Original 100-Day Pledge

Welcome to the original “100 Days of Real Food” pledge page. The idea behind this series of posts is what inspired me to start this blog in the first place. From May through September 2010 our family of four – including our daughters who were ages 3 and 5 at the time – pledged to go 100 solid days without eating a single ounce of highly processed or refined food (that means no white flour or sugar!). You can find the exact guidelines we followed on our “real food” rules page.

We decided to take this pledge so we could draw attention to how much our society has become dependent on processed food. And even though it wasn’t easy at times we wanted to prove that a typical suburban family didn’t have to rely on packaged factory-made convenience foods on a daily basis. We also wanted to experience what it would be like to seek out the real food in our processed food world, and let me tell you what it was definitely eye-opening! One of the things we quickly learned was that our “real food” desires made us the minority most of the time…especially here in North Carolina.

Index of blog posts I wrote during our 2010 pledge:

Related Posts:

Also, check out:

 

 

64 comments to Original 100-Day Pledge

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  • Courtenay Nelson
    February 5, 2013 at 12:22 am · Reply

    My husband and I are starting the 100 day pledge and I am so excited.

  • Tiffany Powell
    February 18, 2013 at 10:12 am · Reply

    Me as well as my friend Casey are beginning the 100 Days of Real Food tomorrow as a weight loss and guide to healthy living!

  • Jenn Parente
    February 20, 2013 at 8:23 pm · Reply

    I have been searching and searching for a way to get more natural foods into my diet as well as my children. Your blog/website is the best thing that I have seen!!! Congratulations to you and your family and thank you for posting your journal for people like me. I’m not a good cook, rarely use cookbooks, and have lived on a processed food diet my whole life. You have made all of this information so easy and organized. Your ideas are awesome. Thank you thank you thank you!

  • Stacey
    February 28, 2013 at 11:26 pm · Reply

    My husband, my 11 month old daughter, and I begin our 100 day pledge on march 1st! Thank you or the inspiration as we begin this journey…I have no doubt we’ll come out happier and healthier!

  • Benjamin
    March 11, 2013 at 11:33 am · Reply

    I started on a similar journey on January 1st of this year, but for different reasons. At Christmas I weighed in at 301 pounds. A long story short is that my doctor recommended a whole foods, non-processed diet for me versus weight loss drugs. My diet is a little more restrictive than yours in that I don’t eat any grains or sweeteners of any kind, outside of what vegetables contain on their own. At first I didn’t think I would make it a week. Then my goal was 2 weeks, and then three weeks, at which time I had another doctors appointment. In the beginning I was fully prepared to inform him that his diet plan wasn’t working and that I really wanted a prescription. By day 10 however, I found that my energy levels were up, I was sleeping better than I had in years, and I wasn’t craving flour based goods like I was in the first few days. I really started reading up on organics, non-processed foods, and nutrition in general and by the time my appointment rolled around on the 23rd, I was prepared with a list of questions. What I wasn’t prepared for was the difference in my weigh in. In 23 days I had dropped 16.2 pounds and was feeling wonderful. I thought I might have lost a few pounds, but I don’t actually own a scale so I had no way of really knowing. At this point I was totally committed to seeing this thing through for my entire weight loss journey and my goal of losing 120 pounds.

    I am now on day 70 and have converted to the point that I know this is not a limited time thing for me, rather it is a lifestyle change that I am making for prolonged health.

    I don’t know anyone that looks at food labels the way I do now, so it is refreshing to find a group of people online that do. Keep up the good fight!

    Benjamin

    P.S. I’m down 58 pounds as of this morning. Almost half way there!

  • Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
    March 14, 2013 at 9:35 pm · Reply

    Hello Benjamin. Congratulations! You are an inspiration. Good luck going forward. ~Amy

  • Frank Peep
    March 16, 2013 at 11:04 am · Reply

    Count me in. For me, it will be rather simple as I very rarely eat processed food. I am going to assist my wife in meeting this challenge.

  • victoria
    March 21, 2013 at 3:35 pm · Reply

    How do we sign up for the 100 day challenge?

  • pam watson
    March 21, 2013 at 7:29 pm · Reply

    I was looking for a pumpkin bread recipe when i came across your website. I have just started a clean eating diet or should i say a way of life so a lot of your recipes i can use and loved the pumpkin bread just made it today.

    Thank You
    Pam Watson

  • Mack
    April 1, 2013 at 5:06 am · Reply

    Hello,

    I am wanting to do this, though I find it may be very hard.

    I am stationed in Japan, I don’t speak much Japanese (Hoping to learn that as I stay) so going out to the market or even finding a market is hard for me at this time.
    I have no local meat to speak of, it is all housing around me. The one farm I know of is over 500 miles away. I am not sure what to do… The store I can go to doesn’t have much but does have fruits and veggies (some organic) some frozen fruits and veggies that are organic, no organic/raw milk or cheese (they might have greek yogurt)

    I am lucky to not have any food allergies, so that is one less hill to climb.

    Any advice would be great. I am slowly making my way through your journey, so I am sorry if these have been answered in your other posts.

  • Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
    April 8, 2013 at 10:03 am · Reply

    Hi Mack. I can’t really assess the availability of foods there. I would say take advantage of the fresh fruits and veggies whenever possible and don’t shy away from the organic frozen ones. Frozen veggie tend to retain their nutrients well. Brown rice should be readily available, too, and it just may take time to get to know the markets. My other advice is to seek out food wisdom from those who have been stationed there longer, who care about what they eat, and have figured out the details. Also, I imagine finding someone who speaks the language well would also be able to help you tap into the knowledge of the local people. Hope that helps a bit. Best of luck with your real food journey.~Amy

  • Janelle
    April 13, 2013 at 4:45 pm · Reply

    Hi! I was wondering if you had heard of anyone that changed to a real food diet and was able to get off of stomach medicine like nexium or prilosec! Thanks!

  • Karen
    April 23, 2013 at 10:00 pm · Reply

    I am appreciative of this site! Thanks so much for sharing your journey. This is day 2 of the 100 days for me! For me, preparation is the key. It’s when I get caught off guard without a back up plan that the whole thing goes to pot. So I have my menus planned for the next 10 days and am trying to not make excuses and be smarter about emergency food choices in my head so that when faced with the reality, it’s not a huge fail!
    Thanks again!

  • Karen
    April 23, 2013 at 10:02 pm · Reply

    Oh wait! I had a question! I am trying to loose 100 pounds of fat (what a coincidence!) but am looking at whole milk, whole yogurt and thinking, “I don’t know how this is going to work!” Any words of wisdom on that whole topic?

  • Janelle
    April 24, 2013 at 3:07 pm · Reply

    Thank you so much for all this useful info! You are fantastic! I was just wondering if you would recommend anything different to a pregnant woman? Starting your meal plans next week!!! :)

    • Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
      April 25, 2013 at 8:17 am · Reply

      Hi Janelle. First, always follow the advice of your OB. That said, I’m confident there is nothing in the real food plans that would need to be altered. Best of luck with your pregnancy! ~Amy

  • Ana-Maria Klundt
    May 8, 2013 at 10:15 pm · Reply

    I would like to know how you set it up with groceries. Or family is a family of 8 and six still at home. Thank You in Advance.

  • Candice
    May 9, 2013 at 12:10 am · Reply

    Our family of six just finished our 100 days of real food! (kids ages 11, 10, 5, 3)It was the greatest experience! Best things about it: Taste buds changed-it doesn’t take much sweetness to satisfy and my kids like more food, we only got sick one time (usually we are in an out of the pediatrician’s office all winter long), we felt healthier and more energetic, and we are all so much more aware of what goes into our body.
    Hardest things: At first I was baking A LOT to help my children with the transition, then we just got used to not eating treats and snacks so much. Every time someone brought in cupcakes for a birthday at school my 5 year old had a melt down. Trying to figure out what brands we could buy was challenging. I found one pickle brand that didn’t have sugar and only two sources for bread when I didn’t feel like making our own, one kind of jam… (we don’t live very close to a Whole Foods store so I had to get creative at our local grocery stores). Once I knew what we could buy shopping was easier than it ever was before the 100 days. Oh, and the most difficult thing for me? Going without chocolate!

    I don’t think we will change much now that we are done. Though I don’t think I will spend $7 for a bottle of ketchup to get one sweetened with agave, not sugar. It will be nice to use a little white flour when making white sauces on occasion (though brown rice flour did an adequate job) and since I never could master the ww tortillas on this site, we may revert back to the Costco raw tortillas – at least I can recognize the ingredients for those!

    Thank you to all of you who put this together and manage this site. The recipes were amazing and the information enlightening! I only wish I could have lost a little weight while doing this! (though my already scrawny 11 and 10 year old kids did)

    One last thing: For those of you with older children who are considering doing the 100 days, I would recommend showing them programs like “Forks over Knives” or “Food Inc.” Although I think they are a little sensational and I don’t agree with some of the points in the shows (this coming from a vegetarian of 25 years), I think bringing up some of these ideas and questions helped with cooperation during the 100 days.

  • Mandy Pearce
    May 17, 2013 at 1:27 pm · Reply

    Well I got my 10 Day so of Real Food little green bracelet this week… i have been seeing it, wearing it and reminded of how great I felt during those last few days of the 10 day challenge. I have decided to take the 100 day pledge beginning Sunday. :) I am excited!!! Wish me luck!

    Mandy

  • Mandy Pearce
    May 17, 2013 at 1:33 pm · Reply

    I signed up for the 10 day pledge… is there not a place to sign up for the 100 day plegde? :(

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