And now, an ode to the brain!
Now that we are getting close to the end of this 30 days, I am noticing there are truly only a couple of you left actually reading the daily blog. For those that have made it to this point Great Job.
Yesterday was really a great day of reflection for me. 2 years ago I started this journey for better health. at 130 # overweight. To date I am 65 pounds lighter, and ( injuries aside ) in the best shape I have been in a very long time. I am no longer listed as a diabetic, and I AM A TRIATHLETE.
Yesterday I ran with a friend who is at the beginning of her journey. As we ran her 5K I took the time to reflect on my journey. It has been 16 months since my first race. I was slow, I was injured, But I finished. There is nothing like the feeling you get from crossing the finish line. It is your hard work, your sweat and TEARS that get you to that moment. As my friend crossed the 5K mark we cried together on the trail. That feeling of accomplishment of the impossible.
Thank you ladies for joining me for this portion of my journey. I hope that you all have gained knowledge to take with you on your path. How will you continue to change your life with Whole30. Pick one thing. Less TV, More exercise, Less FB... It is only 30 days. How will you benefit. Food for thought.
Happy Monday Ladies.0
Welcome to Day 27!
Whatever you call it, after 27 days of the Whole30 you are now within reach. And goodness knows, with only a few days left ‘til you hit 30 days, there is no way you’re going to compromise attaining it now. In fact, we think it’s time you solidify your experience—by tackling a new goal for 30 days! After all, if the 30 day, 100% commitment protocol worked so well for your nutritional habits, why wouldn’t it work just as effectively for other habits you want to break or create?
You don’t have to start right now, or even when your Whole30 is up, but today we want you to start thinking about what your next goal will be. Now that your nutrition is facilitating your optimal health, what is the next thing in your life that you want to Whole30-ize? Dallas recently took a 30-day caffeine holiday, while Melissa created the Dad30 and Sister30 to keep her in better touch with her family members.
Yep, we’ve got all kinds of ideas at the ready, so get thinkin’ and get creative, and we’ll give you a little help choosing the next project that will change your life in 30 days!
Have a great Day 27!
A New Spin on the Whole30
Our current Whole30 program covers only one of the 9 factors we believe fuse together to promote whole health. As the title of our book illustrates, It Starts With Food…but by no means does it end there.
Once your nutrition is straight, it’s the perfect time to look at the rest of our Whole9 health factors, and see if you can create improvement in another area of your life. Below, we’ve brainstormed a list of things you could Whole30-ize, but you don’t necessarily need to use one of these. You know your life. You know yourself. What do you need to do to continue on this road toward optimal health?
Every day for 30 days…
- Sleep. Unplug from your computer, TV, iPad, e-reader, and cell phone a full one hour before bedtime.
- Personal growth. Handwrite and mail a letter, postcard, or greeting card to a friend or family member with whom you’d like to stay better connected.
- Temperance. Choose one hour a day when you are completely unplugged from your computer, TV, and your Smartphone.
- Active recovery. Spend 20 minutes stretching, foam rolling, or doing mobility work.
- Injury rehabilitation: Do all of your PT exercises or other injury-prevention or recovery activity for 15 minutes.
- Fun and Play: Read a book (pleasure reading, not work!) for one hour.
- Stress management: Do 10 sun salutations each morning before you have your coffee.
- Exercise: Increase the length of your dog walks by 10 minutes. That’s 300 more minutes of exercise for you and your pooch.
- Nutrition(ish): Floss your teeth. Good health starts in the mouth!
Maintain Your Health Momentum
By taking on the Whole30, you have no doubt learned a thing or two about perseverance. You’ve also acquired many helpful skills that will guide you in subsequent goals and initiatives, be they nutrition-based or otherwise.
But what you may not realize is that committing to a TV hiatus, Sister30, or Caffeine Holiday can all help you continue to improve your already awesome good food habits. Health begets health, good habits beget other good habits, and a positive, feed-forward loop of “feel better, do more to feel better, feel even better!” is the best way to solidify the awesome benefits you’ve attained during your Whole30 program.
Here are some examples of 30-day initiatives we’ve done ourselves, to inspire you in your next great health aspiration.
Kill Your TV
In May 2011, we sponsored a first-of-its-kind (on our site, at least) 30-day program called “Kill Your TV.” Over the course of the month, we explored the subject of TV’s effect on your intellect, your emotional status, your stress levels and your family relationships, and inspired thousands of participants to unplug for 30 straight days. (In fact, our article titled, “174,203 Things You Can Do Instead of Watching TV” was shared by readers more than 328,000 times!)
In our introductory article, we wrote:
“Television can just as easily fill the same psychological need as food. You turn on the TV for comfort, as reward, for “company”, for some perceived “human” connection. You turn it on because, well, it’s there. And you let it run, assailing your brains with messages you can’t control, for hour upon hour every single day. When that TV is on, you are not present – not for yourself, nor for those around you. The television turns you into a spectator, not a participant in your own life. And the worst part is that you’re not even aware of what you are doing, and what you are missing as a result.”
And if after reading just this introduction, you have massive anxiety at the idea of missing your favorite programs for a month… well, that just tells you something, doesn’t it?
We don’t have to run the program officially for you to participate. Consider killing your TV for a week, a month, or longer, and see how it affects you and your family. Follow our rules, or make up your own, as long as you don’t bail on the tough stuff*, and you’re committing to this program as much as you committed to your Whole30.
\Because how effective would your Whole30 have been if you just ate pancakes and candy bars one hour a day?*
You can see all of our Kill Your TV articles here on the 9 Blog.
The Sister30
About two years ago, Melissa and her sister Kelly realized their super-close relationship was starting to drift. Kelly’s job in PR, Melissa’s new business, and frequent travel on both their parts meant their once-daily communications were now slipping to once a week.
After yet another week of laziness on both of their parts, Kelly proposed a solution—the Sister30. The rules were simple: for 30 days straight, the sisters had to communicate in some manner. It could be a phone call, a text message, a written letter, an email, a set of voicemails, an e-card, or a posting on Facebook. The point was, communication had to occur in both directions every day for 30 days in a row.
Melissa loved the idea, and the Sister30 was born. For 30 days in a row, they send sill e-cards, long emails, brief I’m-on-a-layover text messages, and occasionally, even caught each other on the phone. And at the end of the 30 days, their relationship was stronger, they had laughed a lot more together, and it became much easier to see how not-that-hard it is to keep in touch in today’s modern age.
Is there someone you’ve lost touch with? Maybe an old college friend, a former co-worker, or your own mother or father? Set up your own Friend and Family-30, and commit to reconnecting every day for 30 days. We guarantee, you’ll be happier and healthier for the positive daily communication.
Take a Caffeine Holiday
In our official Coffee Manifesto, we neither glorify nor vilify coffee, but we do talk about what “healthy” consumption should look like. “A few cups now and then…” is the phrase we use, but does that describe your coffee consumption? Most coffee drinkers we know can’t even get dressed for work without their coffee, much less survive a few days without.
We think that you should be in charge of what you eat and drink. Your addictions, whether they be sugar, chewing gum or caffeine, should not run the show. In fact, one of the major points of our Whole30 program is taking back control of your diet. Food (or drink) should not have power over you! So if you can’t imagine a day without coffee, we think you need to change that.
Our rules for a 30-day caffeine holiday: No caffeine in any form for 30 days. This includes regular coffee, decaffeinated coffee (which still contains some caffeine), green, black, or white teas. (Obviously, no chewing on espresso beans, either.) Herbal teas are a fine, naturally decaffeinated substitute if you want a hot cup of something in the morning.
A caffeine holiday will do two things. First, it will wake you up to how much you’re really relying on your java to get going in the morning. Two, it will reset your caffeine sensitivity so that if you do return to coffee after the month is up, you’ll need far less to get the stimulatory effect you’re looking for (especially for those who use caffeine pre-workout as an ergogenic aid).
Finally, if after your holiday you decide that a life as a slave to your coffee pot is simply not okay, we’ve got you covered! Read Melissa’s Caffeine Clean post, to see how four months without caffeine made just about everything in her life better. (And know that life without coffee is possible—Melissa is still caffeine-free almost two years later, and has never felt better.)
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