Thursday, July 02, 2015

30-Day Health Challenge - July

IIt's officially July and that means it's time for a new 30-day health challenge. As I previously mentioned I'm going to continue with my green smoothie habit from June and build on it with this new health challenge. 

Now due to the fact that July has 31 days and the first of the month is a holiday in my country: Canada Day, I've decided to start this challenge today on the second day of July. So what is this new challenge I speak of; well it's a nutrition and diet related one again and this time it's going to be actually quiet challenging. 

For the month of July I'm going to stick to a clean eating program. What does this clean eating program look like you may ask. Well here is it all lined up for you and for me in black and white below. 


July 30-Day Clean Eating Challenge: 
- Alcohol Free
- Sugar Free
- Gluten Free
- Dairy Free
- Processed-Food Free

So yeah that's a lot of 'frees', so what can I eat:

- Meat: lean & minimal red meat*
- All fruits & vegetables*
- Grains: quinoa, brown & wild rice, buckwheat, other non-gluten grains. 
- Beans & lentils
- Nuts & Seeds

*hormone & antobotic free, etc meat and organic and local fruits and veggies as much as possible 

This means I'm going to start making most of meals for myself as well as many of the convenience health foods that I know and love. This includes making homemade almond milk, hummus, salad dressings and sauces to name a few. I look forward to expanding my kitchen repertoire. 

So yeah this is going to be a tough one and I'm totally prepared to go through a withdrawal/detox in the first few days at least. I've tried various diets like gluten-free, dairy-free or sugar free on their own before with varied success. This is the first time I will take on such a drastic diet change with all these changes all at once. 

I know I'm going to be ok though because I'm much better prepared this time especially after completing the June challenge. Another tough choice is that I'm going to start drinking tea again more so than coffee and I won't be able to have my daily piece of dark chocolate. I love coffee and chocolate so I think those will be the hardest parts for me. 

I can already feel the headaches and moodiness starting to hit as I start my first day of eating clean with a green smoothie with black tea for breakfast and a legume & sprout salad with green tea for lunch. However I can also start to feel the benefits of this healthy way of eating. 


I just have to remind myself that this is my health that I'm working towards, which is super important to me and I'm in this for the long haul. The short term pain will soon pass and I'm putting into place the framework for my overall health and wellbeing. 

In doing this challenge I'll also be continuing with my same exercise routine of lifting weights 3 times per week. I'm also going to ramp up my exercise with running and swimming 3-4 times per week on top of the weights. 

The reason I'm doing such drastic changes for July is because I'm working towards a physical exam that will really test my mental and physical fitness. More on that later...

What are some tricks that have helped you get through some truly gruelling life changes? It may be hard now but I know it'll only get easier and I'll be overall better off for doing it. Check back in a week to see if I'm still feeling the same enthusiasm towards this challenge. Until then here's to your uncommonly wealthy life! :)

6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Gilly! :)
      I'll keep you updated on how I do.

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  2. Sounds awesome! :) You'll have to post some of your resources for creating clean meals!

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  3. The don't list looks intense! I have got some health goals of my own, so I will try and embrace at least part of your challenge for myself, starting now. No alcohol or dairy, no problem. I personally see no problem with coffee as I drink it black (and have a problem). Being completely gluten, sugar and processed food free will be very challenging since its everywhere! Thanks to your post, I will go into this being more aware of what I am consuming.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah it's quite the lofty challenge I've taken on but I'm determined and it helps to have support from people like you!
      Being sugar, gluten and processed-foods free is definitely the real challenge: it takes being constantly vigilant, reading labels, asking questions and sharing with others. Eventually I think it'll get easier as it becomes more normal and automatic.
      Thanks for reading and commenting! :)

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