January 2025

800g + Protein Challenge!

The #800gChallenge® is to eat 800 grams, by weight, of the fruits and vegetables of your choice. And then, you continue to eat whatever else you want. That’s right, you focus on adding healthy foods to your diet – not eliminating the foods you love!

So, how much is 800 grams (28 ounces)? Well, it fits on a standard dinner plate, but you certainly wouldn’t want to try to eat it all at dinner. A good sustainable strategy is about eat 2 cups of fruits and veggies at each main meal – breakfast, lunch and dinner – and then just fill in the rest with protein foods, grains, nuts, snacks, whatever.

This means 800 grams is about 6 cups, which is a great way to estimate the 800g Challenge if you don’t have a scale. A closed adult fist is about 1 cup (or about 130 grams), so when you accumulate 6 cups (or fists) a day of fruits and veggies, you will be close enough to 800 grams. 

Now, because of all the diets you’ve likely tried before this one, you might be looking for more rules. But there really aren’t any. You just need be sure you are eating fruits and vegetables AS fruits and vegetables, not as products made with fruits and vegetables, and you will be on track. You can weigh the items cooked, canned, frozen, or fresh, and you pick which fruits and veggies to eat. If you don’t like kale, you don’t have to eat kale.

The lack of hyper-specific rules are because the #800gChallenge® was built for the long haul of real life. Some days it’s going to be a lot of bananas and oranges, other days it’s going to be a lot of carrots and potatoes, and that’s ok, because all of those are great choices.

Then! We’re going to aim for your IDEAL bodyweight in grams of protein each day!

Goal weight is 150? Shoot for 150g of protein throughout the day. Supplement powders and bars are great to boost the protein. If you need personalized ideas, just ask me and we can come up with a plan.

The combo of shooting for 800g of fruits and veggies, and the focus on protein, will naturally get in the way of any unhealthy diet choices you might be tempted to make. And since you are eating cleaner during the challenge, you’ll be a lot less tempted to overdo the treats.

If you like to kick off the year with a dry January, all the better!