Clean Eating-The October Unprocessed Challenge
Unprocessed October…have you tried this?
A month of no processed foods.
When I think clean eating I immediately think about the October Unprocessed movement that has been going on for quite some time now, thanks to Andrew Wilder of EatingRules.
Have you ever participated in it? It's super cool!
For the month of October you try your best to eat only unprocessed foods (meaning things you could make yourself in your home kitchen).
throwback pic to my Brooklyn apartment, an October long ago :)
I have done it for many years now, it’s kind of an October ritual at this point…and often I roll it into late November as well. I even teamed up with my sister and her husband to participate all together, and it was such a fun challenge. At the time we were all living together in a 1 bedroom in New York. I spent many a nights whipping up delicious whole food plant based meals with them, and then retreating to an air mattress on the living room floor. AHHH NYC.
Me, my sister and her husband-October Unprocessed squad!
I found that a lot of the foods that I started to eat during unprocessed October, rolled over into the clean eating that I focus on during the rest of the year. For example, I switched from a plant based milk with a lot of additives to one that was just made of soybeans and water. You could go as far as to make your own soy milk, and that's great too, but you don't have to in order to be unprocessed...which in itself is quite beautiful.
Also, the unprocessed month had me look closely at the "meat alternatives" that I had added into my diet and enjoyed every once in a while. It was nice to take a break from those as well, and I found that my body responds better to real whole foods, and that these foods really are junk foods in terms of how my body reacts and responds. Best to limit or abstain from for me.
Have you ever eaten one of the faux meat products and afterward really checked in with yourself about how you felt? This summer I had such a fun time grilling with one specific plant-based burger, *cough Beyond Burger, cough* but afterward I just felt weighed down and like I ate foodstuff and not food. The process of cooking was fun, it smelled great, tasted great, but did not digest great.
Once you complete a month of eating no processed foods, you really start to check in with how you feel should you throw some processed foods back in. The thing I really like about October Unprocessed is that it’s just a month (yeah yeah I know its a 31 day month-but still).
You can take those short 31 days and commit to do the work of eating fruits and veg and things straight from the earth- try your hand and making your own pizza dough, or pastas, create a nut milk, actually eat all of the foods in your CSA box before something goes bad!
Have fun with it and try some new things!
It can be a joyful undertaking to participate with a friend or roommate or partner.
If you want to sign up and join me and so many others on the October Unprocessed Challenge, click here.