We’ve prepared you a general table of foods that can be eaten in a challenge. Some foods we eat as much as we want, some foods are restricted, and which foods are out of the challenge.
Allergy note: Only choose foods that won’t trigger your allergies which only you’re aware of.
We can eat as we want from these
Vegetables
• Olives
• Avocados
• Coconut
Nuts
Good for salads and snacks.
• Macadamia
• Pecan
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Unsweetened coconut chips fresh/toasted – see shopping list (note: shredded coconut is on the restricted list).
Spreads
• Guacamole
• Tahini paste, white or brown
• Hazelnut paste (100% Hazelnuts, not mixed, no sugar added)
• Almond paste (100% Almonds, not mixed, no sugar added)
• Coconut chips, unsweetened (good for snack and side dish. Can replace potato chips. We need
to approve these)
Breads from Seeds & Nuts:
• Tahini bread/buns (check recipe)
• Almond bread (check recipe)
Oils:
Fry with coconut oil or coconut butter over other oils. Oven-cook all the oils below:
• Coconut Oil
• Olive oil sold in a glass container
• Avocado oil
Butters:
• Coconut butter (what is it? See it the shopping list)
Up to handful of the following once per day:
The following Nuts:
• Brazil nuts
• Pine nuts
• Almonds
• Pistachios
• Black Walnuts
All Seeds:
• Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds,poppy seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds.
Coconut:
• Shredded coconut (unsweetened)
Nut Flour:
• Almond flour – 3 tablespoons/day
Note that coconut flour is out of the challenge
We can eat as we want from these
Vegetables
•Cabbages: red/white Cabbage, Broccoli, cauliflower, Kale, Chinese cabbage (aka buk choy), Brussels sprouts. radish, turnip, kohlrabi, fennel.
•Cucumbers: cucumber, zucchini (aka courgette). eggplant.
• Peppers: green, yellow, orange, hot pepper,
• Leafy greens: parsley, cilantro, lettuce, spinach, chard, beet leaves (chard), turnip greens, watercress, arugula, basil.
• Stalks: Asparagus , celery, and rhubarb
• Onions: Onion, garlic, scallions, chives.
• Mushrooms: portobello, Siaitikh, oyster, spores, Siaratk
• Seaweed: dulse, nori, hijiki, Kombu
• Sprouts: Broccoli sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, wheat germ, bamboo shoots. .
• Chicories:
endive, radicchio
• Flowers:
Okra, Artichoke
Legumes
• String beans (aka green beans)
• Black soybeans (note black beans & green soybeans are out of the challenge).
Bread Substitutions
• Tahini bread/buns (check recipe)
• Almond bread (check recipe)
• Online breads from our recommendation list.
Pasta Substitutions:
• Online pasta from our recommendation list.
Vegetables
• 1 tomato or handful of cherry tomato per day
(out of the challenge: canned tomato, sauce, or ketchup)
• 1 tablespoon of pure tomato puree (paste) if no sugar in the ingredient list. Only for our recipes.
Regular Bread:
• 1 slice of any bread a day
We can eat up to 3 servings a day. Serving is 80 grams/3 ounces. 2 eggs=1 serving.
Eggs
Buying free-range and eating lightly cooked yolk further helps in repair.
• Sunny side up (including in restaurants)
• Poached eggs
• Boiled
• Baked eggs
• Omelets & scrambled eggs – only cooked with coconut oil at home.
Small Oceanic Fish
Fresh or canned. If you cook, only on low-temperatures. Expensive canned fish usually are better than the cheaper ones.
• Anchovies (fresh, brine, olive oil)
• Sardines (fresh, brine, olive oil)
• Kippers aka Herring or Sild (fresh, brine, olive oil)
• European sprat aka bristling or skipper (fresh, brine, olive oil)
• Mackerel (fresh, brine, olive oil)
Salmon
• In the US, only wild-caught – fresh or canned with water/brine/olive oil. So avoid in restaurants unless proven wild-caught.
• Outside the US, prefer wild-caught: fresh or canned with water/brine/olive oil
• At restaurants (outside the US only): grilled or baked
• The skin is healthy
Caviar
• Red
Note “vegan” caviar is out of the challenge.
Low-Fat Cheese:
Any cheese up to 6% fat. Note yogurt is out of the challenge.
• Soft cheese
• Cream cheese
• Cottage cheese
• Feta
• Sirene
•Ricotta
• Yellow hard cheese
• Cheddar
Tofo:
• Plain
• Flavored in package without added sugar (“Italian”, “Oriental” or “Thai” tofu)
Up to 1 a week, we can eat one protein (80 grams/3 oz) serving of both:
1. Cheese with more than 6% fat.
2. One portion of unprocessed meat or non-fish seafood.
Unprocessed Meat Choices:
If you’re unsure if processed, check the “out of the challenge” list.
• Fish: any fish kind that wasn’t mentioned above.
• Beef: fresh, ground.
• Chicken & turkey (not processed)
• Pork (not processed)
• Venison
• Rabbit
Or Non-fish Seafood:
• Shrimp
• Oysters
• Clams
• Scallops
• Squid
• Lobster
We can drink as we want from these
Clean Water
• Mineral water
• Sparkling water
• Filtered water
Please make sure your water filter hasn’t expired.
You can add taste to clean water with:
• Lemon slice
• Cucumber slices
• Mint leaves
Note: all juices-vegetables or fruits-are out of the challenge.
Decaf Coffee
At home, make them with clean water, not tap.
No sweetness/added- sugar/milk/cream in the challenge. Verify before ordering.
• Decaf instant coffee
• Decaf Americano – hot or ice (unsweetened)
• Decaf Espresso
• Decaf ground coffee
Tea
Coffee notes apply here
• Decaf black tea
• Green tea
• Herbal tea:
Chamomile
Peppermint
Ginger
Hibiscus
Echinacea
Rooibos
Sage
Lemon Balm
Forest fruits
Berries tea
You can add taste to tea with:
• Lemon slice
• Ginger root
• Mint leaves
Sauces:
• Tabasco (other hot sauces are out)
• Guacamole
• Tahini
• Tamari
• Home-made sauces (see recipes)
• Our recommended-only online brand sauces such as
mayonnaise, pesto,
mustard. See shopping list.
• Lemon & olive oil to salads.
• Salt. (If you have high BP or amount prescribed by doctor – limit accordingly.)
• White cider vinegar. Other vinegar types are OK for cooking (1-2 tablespoons, see the recipes).
All Spices:
• Black pepper
• Garlic spice
• Unsweetened paprika
• Cumin
• Ginger
• Mustard powder
• Turmeric
• Cayenne pepper
• Basil
• Oregano
• Fennel
• Masala
Fruits – up to 1 serving a day:
• (1) plum or
• (1) kiwi or
• (1) guava or
• (handful of) berries:
Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries – fresh or freeze.
Dried berries, all juices, or sweetened cranberries are out of the challenge.
Regular Coffee and Black Tea (With Caffeine):
• One cup of regular (=not decaf) coffee and black tea a day.
Alcohol – Up to 1 Glass a Day:
• Red wine – unsweetened (dry)
• White wine – unsweetened (dry)
• One shot of whiskey, vodka, gin
Beer & cocktails are out of the challenge
Tap water – limit when you can
Prefer to drink coffee and tea with filtered water.
Protein Servings Explained
Protein Servings After An Intense Exercise:
If you’re a day after high-intensity training and your muscles are sore, you can add another protein serving. It’s 4 in total for that specific day. Walking or light running without soreness isn’t enough.
Dividing the Servings
You can divide it as you wish as long you don’t eat all servings in one meal.
I don’t claim of all these are good or bad for you in the long term. But they all prevents repairing the damage in these 21 days of the challenge. So we avoid them and stick to the food list above.
– White sugar and all sweeteners: natural (including honey and coconut sugar), synthetics. If it sweets, it’s not for us for 21 days.
– Sweet snacks including energy bars.
Any packaged foods or drink stating “sugar free” that isn’t specifically mentioned in the challenge food list is out of the challenge.
All the fruits that weren’t included in the challenge. Fresh or canned.
– Carrot juice, even though it is a vegetable juice.
– All fruit juices regardless of the fruit. (it’s ok to add piece of lemon to your water)
– All sweet drinks: diet drinks, “zero” calories drinks with sweet taste, and sweetened teas.
– All sweetened sparkling water.
– Corn in all forms: fresh corn, cornflakes, breakfast cereal, popcorn, Cheese puffs (aka curls).
– Rice in all forms: white and whole, Sushi
– Processed grains: flours (white and brown flours), crackers, Pasta (we do eat pasta substitutes)
– Whole grains: Oats, Quinoa, Bulgur, Buckwheat, Amaranth, “Health snacks” from whole grains,
– White beans, black beans, red beans, mung beans, pinto, kidney bean, avy beans, Cannellini, Lima beans, Adzuki (We do eat black soybeans but not black beans)
– Peas: green peas, and chickpeas (aka garbanzo)
– Lentils (all kinds) and Lupin beans
– Soybean (we do eat black soybeans, and Tofu from soybeans)
Peanuts, cashews, and chestnuts.
– Potatoes, beets, sweet potatoes, yam, carrots, and Jerusalem Artichoke.
– Snacks and foods made with them. Potato chips, potato puree, French fries.
All squash that aren’t zucchini: pumpkin, winter squash, butternut squash, crookneck squash.
Tomato puree.
Ketchup.
Tomato soup.
All commercial processed snacks contain grains/potatos/corn/peanuts and hidden sugars.
– Processed chicken: sausages, schnitzel, chicken bologna, and chicken rolls,
– Processed beef: kebab, hamburger, meatballs. (unless you buy 100% ground & fresh and make at home)
– Processed pork: ham, hamburger, bologna, bacon, sausages, salami, corned beef, jerky, hot dog, lunch meat, canned meat and meat-based sauces.
– Processed fish: fish nuggets, fish fingers, fish coated with bread.
All Soups in restaurants or soup powders. They contain hidden sugars.
(You can make homemade soups without soup powders)
– Commercial milk (cow, goat), coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk.
– Coffee made with any of the above milk.
– Yogurt in any form (with fruits, plain, low-fat) (but we do eat cheese in the challenge).
– Milk desserts (we do allow low-fat cheese).
– Any “diet” milk dessert or processed milk product with fruits.
– Cappuccino
– Latte
– Sweetened Ice Coffee
– Chai tea
We don’t drink beer, champagne, ciders, and cocktails in this challenge nor we mix the drinks with sweet drinks.
– Vegetables oils: Sunflower oil, safflower oil, Peanut oil, Corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil.
– “Hard” fat: Lard, butter, shortening, hydrogenated oil, and margarine.
– All fried foods in restaurants, since they don’t cook with coconut or olive oil.
– Sweet salad dressing served in restaurants (ask to replace to olive oil and lemon, instead).
Include BBQ sauce, Thousand Island dressing, Vinaigrette dressing, Balsamic vinegar,
– All Asian sauces: “sweet & sour” sauces, Soya sauce, teriyaki. (We do eat Tamari sauce)
– Hummus (chickpea puree)
– Commercial mustard sauces, mayonnaise, and pesto. (We do eat home made mustard, mayonnaise, and pesto according to our recipes or select brands of commercial sauces, which we found and placed links).
– Hot sauces that are not in our challenge (we do happily eat Tabasco)
We eat up to three servings of repair protein in the challenge per day.
Eating protein foods – even if repair protein – beyond the three servings should be avoided. You could eat less if you want or divide, but not carry to the next day. Check out the rules.