in

The 2014 One Ingredient Diet Challenge!

One Ingredient Diet Challenge

I love this time of year. New Year’s provides each of us with a blank slate – a new opportunity – to make this year the happiest and most meaningful of our lives. For many people, improving their physical wellbeing is at the very top of the list in 2014. In fact, more than half of all New Year’s resolutions this year are related to health – people want to lose weight, eat healthier, drink less alcohol, and exercise more. But unfortunately, these same resolutions are set by the same people year after year with no lasting results.

What if there was a better way to tackle this problem, like, an approach that actually worked? What if 2014 was the year you got your health permanently back on track?

I know this is possible with The One Ingredient Diet, and I want to show you how. To kick off this new year, let’s all discover how eating a whole and unprocessed diet can have a powerful and lasting impact on your health. Starting January 1st, I’m leading a free 30-Day One Ingredient Diet Challenge and I would love to have you join me.

What is The One Ingredient Diet?

I originally created The One Ingredient Diet in 2012 after I committed to eating only whole, unprocessed foods for an entire month. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I have never been able to look at food the same way again. Shortly thereafter, I started this blog and the rest is history.

If you’re new to this concept, “The One Ingredient Diet” is the simplest way of cutting out virtually all processed foods. There are only two guidelines: 1) eat foods that start out as one whole ingredient that you can hold in your hand, and 2) eat only “vegan” plant-based foods with no animal products.

That’s it. These two simple guidelines are the keys to eating an all-natural diet that brings your body back into balance. You can read the One Ingredient Diet page and download my free manifesto (orange box above) to learn so much more about where this diet came from, why it’s so powerful, and how to put it into practice.

Of course, the idea is then to combine the “one ingredient” foods into meals (i.e. cook), and that’s where the real power of this diet comes into play. Beyond major health benefits that result from returning to the natural foods your ancestors ate for thousands of years, The One Ingredient Diet produces phenomenal food that taste amazing and requires even less time to cook once you get the hang of it. As you can see on this website, I have almost 100 recipes and the vast majority abide by the One Ingredient Diet guidelines. This is about so much more than just munching on lettuce or eating nothing but mangos. When you give it a shot, you quickly realize that preservative-laden packaged foods cannot compare with the taste of real, fresh ingredients.

On the One Ingredient Diet, you’ll cook some of the best food of your life, you’ll never have to go hungry or eat less than you want, and your levels of physical and mental vitality will be off the charts.

The 30-Day Challenge

My mission is to help you discover the power of real food; to cook more delicious meals while also improving your health in every way. That’s why I write this blog and why I champion a whole food, plant based diet. To kick off 2014, I want to take this a step further and invite you to join my free One Ingredient Diet 30-Day Challenge.

The challenge works like this… you commit to following the One Ingredient Diet for the entire month of January and I’ll commit to giving you free and unlimited support, feedback, ideas, and encouragement along the way. Deal?

I chose 30 days because it’s the perfect period of time to experiment: long enough to break old habits and fully immerse yourself, but not a lifetime commitment that would be too much. As soon as you turn the page into February, you’re free to continue this diet or drop it altogether. But no matter what you do, this one short month will set the tone for living a healthier lifestyle throughout 2014.

To make this happen, I’ve created a free private Facebook group where you can interact with me and everyone else who takes up this challenge. I’m expecting our group to be a dynamic community where you can ask questions, get meal ideas, build moral support, share your experiences, and more. I’ll personally be very active answering questions and providing support to help you make it through the challenge.

Join the Challenge on Facebook »

UPDATE: The challenge has started and over 180 people have joined so far! But just because the January is already underway, feel free to join in now – the group is still open. You can either do a shorter challenge or continue on into February.

Reasons to Join:

  • Make Lasting Health Changes – Half-hearted attempts never work, that’s why people set the same resolutions over and over again. This time, start the year off with a solid 30-day commitment that shifts your habits and builds momentum around eating whole, healthy foods for the entire year.
  • Get Enlightened About Food – Whether you continue on this type of diet after January or not, you’ll never be able to look at processed foods the same way ever again. That’s a promise. By immersing yourself in whole ingredients, your entire perception of food will be forever changed for the better.
  • Be a Part of the Community – Join others in this community who are standing up against processed foods. You’ll have access to like-minded people in our group who can provide support and encouragement on this journey.
  • Help Shape the One Ingredient Diet – The One Ingredient Diet has exciting plans for this next year. Your participation, commitment, and feedback can help shape the future of this diet and create a healthier world.
  • It’s free – The only cost is your commitment to eating real food.

Ready to Get Started?

When I did this experiment for the first time in May 2012, it was one of the best experiences of my life and I know it can have the same results for you. It can open your eyes to a world of processed food, improve your health, make you a better cook, and help you fall in love with food in a totally new way.

I desperately want you to join this challenge… but only if you’re willing to make the commitment. Eating this way is incredibly easy over time, but it can honestly be a challenge during the first 3-7 days as you reorient your focus around whole plant-based foods. Having me and the entire community behind you can make the transition so much easier, but you’re the only one who can be responsible for making it happen. As you think about this decision, here are a few steps you should take:

  1. Read my manifesto, a short 17 pages that explain the philosophy behind One Ingredient, how the diet works in practice, and how you can make it stick in your life. It can be downloaded in the orange box at the top right of this page or from the files section within the Facebook group.
  2. Decide if this is right for you. Prepare a one ingredient meal or two as a test-run and reflect on whether your health is worth giving this a shot. Hint: it probably is.
  3. Join the Facebook group at Facebook.com/groups/oneingredient. This is a private group and I will need to personally approve your request. After that, you’re in. Over the next few days, I’ll be posting lots of advice and meal suggestions that can make the first week much easier.
  4. Prepare for January 1st by planning out meals, testing recipes, shopping for whole ingredients, asking me questions, and reading the resources posted within the Facebook group. The more prepared you get, the easier the transition will be.

Spread the Word

I have no idea how many people will join this challenge. 5? 50? 500? The number doesn’t matter to me, but I do know that we will all have a better chance of succeeding if the community is larger. Will you help me turn this challenge into a movement that can open peoples eyes and improve their health forever? With diet-related diseases being the #1 killer in the Western world, for many people, this transition to a whole food, plant based diet could literally be lifesaving.

If you feel inspired, please help spread the word about this challenge — email it to your friends, share it on social media, blog about it, or (best of all) invite a friend to do it with you. We’re all part of this community, but having someone like a friend or family member sharing this experience with you will make your journey so much more valuable and rewarding.

Let’s make 2014 the healthiest year of your life. Are you in?

Join the Challenge on Facebook »

#####

15 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. Hi Andrew 🙂 I don’t have a Facebook, and I’m not really sure I want to dive into that whole mess, but I really really want to do this program. Are there any other options besides Facebook to get tips and support? I will succumb to it if I must 😉

    • Hi Ashley, I actually gave this subject a lot of careful thought. I personally hate using Facebook and I too would have preferred setting a group elsewhere. But… the majority won out in this case. For most people Facebook is the easiest and most familiar place to stay organized in a group like this. I think it would be too complicated to try duplicating the info into a another group, unfortunately. My suggestion would be to either 1) succumb to the forces of Facebook like I did 🙂 or 2) just read the manifesto which has everything you need to get started and I’ll happily email you anything super-important that gets posted in the group.

      • Thanks for getting back to me 🙂 I’ve read the manifesto and I will probably read it a couple more times (just to make sure it really sinks in haha) I’m planning on trying it on my own for a week and if I find myself needing some guidance, I will give in to the Facebook gods and join up 😉

  2. Hi Andrew,

    I am very excited to join on this challenge. but I’m following the pregnancy program now, if I get pregnant on this january, Can I still do this challange? Thank you

    • Hi Adisha! It’s important for me to say that I’m not a dietician, nutritionist, or doctor. All I’m offering here is a very simple, common sense way of eating whole foods. I can’t really answer that question, you’d have to talk to a healthcare professional about whether this kind of a diet is right for you.

  3. I am SO excited to take on this challenge – I’ve already lost 100 pounds since giving up the bulk of refined foods and switching to a 99% plant-based diet (in the literal sense, not the evil ‘D’ word!) Your recipes have always enticed me, and now I have no reason not to commit 100% :o)

  4. Hi Andrew–So glad I found this site! I started my own 30-day vegan challenge on Jan 1 and found your site after waking up with a yen for pancakes this morning. (They were awesome, by the way! Two thumbs up from my 10-yr-old, too.) I’m not on Facebook, so I can’t join the challenge, but I look forward to using your site a lot more this month.

  5. Hi Mary, that’s so great! It’s so cool to hear that you’re on a similar path with a vegan challenge (you can do it!) and I’m glad you liked the pancakes… I actually made them myself this morning 🙂

Leave a Reply to Mary Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Coconut Thin Mint Cookies

Classic Quinoa Buddha Bowl