Hi. Katherine Kyle here from greenthickies.com. And today, we are talking about preparation for the 28 Day Leaf System Challenge. So tomorrow, it is going to be day one. I'm going to be sharing my first day with you on The Leaf System Challenge. So I really hope you're joining us. So today, if you want to join us, I have got four things that I would really like you to do so that you can make a success of this challenge.

So first of all, I would like you to download the meal plans inside The Leaf System.

There's two meal plans. There's one veggie and there's one meat based meal plan. And I would recommend -- even if you are a vegan or a vegetarian I would still recommend downloading them both because sometimes there are some veggie based meals that are in the meat based lunches and dinners and vice versa if you eat meat I recommend that you don't eat meat for every single meal that you have some of your meals that are including veggies.

Sorry, just dropped my list of notes here.

So, what I recommend you do is you download both of the meal plans and decide what meals you want to make for the next seven days. So plan them out, write them down and the shopping list in there for you so you know what to buy when you go shopping. So, first thing to do is decide your meals and tick off on the shopping list the ingredients that you're going to need to buy. If there are any adjustments you need to make for the quantity sizes, then just make those adjustments whether you need to just make it for one person, two people or your whole family. Everybody can do this challenge with you. It's not just for you so, just decide on how many people you are feeding and write your shopping list or just take off on the shopping list the items that you need.

And then go and -- go shopping, that's step two. Go buy the food. And tomorrow, I'm going to be talking about some of the ingredients -- the reasons why we choose some of the ingredients that we do, some of the healthier foods on the list, some of the ingredients that I want you to avoid. But if you stick to The Leaf System exactly as it is, then you can't go wrong at all. So, make a list of ingredients, go shopping, come back with your beautiful fresh ingredients.

And then step three, I want you to try and make two days' worth of meals. Now, if you can make all your meals that would be great even if you have to reheat things later. And if you're choosing things that need to be made fresh, then don't worry too much, but for me, when I'm starting a new diet and I like to make sure that I'm completely prepared so that I don't have any excuses. If my food's already there, it's made, it's in the fridge, I'd just take it out and eat it. It's so easy that nothing can go wrong. Usually, in the evening, what I do is I make a massive, big batch of green thickie for the next day, so I'm prepared. I have got my massive, big batch of green thickie. In fact, I've made two days' worth so that I've got no excuses.

I've got two of those massive jugs of green thickie, and then in the evening, I make my evening meal. I try and make a few portions at the same time so I eat for at least two days. If I'm feeding my family, then I'll make a massive, big batch of it. Just me, I'll make maybe two salads. And at the moment, I have decided to go with raw options. So there are three options in The Leaf System. You can either eat meat, you can eat like a veggie diet and vegan or vegetarian, and you can also choose raw food. And for me, I'm going with the raw option just because it's clean summer. I know how healthy it makes me feel. I know it's -- it just makes me feel completely alive eating raw food and I just love it.

At this time of year, I'm going to take advantage. I tend to eat more kind of a warming starchy foods in the winter, but now in the summer, just want fresh and raw foods. So, I've made myself two of these salads and one for Day 1 and Day 2. And I'm also going to snack on as much fruit as I want during the challenge, so that if I get hungry and [I've renounced all my food ?] or it's not time for my next meal, whatever time that might be, then I'm just going to eat as much fruits as I want and I suggest that you do the same.

And I will be talking more about snacking and everything on the next day. So, Day 3 is to make as much food as you can for the next day and possibly the day after. So you can definitely stick to this and finally, Day 4, what I want you to do, and this is really important, because otherwise, you won't know what results you've had, I want you to go and do three things to record where you are right now, a snapshot of where you are.

And there's actually sheets in The Leaf System where you can download and you can complete these sheets. And the first thing I want you to do is measure yourself. And that means to weigh yourself, but also, get a tape measure and measure your arms, your stomach, your hips, your thighs just so that you know that you definitely are shrinking. Because sometimes, the scale plays tricks on us and it doesn't always convey that we're having success and it could be very demotivating. So, I suggest you do measure yourself as well as weighing yourself.

I also want you to take a photo of yourself because photos don’t tend to lie. And hopefully you will notice the difference in me when I -- I'm at the start of this challenge today and at the end in 28 days. And I'm also taking photos and measuring myself.

And thirdly, I want you to write down in a piece of paper how you're feeling about your health. What are your health problems? What are you struggling with? Are you struggling to sleep? Do you have any energy? Do you have colds all the time? Do you have allergies? Do you have rashes? What -- do you have asthma or any kind of problem? What are your health problems? Write them all down even if you've had them all your life. Write them all down because I think you're going to be amazed of what is going to happen after these 28 days.

So tomorrow, I am going to be sharing with you what I'm doing on my first day. And also, I'm going to be -- I lost my notes again. All fell on the floor. Oh, yes, I'm going to be telling you a breakdown of all the foods that I recommend you doing, that are good for health and the foods that I don't recommend that you touch at all during the 28 days. Just to explain a bit more about why we've got certain ingredients and what ingredients to choose on the challenge. So, I hope you're okay with that.

So just to recap, number 1 is to go and download the meal plans, decide which meals you want to write and make a note of the meals that you're going to be making, and create your shopping list either by using the one that's there or creating your own. Number 2 is to go shopping and don't put anything else in there. Don't put any snacks, no comfort foods -- nothing just only fresh ingredients. And also, another good thing is just to raid your cupboards and get rid of all the junk in there so you're not tempted or hide it away completely out of sight.

And then number 3, come back, make as much food as you can for the next two days so you've got no excuses and number 4, make a note of where you are now by measuring yourself, weighing yourself, taking a photo and writing a lot of note about your health problems and how you're feeling about your weight at the moment.

So hope it's not too much and I'm sure you can do it. I am so excited to see how you get on with this and I will see you tomorrow. Take care. Bye.