My 30-Day Health Challenge

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how to be more structured in terms of eating healthier and being more active. As most of you know, going to the gym is useless if you’re filling your body with unhealthy food options. So it’s not just about how often you work out, but what you eat.

And sometimes it really helps to have a set program in place, with a daily workout plan as well as a nutrition plan. I’m so Type A that I also need everything laid out for me - what groceries to buy, the recipes that I’ll need and how and when to eat the food I make. No thinking, measuring nor excuses. After much research, I decided to go with a paid program online and today is Day 1.

Each day, a workout video is sent into my email targeting different areas of my body. Today’s workout - my first one - wasn’t so bad, but I realized how out of shape I am! While only 15 minutes long, today’s was a series of high intensity exercises; 7 exercises per set, and 3 sets over 15 minutes. So you can imagine how efficient the workouts are. 

I’d imagine that after 30 days, my body would need something beyond a 15 minute HIIT workout, which is fine. This is a good, initial way to ease myself into living a more healthy lifestyle - and I’m more likely to stick with it as a result. At least I hope so!

What I did not anticipate was the amount of food I’d have to consume in a day. I didn’t realize that just by working out I’d require more (healthy) meals throughout the day to ensure my body doesn’t go into starvation mode. I’ve never eaten so often and so much. I normally will eat three meals a day, but now it feels like 5 or 6 smaller meals, which is actually an interesting transition. 

I’ve also learned how to make much healthier foods with some awesome recipes that I’ll be sharing with you on the blog - like the smoothie pictured above:

Pineapple Green Smoothie

1 cup or handful of spinach or kale
1 cup coconut water
3⁄4 cup frozen pineapple
1⁄2 apple
3 T hemp seeds

1. Add the spinach and coconut water to a blender and blend until smooth.

2. Add the fruit and continue to blend.

3. Add the hemp seeds and blend until smooth.