If you know anything about strict diet plans and the American obesity epidemic you know that most diets don’t work that very well. Most of them are very restrictive and want you to go from 0-100. In comes the 800g challenge, now this isn’t perfect but it has a lot of benefits. This was a challenge created by Optimize Nutrition founder EC Synkowski after a research study found that 800g was good number associated with better health outcomes. Sometimes weight loss and/or performance goals are not the only thing we need to be worried about, focusing on nutrient dense foods to give us more energy, better sleep, and a healthier immune system should also be a priority.
How it works
The 800g challenge has only 1 component to it, that you eat 800g of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and veggies are what we call nutrient dense foods. They have a lot of nutrients in them (vitamins, minerals, fiber, water) and are lower in calories. The theory is that if we can eat more of these foods it will cause you to eat less elsewhere. This can help with weight loss and also just in general to eat healthier. Here are the benefits of this and why it may help you.
1-Psychological benefits-In general most diets are very restrictive in nature. Don’t eat carbs, dont eat fat, dont eat bread, etc. This can be taxing to a person and cause people to go on and off diets frequently (yo-yo dieting). This challenge does not restrict anything, we just add in healthy fruits and vegetables. I think this is a huge psychological benefit and helps eliminate stress and anxiety about diets. No one wants to be that person that goes to a friends house and turns down the food they have there, this saves you the anxiety of having to tell everyone you are on a diet.
2- Physical benefits– In general eating fruits and veggies with higher fiber content may help control blood sugar spikes eliminating the crash we have all experienced from eating things high in sugar. Also, adding in more of these can push out some of the less nutrient dense foods you have been eating. We all know the benefits of eating healthier foods. Alsom the water content in these foods can help us hit our water goals, something we all could probably use more of.
3- Long term benefits-It is no secret that everyone could use a little more nutrient density in their lives. We also have found that weighing and measuring for a few weeks can lead you to better understand a true serving size. We also have found that people find healthy recipes they use long term. Too many people emphasize numbers on the scale. Its become apparent as Americans we need to live and feel healthier. As food quality dips and convenience becomes a priority our immune systems and waistlines have suffered dramatically.
If you are interested in more info on this, click the link below.
https://optimizemenutrition.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/800gChallenge_OneSheet.pdf