourself at a restaurant without many choices. I love to make it with lean ground beef (turkey would be great too), rotel tomatoes, lots of beans, bell peppers, onions, corn and lots of spices.
*Eggs. Hard-boiled, fried with a tiny bit of olive oil, scrambled and folded up in a corn tortilla with some queso fresco and green chiles for breakfast tacos.

If you decide to do the challenge, make sure you weigh yourself before you start! I think you’ll be surprised at what happens! I sure was!