Wednesday Reviews : The Food Dare

Hi everyone!  Happy Wednesday, and in case you're unaware, today is a very special day.  It's October 21, 2015!  I hope some of you know the significance of the day, and if not, hopefully this meme will jog your memory:

Dan and I watched the original Back to the Future last night, and today we will of course be watching the second.  You can all thank him (or blame him) for this intro...if it weren't for him I never would have event watched the movie once!

For today's post, I'm going to be talking about a book I recently finished called the Food Dare.  I mentioned this in my monthly goals, and want to give a quick review of the book as well as results!

Before I start, I want to give some background.  I contacted Lindsey Banks, the author of The Food Dare and fellow Fitfluential Ambassador, to review her new book.  She offered me the opportunity to join her affiliate program, so if you're interested in buying the book or joining a Food Dare Team, I would appreciate if you used my link here (I will get a percentage of sales generated from that link, but otherwise I am not receiving any money or other compensation for this review)!

I want to quickly go over the food dare phases (I don't want to give too much away!) and let you know what results I saw.  Enjoy!

Phase 1 : Water

source

The first phase of the dare is something that is extremely important- drinking water!  I have had this as a monthly goal many times, and it's something that I still struggle with.  Each day the challenge got increasingly more difficult and forced you to drink more and more water.  I used my fitbit app to track how much water I was drinking to make sure I always hit the goal each day, and I have to admit I loved this phase!  I always feel better when I drink more water instead of juice, alcohol or pop.

Results - My skin completely cleared up, I felt more energetic as the day went on, and I saved a lot of money that I usually spend on junk food or drinks at work!  

Phase 2 : Color

source

This phase of the dare challenges you to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your meals.  This is not a problem for me, because I eat a mostly plant-based diet already.  I've always been a huge fan of fresh vegetables and fruit was always my "candy" growing up.  This was definitely the easiest phase for me to complete, and I passed each daily dare with no problem!

Results - No big change since I already incorporate colors into my daily diet.  I did like the fact that I had to be intentional with the amount of fruits and vegetables I ate, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I hit the daily amount with no problems!

Phase 3 : Clean

source

The next phase was to eat completely clean- as in no packaged foods or frozen dinners, and making healthy substitutions like wheat bread for white.  Although I do eat relatively healthy, I do sometimes have packaged food when I'm in a rush, so I knew to complete this phase I would have to do some planning! This was definitely the most time-consuming and hardest phase for me.  I think it's really important to eat cleanly and take some time to plan.  That way, you don't have to rely on prepared or frozen food. 

Results - It took a lot more planning and time to complete this phase, but it made me realize how many snacks I have throughout the day.  At work I usually have something like pretzels or a piece of candy every few hours, so substituting that with a piece of fruit made a huge difference in how I felt later in the day.  


Overall, this book really helped me realize what areas in my life need some improvement, and where I'm already doing a good job.  I know that I need to keep up with my water intake and not revert back to my habits of drinking coffee and pop while I'm at work.  I need to keep up my good habits of eating lots of colorful, fresh food, and concentrate on meal planning each week so I don't have to rely on unhealthy, quick meals.  I also love how Lindsey backed up all of her information with tons of research and made the book really simple and easy to read.  Each day's dare was clear, and had space for you to make comments.  It was more like a journal than a book, and I loved that aspect!


If you're interested in taking the food dare yourself, you can join one of Lindsey's Food Dare teams here and use the code "idareyou" to save 20% off the Essential or Premium team (expires Nov 30)! That link will have a lot more information about what is included in the teams, as well as more information from Lindsey about the program.  If you're interested in connecting with Lindsey, here are her social media accounts:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fitlifepursuits
• Twitter: @fitlifepursuits
• Instagram: @fitlifepursuits

Would you be interested in taking a food dare?
Have you ever challenged yourself to eat cleanly for a month?
What are some of your biggest struggles with being healthy?

linking up with Jess and Ivanna!