Cut processed food out of your life by signing up for our free 10 Days of Real Food pledge! For a week and a half you’ll follow the same real food rules we followed during our 100-day pledge in 2010. If our family of four did it for 100 days, I am convinced anyone can do it for only 10 days! And what harm is there in trying?
Thousands of people all the way from Austin to Australia have signed up – to see how much the 10-day pledge has impacted their lives you can read some of their feedback here.
So get ready for a true wake up call on just how pervasive processed foods are in everyday life! We promise your new-found perspective will be worth the effort.
Benefits of Taking the 10-Day Pledge
Upon completing your goal we predict you will gain the following:
- A first-hand, eye opening experience of how to identify the real food in our processed food world.
- At least one improved health benefit such as having more energy, losing weight, improving regularity, or just feeling healthier overall.
- The realization that some of those pre-packaged processed “food-like substances” don’t even taste that good compared to real food.
- The opportunity to teach your children (if you have them), by example, the healthiest way to eat and enjoy the food mother nature has given us.
- The ability to continue on with your life however you chose, but with the new knowledge of how and why to avoid processed foods. Hopefully your 10-day experience will convince you to consider making at least a few changes for life.
How to Take the 10-Day Pledge
- Review the rules that you must follow for the full 10 days. In case you need some more convincing you may also want to review 10 reasons to cut out processed food.
- Take note of the important resources on our Start Here page.
- Complete the form below including your start date. We recommend that you take at least a few days or longer to plan and prepare your kitchen with whole foods so you have enough to eat once your mission starts. Also, consider boxing away the stuff that might tempt you to break the rules – we want you to succeed!
- We also recommend that you spend a few moments reviewing our concise list of real food meal ideas on the Recipes and Resources page to help you plan what you’ll eat during your pledge.
- Don’t forget to update your facebook or twitter status to let your friends know that you are starting the 10 Days of Real Food pledge so they can provide you with support and accountability!
- Once you have completed your 10-day pledge visit the Real Food Graduates page to tell us about your experience. We want to know how it went and keep track of how many people have come this far.
Thank you!
I’m ready!!
Bring it on! I’m excited to start this. Especially after too much sugar on Christmas!
I really want to do this with my mom, just because i could use to lose 30lbs and i know she’s trying to lose some too, and it would be awesome to keep that weight off instead of fighting it when I get stressed and stress eat. Too bad I could probably never really give up my Cheerwine(one of the best sodas ever even if I should give it up….I think that should be one thing I keep beyond some ice cream every now and then that’s not homemade…). Heck I need to find that cookbook from the ladies at the local church that I had somewhere that they made a good 20-30 years ago and attempt them since they are close to real foods just need some tweaking here and there…)
The last time I took a whole food challenge it was for 30 days. I wish I had never stopped. I never looked, or felt better!
Hi! My family is interested in doing the 10 day challenge. I know there are some black and white issues and some gray areas – is skim milk an absolute no-no on the 10 day challenge? Not the kind with added powdered milk, just regular milk with the fat removed. Also, would having some meats/dairy/eggs non-local or not-organic be a violation? I am starting on Monday but I’d hate to waste eggs and chicken that I already own. Thanks! (and I am sure these questions have been answered but I read back 11 pages and couldn’t find confirmation).
Hi Sarah. You will get the most from this challenge if you follow the rules closely. That said, don’t allow one or two little details keep you from getting started. You could also wait to start until you have stocked the appropriate items. ;)
I LOVE this website! It is absolutely my new favorite! I am so excited to start the 10 day Pledge!
I have kind of been doing a 90% real food diet all summer. And i say that because all my meals are real food with no added sugar but i have a major sweet tooth so occasionally I pull out some reese’s peanut butter cups or ice cream or noodles… :) but i have decided that on monday I’m going to start the 100 day challenge. I feel up to really challenging myself and seeing the benefits of 100 days instead of iust 10. Could I still fill out this pledge?
Hello Lindsee. Absolutely! Best of luck.
I just committed to taking the challenge for a second time. I did it in March and loved it, but have found myself slipping into old, bad eating habits recently. Time to get back on track and the challenge should be just what I need to get there!
Going to take the plunge toward healthy lifestyle
Am I able to take part in this from the UK?
Yes!! :)
I just wanted to say that my Husband and I recently took the 10 day pledge as a way to see if we could incorporate more healthy foods in our diet. It was one of the best things we have ever done. First and most importantly was our health. Neither of us are unhealthy, we are in a good BMI range, we work out regularly and eat limited fat and sugars. Despite our good eating we were amazed by the difference eating real food. My husband took accutane as a teen and since then has suffered from occasional gastric upset and stomach aches. Not only did he not have a single gastric issue but he has also struggled with constipation issues as well in the past and eating whole foods he didn’t have a single issues at all. In fact he was amazed by the #2 that would occur went from maximum of once a day to 3 times a day regularly. He also lost 6 pounds in the 10 days which was just a nice little bonus not that he needed to lose it but it definitely made him feel better. As for myself I lost two pounds and on a weird coincidence we were also trying to get pregnant around the same time and after trying for a few months we got pregnant while on the challenge. When I found out I was pregnant it was just a great motivation to continue the challenge. We now work on eating 80-90% real food all the time to maintain our health. It also taught me a lot about what real food is and how to read labels better, I had only read the fat, sugar, sodium content in the past and now I am more focused on the actual ingredients.
I really need something to kick start myself and my family to eating healthy and being healthy! I think this is the plan that is going to do it for us! I am ready to get started!
Here we go! I’ve done this in the past with my husband and it was wonderful. It went from a challenge to a sub conscience choice that we loved and lived. Life happened along the way aligns are over due to do this again and to stay with it. Here it goes!
I’ve been checking out this site for several weeks and decided now would be as good a time as any to get started. I could use to lose weight, but that isn’t my purpose in doing the ten day Challenge. I just really want to know how I will feel, and how my body will react to leaving behind processed food and eating real food for a period of time.
I started this “program” on Feb. 23, 2015 wanting to lose weight. I have been on every diet around with no success (I even gained weight on the no-carb diet and seriously cannot remove an entire food group). I have read about the dangers of sugar – your plan seems to be a relatively easy one to follow. I have been following the challenge for 6 days now and to date, the swelling in my lower legs (which my cardiologist and primary physician had no real answers for other than diuretics – which gave me nightly intolerable leg cramps) has just about disappeared. I am eating fruits and vegetables which I love and can’t say enough good things about this challenge so far. I am excited to get on the scale in 4 days!
Sounds like good news. Keep us up to date. :)
We are taking this challenge as a busy family to step away from restaurant and fast food eating. My husband has also been battling Chron’s disease. We are hoping this helps his flair ups and excited to feel better as a family.
My 16 year old daughter is looking for change and I am excited to start this pledge with her. We have decided to make it a 2-week rather than 10-day pledge. She sees a registered dietician who told us our 10,000 taste buds shed and replace every 2 weeks so, for that reason, we chose to make it a 14 day challenge. I have been busy purging the pantry and frig as well as meal planning and food prep. Her biggest challenges are fruits (scratchy mouth and throat with almost all of them) and vegetables – she likes corn and broccoli, that’s all. Hoping, with an open mind and mouth, she will discover a new world of delicious food!
I really love this site. I have never given up all processed foods and am doing so for Lent this year which started yesterday. SUPER EXCITED!! Who’s gonna join me??? :)
I’m actually going to try this for Lent. So glad you have 100% whole wheat/whole grain bread listed as something I can eat.
I’m taking the 10 day challenge for the 2nd time beginning tomorrow. I did it a few years ago and loved it.
I just finished a 21 Day Cleanse and loved it as well.
I’m supporting a friend who is doing this for the first time and am looking forward to some new recipes etc. this go around. :)
Mandy
I just heard about your site and have a few questions.
First, I just had my third reaction to cholesterol lowering meds and have decided to do more natural methods.
I just survived cancer and have a few side effects that hinder my exercise plans but am hopeful that as things get better, I can do more.
I am cutting all the bad cholesterol laden foods, beef, bacon, milk, cheeses, etc.
My husband, son and daughter and her husband are all behind me so I need to be careful what I do with 4 people behind me.
Is there a plan for lowering cholesterol or am I on my own for choosing my foods? Sorry long winded but just excited to finally start this chapter of my life. Thank you!