January 2024 Wellness Challenge
We are excited to jump into this new challenge with all of you and start our new year with some new healthy habits!
The challenge will start Monday, January 8th! Each week you will have a different goal and the challenge is to add to that each week. We came up with a list of suggestions but are encouraging you to pick your own specific goal each week.
Each week prior to the new goal we will send out our list of ideas so you can pick your personal goals for the following week.
Details of the challenge will be posted on our website and social media as well as these newsletters.
We have handouts for you in the studio or you are welcome to create your own at home.
Here us an overview of the weeks to come:
Week 1: Mindfulness - Slow down to move forwards - setting the foundation
Week 2: Sleep - Improving sleep habits
Week 3: Water - Half your body weight in ounces
Week 4: Screen time out - Let’s see if we can cut back on our screen time
Week 5: Build your plate - Protein, fruits and veggies
Week 6: Sugar - Cut back on sugar
Week 7: Time on feet - Sitting is the current days version of smoking
As we mentioned before we want you to come up with your own unique goal each week.
We will give you a few tips below but you can also create your own.
Week 1: Mindfulness
The first week we are encouraging you to seek mindfulness.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the practice or skill of being aware of the present moment.
Why is mindfulness important?
Through mindfulness we are able to seek spirituality and build a strong foundation so that we have the ability to do hard things.
What does this look like for you?
Here are a few tips from us all of which should be without distractions
1 minute of stillness in the morning per each hour of work
Prayer at the beginning or end of the day
Write down 3 things you are thankful for every night
Yoga
Cold plunge - for beginners 60-90 seconds - advanced 2-3 minutes
Sauna
Get outside
1 minute of gratitude 3 times a day
Exercise without headphones
Find a body of water
Mediate every day:
Box breathing - 4 seconds in, hold for 4, 4 seconds out, hold for 4
5 minutes - 5 senses
What would you add to the list?
Week 2: Sleep
Lets improve those sleep habits!
We all have felt the effects of not sleeping enough both physically and mentally but why is it so important?
Sleep deprivation impairs cognition, increases our risk for strokes and heart disease, causes weight gain, increases levels of anxiety and depression, increases our risk for breast cancer, and increases our risk for diabetes.
Sounds like some pretty good motivation to start working on our sleep habits! This week lets shoot for between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night. Below are a few tips we find helpful but we would love to hear any ideas you all have as well!
Tips!
Create a bedtime routine
Rise and Rest at the same time everyday
Sip sleepy time / calming tea
Stretch before bed
Limit or reduce sugar intake
Be sure to include protein and healthy fat at every meal for balanced blood sugar
If always stressed, take stress (cortisol) reducing supplements
Read a book before bed
Keep your bedroom cool
10,3,2,1,0
10 hours before bed no caffeine
3 hours before bed no food or alcohol
2 hours before bed no working-out
1 hour before bed no screen time
0 don’t hit snooze
Week 3: Water
Why do we need to drink water?
With water making up over 60% of our body weight it's no surprise that it plays a major role in many of our major body functions. Getting adequate water is key to improving our overall health. Our goal this week is to drink half our body weight in ounces of water every day plus make sure to add an extra 8 ounces for every hour of exercise.
Water Tips
Start your day with a cup of water
Buy a fun new water bottle
Put rubberbands on your water bottle to track how many times you fill it up
Use a water tracking app
Add electrolytes to ensure absorption and reduce annoying multiple bathroom breaks
Switch it up – make lemonade with stevia and fresh squeezed lemon, buy sparkling mineral water, add fruits of choice
Add collagen or amino acids to your water to boost protein intake and switch up the flavor
Place reminder alerts on phone if needed
Make Nat's favorite with fresh ginger and lemon
If you're like Kimber and your water makes you cold in the winter try adding a little hot water to it
Or try Vic's tip and keep water by your side at all times
Week 4: Screen Timeout
Who thinks they need less screen time in their life?
We don't know about all of you, but we are pretty sure we could spend a little less time on our screens.
Did you know the average American checks their phone 144 times a day?
Children in the United States ages 8-12 spend an average of 5 hours a
day watching or using screens
Teenagers spend about 9 hours a day
We all know this is a big one but the question is:
how do we get better about it?
First take some time to think about what screens or apps are the biggest challenge for you. If you want some good facts regarding what apps you spend the most time on, your phone actually tracks it for you! Maybe take a minute to look it up before we start next week.
Next make it simple. Pick something that is going to challenge you but is realistic.
Of course we came up with a list of ideas to help you pick a goal for the week.
Pick one from our list or come up with your own.
Here are a few ideas!
Set a time limit on apps you would like to spend less time on
Take the whole week off of social media - delete from your phone
Stay off our phone 1 hour before bed
Turn off your notifications
Remove all screens from bedroom
Turn your phone off while eating
Put your phone away when you are with others - Putting your phone upside down on a table doesn't count as being off your phone!
Take email off of your phone
Limit your television exposure to 30 minutes a day
Here are a couple healthy alternatives you could sub in:
Call a friend
Read a book
Play a game
Do a puzzle
Spend time with your kids
Paint
Go for a walk
Exercise
We are excited for this week and would love to hear
how it goes for all of you!
Week 5: Nutrition
As we all know nutrition impacts our physical health long and short term but it also has a pretty massive impact on our mental health which impacts just about everything.
What do you think your biggest challenge
is when it comes to nutrition?
There are so many pieces when it comes to nutrition that it can sometimes be overwhelming, so we are hopefully going to make it a little more simple for you.
Here are a few things to think about!
Do you get your daily dose of fruit?
How many veggies do you eat in a day?
How about your protein?
This week we are going to take a look at what our plate generally looks like. Is there something that is often missing?
We encourage you to take some time in the next couple of days to look at your diet and see where you think you could make a few adjustments. If you aren't sure where to start we love myfitnesspal app.
Here are a few ideas:
Fruits and Veggies!
How many fruits and veggies do you get a day?
If fruits and veggies are tricky for you pick a goal related to those!
Here are a few ideas:
Aim to get 2 colors in at every meal and 1 at snack time
Shoot for 5 different colors every day
Maybe grab some different fruits and veggies at the store this week if you often stick to the same ones
Protein!
For general wellness we need about .7-.8 grams of protein per pound
of body weight
That number is going to vary a little depending on your goals.
If you are like some of us around the office and you are nowhere near that then maybe that is a good goal for you this next week.
Healthiest protein sources // Quality does MATTER!//
Grass fed beef
Local, farm raised poultry
Organic lunch meats
Farm fresh or omega 3 enriched eggs
Wild caught fish
Whey protein (ideally from grass fed beef)
Plant based clean protein powders
Amino Acids
Clean Collagen
Other sources:
Organic nuts, seeds, nut butters
Beans and legumes (full of anti-nutrients, so consume these in moderation)
Organic Soy
Clean protein bars
Organic high protein yogurts, cottage cheese, cheese (all dairy if tolerated should be in moderation, never eaten daily)
Snack Ideas & Tips:
Hard boil a dozen eggs, peel them all so they are ready to grab and go
Chomps or other grass fed jerky sticks
Grass fed or wild caught beef/salmon jerky
Aloha protein bars, Macro protein bars
OWYN, Aloha, Rebel or other ready to drink protein drinks
Keep Collagen and amino acids on hand, these mix easily and taste good in blender bottle with cold water
Peanut or almond butter with apple, celery or carrots
Make tuna salad (make enough to last a week) with avocado oil mayo, chopped veggies, shredded spinach or arugula
Kale Chips (easy to eat a lot and full of plant based protein)
Week 6: Sugar
This is a big one for many of us!!
Most of us know at this point that sugar is not the best thing for us. As always, the key is moderation.
Take a look at your diet and see where sugar pops up the most.
Is it dessert?
Is it just added sugars in things you eat?
Maybe it's in your morning cup of coffee?
Next come up with a realistic goal on how you can cut back on that a little the next week.
Here are a couple ideas
Try no desserts for the week
Limit dessert to weekends
Read ingredients in all foods, be mindful of unnecessary added sugars
Reduce total amount of sugar
Eliminate artificial sweeteners
Limit sugar intake to unprocessed sources such as honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup
Try no sugar in drinks
Swap out regular ketchup and salad dressings with no sugar options
Schedule one day a week to enjoy whatever it is you’re not willing to give up instead of having it daily and then stick to schedule
Prioritize; if your coffee, alcohol, snacks, etc all contain sugar,
What are you willing to give up , what are you not?
Week 7: Time on your feet
Let's get moving!!
This week we are going to take a look at time on our feet!
Even those of us who have active jobs still spend quite a bit of time seated, more than we should.
I'm sure we don't have to tell you how hard too much sitting can be on the body, most of us have felt the impact of this.
Spending too much time seated not only impacts our physical body and our mental health, but also increases our risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes, and dementia.
As we all know nutrition impacts our physical health long and short term but it also has a pretty massive impact on our mental health which impacts just about everything.
I think we can all agree spending more time on our feet will improve
our overall health.
So the question is: how do we work on this?
As always it's going to be very individualized.
First, take a look at how much time you spend seated versus on your feet in a day. Then, think about how you can improve on that as well as how you can
measure it.
Here are a few tips!
Park as far away as possible at all destinations
Purchase a stand up desk
Do 20 jumping jacks, 20 squats and 20 lunges every hour during the work day
Take a walk for all breaks
Schedule a standing time to meet with friends and walk
Buy a puppy! Puppies need lots of walking!
Set a time on your phone to get up every 30 minutes
Set a steps goal on your watch
Get a Varidesk which allows you to stand or sit
Walk for your meetings instead of sitting
Next create your goal!
You might have to get creative so that your goal is actually measurable. If you need some help coming up with a goal come find one of us, we would be happy to give you a few ideas.
If you have the option of a standup desk at work, set a goal over the next week for how much time you will stand while working, and make sure to stop at the front desk and see how they are doing with this next week.
Did you know 60-70 minutes of moderate physical activity counteracts
too much sitting during the day?
Let's see if we can shoot for that over the next week!