The first step in my one week raw food diet challenge was to get prepared. I knew I was going to need a lot of motivation and support to get through a whole week entirely raw. These are the steps I took to before starting the diet.


Support

I got my wife Jenna and my good friends Ben and Emily to agree to undergo the raw food challenge with me. Having friends and family members also go raw really helped. It would have been more difficult for me to create and eat raw meals, if I was entirely responsible for the food preparation myself. Taking turns hosting raw dinners and planning the menu eased the burden for everyone. Also, it was easier to accept eating only raw foods knowing that Jenna wasn't eating a slice of pizza while I was enjoying a broccoli bowl.

Here are a few blogs that were used for recipe inspiration and motivation.

• Rawmazing
• Choosing Raw
• Gone Raw
• Renegade Health



Shopping

Needless to say, before the raw week started I had to go grocery shopping and load up on as many whole fruits and vegetables and other natural health food products. I took a few pictures of the basic ingredients that would be making up my diet for the entire week. Luckily, I work for Swanson Health Products and was able to purchase some items such as raw organic cashews and chia seeds.