It's the day before my next No Sugar / No Flour challenge begins on December 1st and I'm realizing the participation numbers are pretty low. I can't blame anyone because who in their right mind would try to go without sugar and flour during the month known for its holiday baking. Every time you turn around in December, you're running into a candy cane, Reese's tree, or chocolate Santa. Not to mention the cookies, the cookies are everywhere as people dust off the recipes they use just once a year. It's almost an insult to them if you don't indulge.

I decided to do the challenge in December for two reasons this year.
1. Highlight the fact that to some people, it will never be the right time for them to take the challenge. They can cite a special occasion or obstacle for any week of the year, from a cousin's birthday party to the weather being too cold. It's unfortunate, because if they just picked a time and did the two weeks, they would experience something life-changing that could put them on a healthier trajectory and give them even more weeks to extend their life.
2. I do these challenges for my own accountability purposes. Honestly, I'm not some fitness guru or health expert with cut abs trying to talk you into doing something that's easy for me. I'm a guy that has struggled with food addiction throughout my life and I've come to realize that I need accountability partners to keep me from going off the deep end. Doing these challenges and preparing worksheets and material that I give away for free is a lot of work, but it's worth it to me if I know someone else might be walking the same path as me.

So, if December isn't right for you, I completely understand, but nothing is stopping you from getting ready now for when the moment comes. Get the packet and follow along, so you can realize that the challenge isn't as hard as you think it is. 

November and December are terrible months for eating and being healthy. If you don't agree, then I'm not sure what world you are living in. The weather gets colder so you don't want to do things outside and it's even more inconvenient to wake up early and go to the gym because of the temperature and ice on the windshield. With the cold comes warm comfort foods that are a signature of Fall, warm soups, fresh breads, and don't forget the pumpkin spice. It seems like the entire season is against you so you might as well settle down under that comfy blanket and sip on your hot cocoa as you wallow in despair.
I completely get it, and will admit that I'm a victim of the holiday slide as well. Once you reach mid-November, you are thinking about that Thanksgiving feast which is actually the opening round of holiday baking season. The next thing you know, you're surrounded by a never-ending cavalcade of sweet treats that will provide non-stop temptation for weeks to come. Once you start eating and enjoying the cookies, candy, and other delicious items, your brain and body are primed for the next readily available item the following day. You end up telling yourself it's ok to indulge now and you'll just be super healthy starting January 1st.
The problem with this thinking is that you end up losing so much ground in your battle to be healthy. Your perspective on food and your own body image suffers such a blow, that it's tough to regain what you once were in mid-Summer. The only solution is to draw a line in the sand and take two weeks to reset yourself before things become too bad.
WHAT I'M ASKING FROM YOU:
I don't want you to starve yourself, or even avoid people and treats for two weeks. There are no special pills, drinks, or exercise regimens involved. You can operate as normal, though you will have to tell people what you're doing, which will definitely start some conversation. You can eat as much as you want and when you want, so you stay full and avoid temptation. (Which is everywhere right now, trust me). Your eating during the two-weeks should be easy to figure out, which no charts, lists, or anything else that take up your time and energy.
WHAT IT INVOLVES:
 The easiest way to describe your eating for this time is that you will focus on single ingredient foods in their original form as much as possible. If it has an ingredient list, especially a list with a word or two you don't recognize, then it's not on the menu for you. You're basically shopping from the perimeter of the grocery store and avoiding the aisles. You can eat out at restaurants, but the same rules apply, so if you don't know what's in it, then don't order it. You'll also need to know how they prepared it, because restaurants can be a little sneaky at times and sweeten up your food without you ever knowing. When it comes to exercise, don't do anything crazy during this time, simply because you need to focus on your eating and not distract yourself. I do highly recommend taking walks to help get you out of the house and avoid temptation.


Yes, there are more fine points to discuss, which is why you'll see videos and other information available before and during the challenge. Follow along and ask questions as you have them. You can join the Facebook Group, follow me on TikTok, or keep up with me on YouTube. I'm going to help you realize that you can do this, because if I can do it, anyone can.

Happy Holidays!
John Graham

When you are finishing up the two-week no sugar / no flour challenge, your mind reaches a point of clarity while your cravings diminish to pretty much no impact on you. Your body feels better and your sense of accomplishment is at an all-time high. You start to wonder what the next steps are because you understand that going back to your old life isn’t worth it anymore. Below are some ideas that will allow you to continue feeling great, or even become better.

***Disclaimer. If you read that first paragraph before participating in the challenge, then there’s no way you will believe it. Honestly, if someone told me those things before I experienced my clarity, I would have laughed in their face. My natural reaction to being healthier in the past was that it was a painful sacrifice that just didn’t stop until I eventually admitted defeat and drowned myself in a pizza. Please come back to this section below when you are on day 12 or 13 of the challenge and are that person who completely gets what I’m talking about.
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1. CONTINUE FORWARD WITH NO SUGAR / NO FLOUR. You’ve done it for two weeks and your body is now getting adjusted to it, so just keep going. With your blood sugar level staying consistent now, odds are you will lose weight just by continuing. Add in a nightly walk or some regular exercise and it really makes an impact as you pair it with eating properly.
2. BE A LITTLE MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH IT. There’s a chance you have been making some food decisions based on pure survival, which means you may be sticking to some comfort foods that fit the criteria. Choose a food tracking software that will give you some goals in regards to calorie, carb, and fat intake and then make some adjustments to balance out your meals even more. Start trying some new fruits and vegetables when having meals because they will likely have a different taste now that the processed chemicals are leaving your system.
3. INTEGRATE LOW CARB WHEAT OPTIONS BACK IN. In your first week after the challenge, still keep the sugar out of the diet, but pick a few meals that are easier with a low carb bread. I love the low carb wraps for my tacos and sandwiches because it just made things more convenient, so every other lunch would be a sandwich wrap instead of a salad. Maybe a special meal for the week is a big juicy hamburger, so go ahead and eat it without guilt. Just enjoy it with water instead of soda so you aren’t doubling down on your sugar and carbs.
4. BEGIN AN EXERCISE PROGRAM. You’ll hear me say that starting the two-week challenge is not the time to start a heavy exercise program too, simply because it is just too much going on at once. Around halfway through the second week though, you develop your stride and can start thinking about doing more. The greatest impact in my life is when I made the decision start visiting the gym and never missing two days in a row. I started with a resistance focus and vowed not to weigh myself for 2 months as I worked to build muscle. My schedule consisted of an arm day, a leg day, a cardio day, a day off, and then I repeated the cycle. If I wasn’t feeling great or had a busy day, then I didn’t go, but I made sure not to miss a second day in the row, no matter what. Putting this routine in place while going without (or at least minimizing) sugar and flour multiplied my results two times over.
5. TRY EVERY OTHER DAY WITHOUT SUGAR AND FLOUR. Look at your week and designate four days that will be meals without sugar and flour, then give yourself some freedom on the rest. By now you likely have some good meal plans that don’t involve the bad stuff, so keep those in place on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday and then plan smartly for the other ones. Your goal isn’t to binge on the bad stuff every other day, but to make its impact negligible on you during the week. Maybe I know we are going out for pizza with friends on Friday night, so I keep Thursday and Saturday planned out as no sugar and flour to avoid stacking more trouble on my system.
6. REALLY LOOK AT YOUR DRINK CHOICES. One of the biggest changes in my life came out of the first no sugar / no flour challenge I did. Much like a large part of the population, I was a heavy soda drinker and couldn’t imagine a day without a fountain drink during the winter and a slushie during the Summer. They were cheap, tasty and make every meal a better experience, but it took the challenge to make me realize the damage I was doing by drinking my calories. I made the decision to drastically reduce my soda intake after the first challenge, moving to crystal light tea with the occasional root beer with my pizza. After another no sugar challenge, I ended up minimizing the crystal light and making water my primary drink.  You may not think it’s possible for you, but over time I became a guy who primarily drinks water with my meals. This decision has given me better health, more consistent energy, and even saved me money over the years.
7. TRY FASTING WITH NO SUGAR / NO FLOUR EATING. Fasting is a hot button for a lot of folks, so do your research on what is right for you as you attempt it. One thing that the experts all recommend is that you approach fasting with a base of eating foods that don’t contain processed sugar and flour, so it fits best if you continue the challenge and add the fasting component.  I’m the type of person who likes things in black and white, so I tried the 36 hour fast while going without sugar and flour, and it yielded positive results. Basically, I stopped eating at 7PM one evening and then only drank water until 7AM the day after the following day. Mentally, I just had to prep myself for going without food for one day, which wasn’t the end of the world. I then broke my fast with bone broth and higher protein foods that were without sugar and flour. Then maintained my no sugar no flour diet for the remainder of the week as normal. The following week, I did the same thing and just dropped one day of eating.
8. GO BACK TO YOUR NORMAL EATING ROUTINES. Even though I find this option highly unlikely for anyone who successfully completes the two-challenge, I guess it’s still an option. Before you take this option though, I’d ask that you keep a journal of how you feel in the final days of the challenge, and then how you feel as you throw it all away. I’m guessing the contrast of the two will make it obvious how your old eating patterns were destroying your life because you should feel terrible.
9. TALK A FRIEND INTO THE CHALLENGE AND DO IT AGAIN. The saying “Misery Loves Company” definitely doesn’t apply to this situation because you will be feeling amazing. In fact, when you talk about how you feel to other people close to you, they won’t be able to believe it, so find a brave soul to take the challenge and tell them you’ll do it again with them. Your second time through will be much easier and you’ll be comforted by the fact that you are making a positive health difference in someone’s life. Plus, you’ll have someone to share leftovers with.
10. GET SOME THERAPY. Odds are that if you are struggling with your weight, then you might have some underlining relationship issues with food. It’s nothing to be ashamed about because food has been ingrained in our lives as something tied to emotion, and you may not be able to change your programming without some help. If your insurance policy has an EAP program, then look in your area for a therapist that has a specialty with food disorders and see if they’re available. Now, I’m not saying you might have a disorder like Anorexia or Bulimia, but the therapist will at least have the background to help you explore your relationship with food. Have an open mind and give it a try.

Since you have some momentum after completing the challenge, push yourself and continue to grow. You’ve established that you are capable of more than you originally thought, so now is the time to ask yourself what else you are capable of doing. Use the ideas above to continue forward, or create a mix of the best elements that work for you. The key is to keep moving forward.

As I mention the challenge of going without sugar and flour to other people, I can guarantee that no one will respond with an optimistic phrase or a “sounds like a great idea”. Instead, most people can single out a food or drink that would make it impossible to live without. For me, it was pizza and there was a point in my life that I would have slapped you across the face if you suggested that I should give it up for a couple of weeks.

What is it for you?

I realize now that I wasn’t saying to the world that I couldn’t live without pizza, I was actually putting pizza higher on my personal list than a lot of other things, but I couldn’t admit it yet. But before I get too deep into this topic, let me remind you that I don’t believe any food is really bad for you. In fact, if you are one of those people that can easily moderate your favorite foods, then you probably don’t even need to read this. Instead, this article is for the people like me, who put a food or drink into the regular consumption category and can’t imagine a world where it isn’t consumed on a regular basis.

I want those of you who stuck around and are still reading to do a little exercise with me that hopefully will open your eyes just a bit. Instead of saying the word pizza below, you go ahead and substitute your food that you can’t live without.
When I said, “There’s no way I could give up pizza for two weeks or longer!”, I was really saying the following:

Pizza is more important to me than my health.

Because honestly, I would consume an excessive amount in one sitting, which would quickly lead to ice cream or some other sweet shortly after. This behavior led to massive weight over my life.

Pizza is more important to me than my family.

I realize now that I was supposed to model healthy behaviors to my kids and show them how to not be selfish, but when pizza was involved, those concepts went out the window. Instead, I showcased excessive eating, hogging leftovers, and grabbing as much as I could before they could grab another slice. They were taught to grab everything they can and eat it quick, especially at a buffet, where we all had to get “our money’s worth”.
Pizza is more important than feeling good.

As much as I loved pizza, it never treated me decent in return. If pizza were a woman and we were in a relationship, then everyone in my family would have been warning to stay away from her because she was no good. Every time I encountered pizza I felt bloated, achy, sluggish, and never had a good night’s sleep due to heartburn. I always knew what was going to happen before I started eating, but still did it anyway, trapped in a relationship of excess.

Pizza is tied to emotion.

I have an emotional link to my favorite food, just like you do. There is something that drives you to crave a food and it’s not your stomach missing out on some special nutrient in your favorite dish. Somehow, at some point, this food or drink that you can’t imagine living without, started fulfilling an emotional need and you didn’t even realize it. If you don’t want to admit that, and instead would rather say that your body won’t function without your daily latte, donut, or soda, then you might have an even bigger problem. You need to step back and really look at why the food has this immense control over your life.

Look, I’m not saying to give up your favorite food or drink for the rest of your life, but you need to realize that you can’t clearly see the hold it has on you while you consume it regularly. Taking part in a no sugar/flour challenge for two-weeks or a month will give you the power to objectively look at some of these food items that have you in a strangle hold. Even if you think two weeks isn’t going to make a difference, I assure you it will, if you do it right.
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I can promise you that reading this article now and then reading it on day 13 of the two-week challenge will be two entirely different experiences for you. It’s the person at the end of the two weeks that I want to talk to, so you just have to decide to get yourself there.
 

    So what is a Destructive Eater and how can you determine if you might exhibit some of those negative behaviors? I wanted to take a moment and list out some of things I see fitting into the Destructive Eating category, but they can also fit in with other eating and addiction disorders as well.

Post in the comments which behaviors you may be guilty of at times. If you want a new perspective on how you can better analyze these behaviors in your life, take a two-week break from processed sugar and flour. The next challenge begins June 19th and it will open your eyes to your relationship with food.
All the best!
​John Graham

I’m wondering if I have a problem with addiction.  Well, I’m already aware that I have some sort of food addiction, but over the past two years I’ve realized that I’ve developed a new one.  I think I’ve become addicted to challenging myself by going without certain foods that I never thought I could go without.  In the beginning, it was giving up sugar and flour, but then continued to move on through other things added onto that base idea. 
 
I realized though, that over my many challenges I had never completed one specific behavior that most health professionals recommend.  In fact, almost every book or program ever written about becoming healthier, contains this one direction that I’ve always ignored.  Tracking your food intake.  I’ll be honest here and tell you that I’m not a big fan of writing down what I eat, likely because I don’t want a written record for others to scrutinize.  Missing this step though, causes me to miss quite a few opportunities to figure out where I might be straying from the healthy path.
 
Enter March 2018, and a new challenge beckons me.  I’m sure you know what’s next and you’re likely not very impressed.  Whoop de doo, John’s going to jot down what he eats every day, great for him.  I wish it was that simple, but that’s not really a challenge though, is it?  I’ve decided to raise the stakes and not only just track my food, but also try to function on 25 carbs or less each day.  This is a new place for me because my no sugar/no flour mentality has given me results, without having to worry about the carbs, but with that thinking I’ve consumed some things that aren’t the best for me.  Call them the junk foods of the no sugar/no flour world and I’ve eaten them, sometimes sabotaging my hard work while lulling me into a sense that I was still “sticking with it”.
 
My new challenge will change all of that and for once open my eyes on how many carbs I consume in a day.  This test comes from watching friends utilize the KETO diet to change their lives, which caused me to wonder how far that was from what I’m doing currently.  While I’m not even positive I can eat in way to put my body into Ketosis, I thought it might make an interesting challenge to see how close I get.  In the end, I will at least gain an understanding of how to eat while minimizing my carb intake.  Plus, I’m sure that consuming less carbs, especially the bad ones, can on some level be good for me.  At least my no sugar/no flour behaviors have prepped me well for this experiment because those two things are the toughest for most people to get out of their system.
 
So look for updates throughout March on my survival and I’ll do my best to keep them coming.  I’m still a very picky person, so we’ll see how I can incorporate my lackluster meal choices into making this work.  Maybe this will make a nice chapter for the revised version of my book later this year.
 
All the best!
John Graham
 
PS – If you’re interested in checking out a well written blog about the KETO experience, then check out our friend’s blog at:  www.crazyhealthyketo.com

Around week three of going without sugar and flour, you brain and body encounter a different phenomenon than what you might be used to.  I call it the "What the heck" stage.  You see, up to that point, your old feelings, habits, and food cravings are lingering about, maybe keeping you from making the healthy change easily.  After a few weeks, that starts to disappear and in its place you start having these mental exchanges.

​"Looks like I have a little time on my hands, wonder what I should do?  What the heck, I think I'll go to the gym for a while."

"I'm starting to get a little hungry, what should I eat?  What the heck, I'm going to grab some fruit."

​"Man, I sure am thirsty.  What the heck, I'll grab some water and be just fine."

​These exchanges look entirely different from our previous lives, when the answers may have been sit and watch a show, eat a candy bar, or grab a soda.  It's amazing how three weeks can change your outlook, but it can.  I'm hoping you're close to the point of asking yourself this question:

​"How can I finally make a positive impact on my health and see what I'm capable of?  What the heck, I'm going to give up sugar and flour for a month and see what happens."

I know you can do it.
All the best!
​John Graham

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing one of those 100 day challenges.  You know the ones I’m talking about, you see them as viral videos on Facebook, etc.  Basically someone does some healthy activity or specific exercise for 100 days and they record themselves doing it every day.  The video is then spliced together so you can see their progress over that time and you usually find yourself impressed or motivated, so you share the video and tag it with a “check this out”.
 
The problem with thinking about doing something like this is that it seems like a long time so you begin to map out everything that would keep you from being successful.  For me, the questions ranged from when I would do the activity, how would I record it, what happens if I get sick, and what if it interferes with other activities I have planned during the next three months.  There’s a lot of variables, so in the end, most people, such as myself, feel it’s too much and never even start.  Maybe this describes you too?
 
This morning though, I found myself asking why couldn’t I just do it for a month?  Or even 50 days instead of 100?  Was there some sort of rule out there that if I didn’t post something that encompassed 100 total days, then people would shame me?  Well, maybe my video wouldn’t go viral because the results wouldn’t smack you across the face at the end, so folks would just give me a, “good for that guy and his month of hard work”.  This entire thought process gave me the realization about myself and so many others that I’ve spoken with about my One Month No Sugar and No Flour Challenge.
 
People often tell me that they couldn’t give up sugar and flour for a month because there’s a special event coming up, like a holiday or birthday.  It’s like this holiday at the end of the month is causing them to not even think about starting, giving them their ultimate excuse.  Other excuses are peppered in, such as they couldn’t live without either sugar or flour for a month or they have family members that would hold them back.
 
After my epiphany today, I have to wonder what’s keeping people from doing just two weeks without sugar and flour, or even one week?  Do they think that if they approached me and told me they only completed two weeks instead of a month, I would push them into the dirt and call them worthless for not doing the whole month?  Do I think the 100 day challenge police will arrest me if I only made it 75 days?  I’m pretty sure no one is going to mock me for only going one month recording my healthy activity and I promise that if someone posted on the Facebook page that they did just a week without no sugar and no flour, I would still congratulate them and be proud.
 
Ask yourself at this moment, what’s keeping you from starting something healthy today?  Are you doing a great job of talking yourself out of it because it seems like too much work?  Are you setting too lofty a goal, like planning for a marathon next month when you haven’t ran in years and then find yourself frustrated and give up?  Are you focusing on the 50 pounds you have to lose and find yourself constantly thinking of the time it will take because it doesn’t melt away with the first trip to the gym?  What if you just set a small goal and celebrated that? 
 
If you want to impress me, then go five days without sugar and flour.  I’m pretty sure you could do anything for five days and I’ve realized that you begin feeling something positive after that time.  Maybe it won’t change your life, but if you make it that amount of time, then you know you did it.  The next time it comes up and someone tells you they couldn’t last two days, then you could tell them they can do at least five days because you did.  Your second attempt might give you eight days or ten and you’ll realize that you can do that too.  Feel free to post all attempts to the Facebook page or email me directly and I will celebrate the crap out of your success with you, no matter how big or small you think it is.
 
Feel free to read through this entire blog or buy the book.  Do the challenge for a month and be amazed, or do it for shorter and see what happens.  I can promise you that you won’t regret any decision that helps you become healthier and realize your potential.
 
All the best!
John Graham

December 31st, 2017
 
I realized today that it took me 14 months to lose 70 pounds and then around 5 months to put half of it back on.  Sure, I can list a variety of excuses for my lack of eating focus, stresses like moving into a new house and starting a new job, or even fun stuff like a 2-week vacation to Orlando where buffets rule and convenience eating is king.  Honestly though, not much of that matters.
 
What does matter is that I feel terrible every day and find myself putting up with it.  When I originally lost my weight, I drew a line in the sand and gave away all my 3XL shirts and pants, stating that I would never go back to that size.  While I haven’t gotten to point where I need to start buying a bigger wardrobe, I have found that my selection of 2XL shirts is slowly diminishing as I grow bigger.  I’m down to just a few that fit comfortably and I wonder if maybe they were mistagged at the factory.  Either way, everything I wear right now is tight and uncomfortable, so something must happen.
 
I’ve never been much for “New Year’s Resolutions”, simply because starting something in January makes you feel like a Lemming that’s joining the crowd and running until you eventually go over the cliff and back to the way you were.  I often let things die down a bit and start my goals in February, after the crowds thin out at the gym because folks can’t maintain their momentum.  This often puts me in a good position as Spring starts in March and the weather changing gives me further encouragement.  Whether I like it or not, I can’t wait another day for the sake of my health and well-being.
 
I think the biggest issue with losing a lot weight and then putting some of it back on is that you become keenly aware of who you haven’t seen in a while.  When you’re losing weight, it’s always great to run into that friend you haven’t seen in months because they are often blown away by the change and can’t help but to comment on your progress.  This action pumps you up and keeps you going.  When it’s the other way around, you find yourself dreading the contact with others that haven’t seen you since your fall from grace.  Even if they likely can’t remember how thin you were, you still are keenly aware of it and can’t help but have it pester you while you interact with them.
 
The second issue of the weight yo-yo must be the memory of how good you felt then, and how different that is now.  Let’s be honest here, it’s likely twice as bad for me because I had the nerve to write a book about my experience, recording everything I felt as things got better and better.  It’s tough for me to even go back and read it at this point because the words sting and I feel even worse about my lack of ability to maintain the things I spoke about.  The big thing is understanding that I’m aware of the difference and I want to get back to where I was.
 
So, what’s the point of writing this all down for you once again?  It’s likely one of the more embarrassing topics in my life right now and it’s even difficult to talk with my wife about it, let alone a group of strangers.  I’m doing this because I feel like there’s more to food as it relates to my life than I previously understood and I need to be honest about that fact.  I know I need to begin my journey back to where I was with my weight just six months ago, but for the effort to be effective, I need to do a better job this time at figuring out why food can impact my life just as much as alcohol does with an alcoholic or drugs with a drug abuser.  My goal is to analyze the addiction of food in my case so I can help myself and help others.
 
Putting my soul out there isn’t the easiest thing to do, but I know that my first time around, things I wrote helped others in their lives, so maybe this will too.  Often, we feel like we’re alone in our troubles and despair, thinking that everyone else has such a perfect life and doesn’t experience these things.  Let me be the first to say that my life and health aren’t perfect, so you’re not alone if that’s the case for you.  I’m willing to put myself out there for you to realize that there’s someone else experiencing similar issues to what you might be. 
 
Here’s to 2018!  Let’s all get back on track.
John Graham
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