Bonfire

Level 1 Expectations and Assumptions:

Congratulations - you're on your way!  At LEVEL 1 it is understood that you are being exposed to new ways of thinking about your health and how eating plays a critically important role - not only in health promotion, but also in the active prevention of developing disease.

Eating healthy is not as difficult as it may seem at first; as with anything else new in your routine, it will just take a short adjustment period to get better at planning your shopping and food preparation.  Remember to stay focused on the goal (great health) and all the added benefits that come along with it.  Finally, don't be hard on yourself if you're not perfect, or the best chef, or whatever - just make it your goal to improve in these areas.  A cornerstone principle of Bonfire is "progression, not perfection."

After a week or two, you'll get the hang of it in terms of learning to plan and prepare things ahead, and to develop the vital behavior of cooking extra food so you'll have leftovers for lunches and snacks.

Helpful Resources:
Planning and Preparation
Master Shopping List
Critical Concepts: Food Shopping
Fuel Level 2 Expectations
Fuel Level 3 Expectations

Critical Concept:  Add Positive First
When making change of any kind, but particularly with dietary changes, one key is to begin by adding positive habits/foods first, then reducing, and eventually eliminating bad habits/foods later.

As you begin to adopt the Bonfire Diet Style please understand that you are not expected to be "perfect," but that you're moving and progressing toward adopting the following vital behaviors:

• You're now aware that eating a healthy breakfast every day is critical for health; even more importantly, you're starting to make your own breakfast - at home.

• A healthy breakfast is defined as having quality protein, such as organic eggs or chicken sausage, served with fresh fruit (absolutely no sugar or grains such as cereal, toast, bagels, pastries, "toaster pop-ups," etc.)

• Drinking water has now become a priority for you; simultaneously, you're beginning to drastically reduce your consumption of all other beverages (i.e. soda pop, coffee, juices, sport drinks, etc.).

• Your grocery shopping habits are beginning to change - you've done your research and now know where the closest "whole foods" store is located.

• You've now been introduced to the importance of eating lots of fresh fruits, salads, and vegetables, along with raw nuts and seeds - what is called a plant-driven diet (which doesn't mean vegetarian).

• You are learning the art of buying, prepping, and eating more and more salads per week as the main part of your lunches and dinners.

• The animal-based foods you eat (meat, eggs, and dairy) are now natural and organic, meaning grass-fed meat without hormones or antibiotics, and wild-caught fish; if you still consume dairy, it's from raw milk.

• You only eat refined sugars and refined carbohydrates once or twice a week - they are never in your home.

• Soda pop is becoming a rare poisonous "treat" for you.

• You've now been eating (or maybe you are gearing up for your first) Green Smoothies.

• You've now begun shopping at a "whole foods" market (those stores you used to think of as "hippie" stores).

• You now have heard about a critical kitchen/food prep tool called a Vita Mix blender (the sooner you buy one, the sooner you'll experience a level of health and ease of food preparation you never imagined possible.  And, it's guaranteed to extend your life!).

• You have learned to identify foods that regularly contain hydrogenated oil or high-fructose corn syrup.

For Breakfast:  Eat quality protein, poached, such as free-range organic eggs, vegetables (yes, veggies at breakfast), raw nuts, almond or hemp seed milk, bananas or berries, and healthy smoothies or raw vegetable juice; lastly, fresh fruit after working out (preferably organic fruit that's local and in season, versus fruit that has been shipped two to five thousand miles).

For Lunch:  Always eat a large salad with or as your lunch itself; you can, of course, add fish, chicken, etc. and perhaps some flax crackers.  To make eating large salads much more enjoyable, add toppings such as avocados, sliced pears with freshly toasted walnuts, Greek olives, leftover chicken or fish, leftover steamed vegetables from the night before, sardines, etc.  Dress salads with fresh lemon or lime juice and/or fresh olive oil or vinaigrette dressing.  An incredibly delicious topping is Cashew Crunch, a raw cashew "Parmesan" cheese. 

For Dinner:  Again, always base this meal around a large salad and steamed, sautéed, or grilled vegetables; it is important to eat little to no starches (meaning breads, pastas, potatoes, etc. - these foods are very high on the glycemic index, meaning they cause abnormal blood glucose levels similar to sugar); you're learning that protein and fat are beneficial (organic/natural beef, lamb, chicken, fish).

Why people fail to eat healthy?
The specific design of the first phase (month 1) for Level 1 Menu Plan was created for the purpose of exposing you to as many healthy recipes and meal plans so you can begin to reduce eating unhealthy food options.  One of Bonfire’s purposes at Level 1 is to remove the addiction dependency people have for foods that they know are unhealthy for themselves.  When you graduate from Level 1, you will succeed in giving yourself new opportunities in life for making decisions without being in direct conflict with your personal values.  We know you desire to be happy and healthy, and most of all, at peace with all the decisions that make up your LIFE.  Following Bonfire Health will allow you to choose the lifestyle habits that are congruent with the values of the life you truly desire to live.  We deeply appreciate you being a part of our vision to change and transform the lives as many people as we can.  We kindly request, that as you see results in your own life, you share our program with your friends and loved ones too!

Snacks are optional!
You may have heard that eating 4-5, even 6, times per day is the preferred method to manage blood sugar and metabolism for effective weight loss, etc.  This is not necessary.  If you eat nutrient-dense foods, (raw organic fruits, vegetables, and raw nuts and seeds) and quality protein (organic eggs and organic, grass-fed lean meats, organic chicken, wild caught fish), you will not need to eat every 2 or 3 hours.  Eating nutrient-poor grains and "snack foods" is the cause of frequent and increased hunger cravings.  If you simply drink a large glass of purified water it will often satisfy your desire or perceived need for a snack and hold you over until your next meal.  If you’re not hungry, we suggest you don’t eat.  Longevity studies show, the fewer calories you take in every day, the longer you will live.  Should you feel the need to snack, the best foods to eat are vegetables (such as cut carrots, celery, cucumber, etc.) or fruit, along with raw nuts and seeds.  If you want to snack, it’s okay if you’re burning the calories.

Important Recommendation:
To save money (and the environment), have a Reverse Osmosis water purification system installed at your kitchen sink (GE unit at Home Depot - $250, for plumber to install - $125).  You will be amazed at how much more health-promoting water you will drink when it’s readily available and tasty.

Although they are now ubiquitous in our society, and no matter how inexpensive they may be at Costco or Wal-Mart or Trader Joe's, we can't keep buying plastic bottles of water for many reasons:

• It's too costly in the long run.
• The quality of the purification process varies widely.
• The plastic bottles leach cancer-causing chemicals into the water and then into your body.
• The impact of buying plastic water bottles on the environment is tremendous.  There are over 2 million plastic water bottles disposed of every day in America which is creating a huge trash problem.
• This environmental "cost" is unacceptable [FACT: Today, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where the currents converge, there is a mass of floating plastic twice the size of Texas called The Great Pacific Garbage Patch that is so large and has so much mass that it is a "navigational landmark" and shows up on ships' radar!]
• Although some plastic bottles often get recycled into cool things like Patagonia clothing, most ultimately ends up inside marine animals or landfills.