The best start day is the one the feels great and fits within your schedule. We suggest scheduling your start day after a break; for instance, if you have weekends (Saturday-Sunday) off, make Monday your Day 1. Then you will prep meals the day before so the base recipes are ready to go.

Two Things To Check BEFORE Choosing Your Start Day:

1. Make sure that you have all the necessary basic equipment and staple ingredients. Based on where you live, you might have to order some online. Equipment and Staple Ingredients are covered below in Step 2.
2. If you’re a fan of soda, sugar, coffee, or fast food (meaning you consume them two or more times a week), we recommend taking a week to wean yourself off by replacing these foods and beverages with  a smoothie. Go to Smoothie Week for more details.

If you have everything you need and you’re ready to begin this Monday, then by all means, go ahead. If you aren’t sure about getting ready on time, we suggest taking an extra week to prep and enjoy some smoothies.

Once you’ve chosen, grab a calendar and draw a big smiley face on your official start day.

Here’s the basic equipment list you will need to complete the 21-Day Raw Food Reset.

If you don’t have something on this list, borrow it from a friend or purchase your own. If you need to order something, we have links to the best deals. Most of these items may also be found at second-hand shops or your local classifieds.

[unordered_list style=”tick”]

• Cutting knife
• Cutting board
• High-powered blender (or any blender if you have a food processor)
• Food processor (some high-powered blenders work as food processors)
• Sealable containers and ziplock bags
• Mason jars (or similar glass jars)
• Large bowl
• Masking tape & marker
• Vegetable spiral slicer (optional)
• Food dehydrator (optional)
• Coffee grinder (optional)
• Mandolin slicer with V-slicer (optional)

[/unordered_list]

Below is a brief description of each item along with a link to a quality  option you can order online.

–
A quality chef’s knife. Kitchen gadgets are useful for chopping and cutting, but basic knife skills will be a huge asset when it comes to food prep.

Great deal for a chef’s knife online

–

A decent cutting board is crucial for preparing fresh fruits and vegetables. Wood is a classic choice, but flexible cutting boards allow you to funnel your choppings directly into a plate, bowl, or blender.

Great deal on flexible cutting boards
Great deal on bamboo cutting boards

–

A high-powered blender is helpful but by no means required. A consumer blender will do the trick for these 21 days, but a Vitamix or Blendtec can make a world of difference with food prep. A bit of Internet research can land you a high-powered blender for less than $300. Until then, make the most of the equipment you have (a $30-$50 blender is plenty for Reset purposes). If you want to purchase or upgrade to a high-powered blender, three options are listed below.

Great deal on Blendtec (offers plenty of options and is remarkably intuitive when it comes to blending exactly what you need)
Great deal on Vitamix (the most powerful blender available; serves as a food processor as well)
Great deal on KitchenAid (while it isn’t high-powered, it is a great option for the 21-Day Reset)

–

A food processor is a must-have for making cheeses, spreads, and even desserts. These are easy to find at any store that sells small kitchen appliances or through resale shops and online classifieds.

Great deal on a food processor

–

Sealable containers come in a variety of sizes, from smaller options for dressings, dips, and hummus to larger containers for spreads, marinated veggies, and entrées. Be sure to buy sturdy containers for to-go meals, as flimsy varieties are notorious for popping open in backpacks or lunch boxes.

Great deal on cheap, decent containers
More expensive but better-quality containers
Most expensive but optimal-quality glass containers

–

Mason jars are great for smoothies and nut milks and for soaking nuts, seeds, oats, and chia puddings. Glass is easy to clean, doesn’t leach chemicals when heated (unlike plastic) and seals nicely. The downside, obviously, is its break-ability. We suggest purchasing three to five 32-ounce jars for smoothies, nut milks, puddings, and water. An economically and environmentally friendly option is reusing pickle, pasta sauce, and apple sauce jars.

Great deal on a four-pack of mason jars 

–

A large bowl is critical for your salads and noodle dishes. Because raw food meals contain far fewer calories than your usual diet, you’ll need to fill your bowl to the brim. Any large bowl works, although a wooden option is our preferred choice.

Great deal on large wooden bowl

Mastering your labelling skills will radically simplify your Reset experience. All you need is masking tape and a marker. The two critical pieces of information to include: what’s inside the container and the date by which it should be consumed. You can also note the meal or day of the week for which it was prepared. If you’re feeling particularly territorial, label it with misnomers like “Dog Food” or “Science Experiment” to keep fridge-grazers at bay.

Deal on blue masking tape

 

Optional Equipment

–

If you already have a food dehydrator, there will be opportunities to use it during the cleanse.  It’s a great tool for making the crispy treats and savory snacks that are sometimes missed when eating raw. Dehydrators are also useful for warming meals and drying soaked nuts and seeds. If you don’t have this piece of equipment in your arsenal, don’t worry. We easily and happily did the entire Reset with the test group without using a dehydrator at all.

Great on a food dehydrator

–

A coffee grinder is optional but helpful for grinding nuts and seeds for salad and pasta toppings.

Great deal on a coffee grinder

–

–

–

A vegetable spiral slicer is great for making noodles from zucchini. A knife can do the same trick, but the slicer is essential if you want your noodles to be especially delicate and thin. (These are awesome!)

Great deal on a vegetable spiral slicer

–

–

A mandolin slicer with V-slicer is another optional tool, great for slicing up veggies for chips and salads. When you add the V-slicer, it makes noodles, much like the vegetable spiral slicer listed above. The V-slicer is also useful for making long, straight noodles for collard and nori wraps.

Great deal on a mandolin slicer with V-slicer

One of the best ways to move the junk out is to move it out.

When you take a walk or go on a hike you blood gets moving and that will help the entire reset experience.

We suggest to at least add 3 days of movement to your week or more.

Movement Ideas 

• Walk in the park
• Hike outdoors
• Yoga – sign up for a month of yoga somewhere near you.
• Swim in a pool
• Join athletic club and sign up for group exercises like zumba, cycle class, core training, palates etc…
• Jump on a rebounder (aka little trampoline)
• Laugh –  meet up with people you love once a week and LAUGH 🙂

Pick one or add your own idea and add a friend to one the activities to make it a little more personal and fun.  Just remember to put it on the calendar and get your move on… it will do wonders to your experience these next 21 days.

 

Social support will help you enjoy your Reset in a variety of ways. Your Reset buddy can help you prepare meals and clean dishes, provide emotional support, relate with your experience, and keep you on track.

There are plenty of ways to create a support system. Your Reset buddy can be an online friend, a family member or neighbor, even a group or club that will cheer you on toward your Reset goals.

Some people find that friends and family aren’t supportive when it comes to personal change and transformation, especially if it’s a lifestyle outside of their comfort zone. With this in mind, remember to respect those close to you during the Reset. Do it for you and don’t expect or demand them to change with you. Let your results speak for themselves.

Finding a Reset buddy is not a mandatory step, but it is nice to find people who will understand and support what you’re doing.

Make Your Kitchen, Fridge and Pantry Reset-Friendly

We are creatures of habit, and our routines extend to the kitchen as well. By removing, replacing, and reorganizing your kitchen to support this Reset, you greatly increase your chance of success. This is one of the most important steps when it comes to navigating Weeks 2 and 3 (when old food habits try to creep back in).  Your kitchen should say, “I support you and your desire to do this Reset. Look how easy I have made it for you to complete this amazing process!”

Below are three ways to transform your kitchen into a Reset-Friendly environment:

1. Remove old Reset-deterring foods and ingredients: Use up, give away, or store (far away) any foods that do not support your Reset. You can even throw a food party for your friends. Get temptation out of the way, out of access, and out of sight. If the risk of temptation is still present, continue making little changes until your kitchen is completely raw food-friendly.

2. Reorganize the kitchen to be clutter-free: Clutter and chaos can sap your resolve and make this Reset more challenging than it needs to be. Throw away or store rags, appliances, random ingredients, bottles, old food, food-encrusted containers—any and all clutter. Clearing out this junk not only promotes a happy Reset, but also stimulates productivity.

3. Replace “traditional” foods with Reset foods:  Now that your kitchen is free of processed snacks, fill it back up with your new Reset foods. Put a fruit bowl out in the center of your table, have your quick raw food snack containers ready to fill and grab on-the-go. A breath of fresh air will fill your soul as you look around and see that you’ve created the environment you want for yourself.

Jamie from Seattle wrote in about this topic, saying: “This is the first time in over 30 years that I have organized my kitchen to support eating healthy. I feel free from my food addictions.”

[box type=”info” style=”rounded” border=”full” icon=”none”]

COMMON Q&A’s

Question: What if I am in a house with other people who are not doing the Reset?

Answer:  Sharing a living space with someone who has their own passions, desires, and food habits is very common. Most of us will have to set up the kitchen with other people in the house. We suggest talking to those with whom you share the space to let them know about your honest desire for completing the Reset and discuss options for creating a system over the next 21 days.

There are countless options for compromising on your food prep spaces, from dedicating certain kitchen areas to the Reset to making an entire raw-food-friendly area of the house (remember, you don’t need cooking appliances for this Reset; you just need a fridge and small area for your kitchen equipment). The key is respecting other individuals’ desires and being open to all the options. Who knows: maybe they’ll join you! [/box]

Documentation is not a crucial step, but some find it to be fun and motivating. We have sheets to document your measurements, weight, and experience. It’s useful to have a before, during, and after snapshot of the Reset, both literally and figuratively. If you feel so inclined, take pictures and watch the transformation happen. These materials may end up in your yet-to-be-published best-selling book.

Here are three PDFs to track your experience and results:

[threecol_one]

[/threecol_one] [threecol_one]

[/threecol_one] [threecol_one_last]

[/threecol_one_last][threecol_one] [button link=”http://21-day-raw-food-cleanse.s3.amazonaws.com/tracking-your-results-color.pdf” icon=”download” color=”green” window=”yes”]Track Results Color PDF[/button] [button link=”http://21-day-raw-food-cleanse.s3.amazonaws.com/tracking-your-results-black-and-white.pdf” icon=”download” bg_color=”#000000″ window=”yes”]Track Results B&W PDF[/button] [/threecol_one] [threecol_one] [button link=”http://21-day-raw-food-cleanse.s3.amazonaws.com/measurements-color.pdf” icon=”download” color=”green” window=”yes”]Measurements Color PDF[/button] [button link=”http://21-day-raw-food-cleanse.s3.amazonaws.com/measurements-black-white.pdf” icon=”download” bg_color=”#000000″ window=”yes”]Measurements
B&W PDF[/button] [/threecol_one] [threecol_one_last] [button link=”http://21-day-raw-food-cleanse.s3.amazonaws.com/top-5-favorite-raw-food-recipes-color.pdf” icon=”download” color=”green” window=”yes”]Top 5 Recipes Color PDF[/button] [button link=”http://21-day-raw-food-cleanse.s3.amazonaws.com/top-5-favorite-raw-food-recipes-black-white.pdf” icon=”download” bg_color=”#000000″ window=”yes”]Top 5 Recipes
B&W PDF[/button] [/threecol_one_last]

“The Reset was a lot easier once I got the bulk ingredients out of the way”: this is a quote from Sharon after she completed the Reset, and we’ve found it to be true, too. When you stock your kitchen well, everything else becomes easier.

Below is a list of all the ingredients (except produce) that will be used throughout the 21-Day Reset. These ingredients will not spoil during the three weeks, so we recommend purchasing them in bulk now to save time and money.

We included the exact amount you need of each item to complete the Reset. Check your pantry before shopping because you may already have enough of many of these items already on hand.

Don’t let the size of the list scare you. Just remember, it includes the base ingredients for your entire 21 days. These are the main ingredients that give your recipes the good fats and balanced nutrition needed to keep you full and healthy.

Once you stock up on these bulk ingredients, you will only be buying fresh produce each week during the Reset, which saves you a lot of time at the store!

Feel free to print a physical copy of the bulk items PDF or use a digital check list for your shopping trip. Below are three ways to access and use the Bulk Items Checklist.

The digital check list is simple: click the little box next to each ingredient as that you already have on hand at home. Then take your smartphone or tablet to the grocery store to tick off any remaining items. This page does n't save your checks if you navigate away, so you will need to keep the screen open as you shop.

[ingredients title="Bulk Items Check/Shopping List"]

Spices & Powders:

Liquid & Oils

Nuts, Seeds & Dry Fruit

Frozen Fruit:

 * These items may be easier to find at your local health food store or online

[/ingredients] [_/su_spoiler]

Click the button below and save the document to your computer. You may need to double click the button and choose to save the link to your computer. From there you can print a physical copy.

[button link="https://s3.amazonaws.com/21-day-raw-food-reset/21Day-Staple-Ingredients-Check-List.pdf" icon="download" color="green" window="yes”]Bulk Items Checlist PDF[/button] [_/su_spoiler]

If you prefer seeing an image on your device's photo app, go ahead and click on the Bulk Items Checklist image below to enlarge.

These are the three ways you can access the Bulk Items Checklist. If you have another way you'd like to access it, let us know and we’ll do our best to add it

[_/su_spoiler]

---

To make the start of this Reset even easier, we have a few delicious base raw food recipes to prepare the day before it begins. Base recipes include hummus, dressings, and energy bites: they’re the foods that make raw food taste amazing and save you time later in the week.

In the sidebar, navigate to “Week 1,” where you will see a tab titled “Day 1”; click on that tab to find drop-downs for “Prep for Day 1-4.”  Follow the steps.

The base recipes will be last three to four days. Most of the recipes will last five to seven days in the fridge. You can even freeze some recipes to enjoy them weeks later.

It’s also completely okay to wait and prepare morning of Day 1 instead of the day before. Morning and evening preparations are a crucial part of almost every day; prepping in advance might make your first day a bit easier, but it’s completely your choice. It’s mostly about finding a flow that works for you and building some consistency into it.

Join the Transition Smoothie Week!

Before diving into the Reset, we recommend preparing by giving your gut a week to transition to raw food. Smoothies are a quick way to make this transition. Delicious and fully raw, these smoothies are packed with nutrition and already broken down for easy digestion.

The challenge is simple: for the next seven days, have at least one smoothie a day. That’s it! Even with this simple change you will start to see health benefits.

This week will also give you time to prepare for the Raw Food Reset. If you feel your gut is ready and you need to jump into the reset ASAP, then by all means you can start tomorrow. It’s up to you.

[button link=”http://www.rawfoodmagazine.com/21-day-raw-food-cleanse/smoothie-week/” size=”large” bg_color=”#6b9a18″ border=”#6b9a18″ window=”yes”]Join The Smoothie Week[/button]

A LITTLE INSPRIATION

A couple of months, ago a wonderful woman sent us an email that we loved and wanted to share with you.

Beth’s Email:

“Hi,

Thanks.

I don’t know if you care to know this but I had a conversation with a good friend a year ago asking what eating raw food was all about. During that time I was overweight, a little depressed, and heading towards a much more unhappier place. My health was getting worse and I was asking around. 

I ended up subscribing with you to continue my inspiration to eat healthy and for the past year I have lived lighter and happier and I sleep better then I ever have.  It’s crazy what I know now compared to back then thanks to you.

The most important thing that I’ve learned was to share health.  I try to give people opportunities to make healthier choices.  When I can, I make extra smoothies for friends and family and I bring raw desserts to parties as a way to show healthy can taste good.   I love those in my life and I can now see all the different ways I can play a role in the healthy choices they make.  

Thank you for your inspiration, I just thought you should know that you are making a difference.

Love, Beth”

As cliche as it sounds, you can make a big difference in the lives of those you care about. If you know anyone who might want a little more energy in their life, double your smoothie and share it or ask them to join Smoothie Week with you or even the Reset. If it feels right to you, make a point to share your new favorite raw snacks, share your experience or simply take walk outside with someone you love during these next three weeks. As you start feeling better and better, share it! Tell someone you love their smile.

You’ve chosen to give yourself an amazing gift for the next 21 days and will emerge from this experience with new energy, clarity and happiness. We are so excited for you, wish you the best, and will be here for you all along the way.

Sending you a big hug,
Sara & Tyson

p.s. you have a great smile:)