No Junk Food Challenge

Those of you who have read my previous posts know that one of my goals for 2013 is to lose some weight.  I'll be honest here, I am pretty overweight.  I do not eat a healthy diet and don't really exercise.  I've tried "dieting" before and it's not easy.  I think most people would agree.  I've run across this "diet" a few different times on the internet and have always thought it was a really neat idea.

To make this easier for the average person and make it more doable, I thought it would be a better idea to start out with baby steps and start with one restriction and add a new one every week, with the final three weeks of March being the 21 Day Challenge of eating NO Junk Food.  Cutting out these bad for you items and replacing them with healthy alternatives can greatly reduce the number of calories in our diets.

For me, some of them will be easy, especially the no chips and no white bread rules, since I don't really eat those anyway.  Some of them will be harder, and because of that, I'll allow some cheat items.  I'll post the cheat item for the week, as well as the previous week's challenge every Sunday.  (This entry is late because I've been sick the past few days to the point that my husband made me stay home from work today.)

Week One (1/8-1/12): No Chocolate

I'm not going to lie, this one will probably be the hardest one for me.  I love chocolate. 

The cheat: One Ounce of Dark Chocolate is allowed per day.  Why?  Dark Chocolate can satisfy that chocolate craving, while providing some heart-healthy antioxidants.  According to an article* on Everyday Health, not all dark chocolate contains the amount of antioxidants that will produce these benefits.  Based on their article, I'm going to get some Dove Dark Chocolate for my cheat item, but only use it when absolutely necessary.

Who wants to do this with me?  If you do, please comment on the post and like me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/FluffyBumGreenHome).  We can be great support to each other during this difficult challenge and I urge you to chat freely on my Facebook page about the challenge.  Every week I will update with how my challenge is going and invite you to comment with your successes and failures as well.

*http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/1010/not-all-dark-chocolate-is-created-equal.aspx