Getting Ready For Your Reboot
By Stacy Kennedy, MPH, RD, CSO, LDN; Reboot Nutritionist
Before you get juicing, here are Five straightforward steps to prepare.
1. Learn some simple, but important facts about food that will help you make informed eating decisions. Visit our “Simple Eating Guidelines” and read some more interesting facts below.
National nutrition guidelines recommend that Americans eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Currently only 23% of Americans eat the recommended servings. — Ouch! We can do better than that and we should — because fruits and vegetables are even more powerful than you think!
Micronutrients include all the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients we need to be healthy and feel great. Micronutrients are found in abundance in all plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, etc.) For example, there are 170 phytonutrients in just one orange. Not bad, right?
A healthy diet full of micronutrients, coupled with physical activity, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight, reduces risk for:
- cardiovascular disease
- stroke
- diabetes
- certain types of cancers
- mental illness
- metabolic syndrome
- and helps us live longer lives.
When eating fruits and vegetables that our bodies have seen for thousands of years, the digestive/immune response is milder than the response to eating heavily processed foods (Would your great-great-grandmother recognize half of what’s on today’s supermarket shelves? Didn’t think so!). Being constantly challenged by processed foods will wear out the immune system over time, making us more vulnerable to disease and infection as we age.
So it’s pretty simple: juices and plant-based food are going to make your body really, really happy and healthy.
2. Invest in a good quality juicer – visit our online shop to purchase one now.
3. Identify an affordable source of local, seasonal produce and make shopping lists.
4. At least one week prior to beginning your Reboot plan, start changing the way you eat.
- Say goodbye to: processed junk foods, white flours, sugar/desserts, fried food, fast food, processed meats, alcohol and begin to wean yourself off caffeine.
- Say hello to: salads, soups, smoothies with a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, natural nut butters, beans and legumes.
- Transitioning off animal proteins: choose wild-caught fish, organic eggs and gradually decrease poultry during the week and choose only organic varieties when you eat them. By last day of the week, your protein should come solely from plant sources such as beans, nuts, and legumes (for example, black beans, hummus, chick-peas, lentils, edamame).
- Transitioning off dairy: choose only low or non-fat organic dairy with little to no added sugars. If you choose soy, rice or almond milk, have unflavored/plain to limit the sugar content. Choose organic cheese, and transition from cow’s milk cheese to goat cheese by the middle of the week. By the end of the week (day 5) all dairy should be out of your diet to prepare for the Reboot.
5. Preparation the night before your Reboot.
- Stop all NON-PRESCRIPTION vitamins/supplements during the Reboot unless you have been advised to take them by a physician.
- Don’t take any self-prescribed, over-the-counter medications.
- Hydrate well (at least 64-72 ounces a day).
- Set up your juicer the night before – get all parts cleaned and ready on your kitchen counter.
- Go to bed early and get a good night’s sleep.
Ready, Set, Reboot!