Taking on the Challenge

Several of my friends (and family!!!! YAY!!!) are going to take Dr. Fuhrman's 6 week challenge. June 1 - August 12, 2011. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I do realize, however, that some won't make it. Yup. I said it. I'm realistic. I watched Dr. Oz's show where he had about 30 members of his audience that took the challenge and a good handful couldn't even last one day. And by the end of the challenge only 2 survived (maybe it was just one)! I am sure there will be more than two that will survive our challenge. And if it's just one, I will be happy. That will be one person whose life will be changed.
I took the challenge for the first time starting at the beginning of February. And I must admit I wasn't perfect. But I stayed close to it. There were some non negotiables. And there were times that I had to bend a little. The hardest thing to give up was the coffee. But I geared up for that and started weaning myself off of it a few weeks before hand. I didn't want to suffer from headaches during the big change.
The thing I did not give up was alcohol. I knew I was going on a trip (SFO) and I knew that I would be going out at night. And I felt that if I could just agree to that deviation then I could stand the rest. Another area that I bent a bit was with using chicken broth instead of vegetable broth when I cooked my own food (stews and soups). I love the taste of chicken broth. And I think a part in Dr. Fuhrman's book said it was okay to do just that. Sometimes eating out posed a challenge but I did my best. When I ordered the all fruit smoothie at Jamba Juice, I asked to substitute soy milk in lieu of the fruit juices since that is not allowed during the challenge. I needed to eat my fruit, not drink it. Restaurants didn't have oil/sugar free dressings so I just used a minimal amount. And there were a couple of other faux pas. I would go to Thai restaurants which always have great vegetarian options. And Korean veggies are the greatest. Japanese has options, too. Love miso soup! Even Hawaiian food has great options. Poi and the lū'au stew minus the meat. Or just the lau on the laulau. There are always healthy choices.
All in all, I had great results. Of course I walked everyday and that helped. We all know that diet and exercise go hand in hand. It's the key to good health. Both. But for many of us, it's one step at a time. I cannot wait.
Good luck to all.