I was actually going to make this a 30-day challenge, but it’s already the 10th of July, so we’re doing 21 days until the end of the month. The goal of this 21-day challenge is to build healthy habits we’re proud of, self-trust and consistency to do the small beneficial things we keep neglecting in everyday life.
I want to focus for 21 days, but my actual goal is to go beyond that, so that I can see results.
Last year I did a similar challenge for 30 days and what I found out about myself was that I had gotten very rebellious over the years. When I was younger, I’d do things I have to do, no questions asked. Now I question, I debate with myself – “I don’t really feel like it”. “I’m a grown up now, I can choose for myself, thank you.”
During last year’s challenge, when things got hard, I always wanted to give myself options telling myself there’s a way out of this. Basically making excuses.
I found the consistency part SO hard and it wasn’t even big hard things I was trying to do daily. It was the monotony, the consistency.
So this time, my main objective is to build consistency, so that I can see results and changes in my life.
I’ve not seen good results in a long time because I’m constantly pulled in a thousand directions, trying to turn off fires on a daily basis. And I’m just tired for no reason, without a good result. And TADAaa – 21-day challenge!
If you’re feeling like you need to change something and to build consistency with it, I’d love for you to join. But, you don’t need to follow everything. Make the challenge your own, fit your own schedule, fitness and life goals. I will report here by the end of every week and hopefully, this will help me stay even more consistent.
Now, off to the habits I’m going to be building!
21 Day Healthy Habits Challenge
- 10k Steps Daily. So I noticed that whenever I stop tracking my steps, I stay around 3-4000 steps a day. Which is sedentary and I almost immediately start gaining weight. Last year, when I did the challenge, I aimed for 10k steps a day and I finally was able to not only stop gaining weight, but also lose 8 pounds during the 30 days. It could be that a sedentary lifestyle promotes insulin resistance, it could be that I’m not snacking while I’m walking or that I’m sleeping SO much better after walking outside. Whatever it is, it works and this will be my main habit to develop.
- Early Dinner – 6 pm. Unfortunately, eating late – at around 10pm, has become a habit for me over the last few years. And it’s not great for you for multiple reasons – you can’t digest the food properly, you eat more, you can’t go to bed early, you don’t sleep well and you’re more likely to become insulin resistant. I developed that habit, since I’ve been on my own and also, because I don’t really eat much during the day. Which is a very bad habit. And that is why this is a big one.
- Hypernourishment. I want to prioritize getting in more healing nutrients. In this case, I will be doing Dr. Goldner’s Hypernourishment – that means about a pound of dark green or cruciferous raw vegetables, flax or chia seeds for omega-3’s and lots of water. The goal is to reduce inflammation and to optimize your body’s ability to recover by providing all the needed nutrients. Last year I did this hypernourishment for a while, without excluding anything from my diet, and I was feeling great. But the best part was, when I checked my blood work, my Hashimoto antibodies had gone from 100 to about 35 for the first time in 5-6 years. And it didn’t really feel like a huge change. I will try to do one smoothie and one big salad to make it happen and I hope it helps with my health “complaints”.
- 8 Hours of Sleep. This has been a struggle, because I stay up until late at night and always try to wake up early. Especially since it’s SO hot outside now, I feel like I can only function from 6-10 am/pm. And sleep hasn’t been great, around 6h/day. Which is too little for me and I’m in a bad mood and I seem to gain a lot of belly fat from it too. Add to that my nighttime dinner. Really bad. So I want to get into a consistent routine and if going to bed early doesn’t work, then I’ll try siesta.
- 20-30-Minute Workout. If you’re not already working out, the 10k steps might be exercise enough. But I’ve been working out almost on a daily basis and I like it, because I don’t have as much neck pain and I feel a lot stronger and more toned when I do it. Nothing huge, just 20-30 minutes of at home workouts with or without weights.
- Fun! It’s summer, so I want to make the most of it and not just worry about everyday things. I want to enjoy it like I used to, to go to the beach, play sports, try new things, because it’s my favorite season.
- Blogging. Last but not least, I will be writing a blog post every day. Nothing too crazy. I saw someone’s blog the other day and he had posted every day since at least 2019. And I love it. I want this consistency. The one I had when I first started blogging. When I didn’t overthink everything or tried to optimize it for search engines. I just want to do things I’m proud of, that make me happy and where I’m feeling creative, not like a robot.
And that’s pretty much it. We’ve got a pretty good day. 21 of them. If I try real hard I might combine some of these habits to be super productive, like sleeping and walking. Or sleeping and blogging. I guess the fun can be anywhere.
Challenges Are To Know You
A few weeks ago, I was thinking about this challenge and a thought popped into my mind. It was that challenges are to get to know yourself, to learn about different parts of you. Things you didn’t know. To overcome fears, to overcome “laziness” and boredom and maybe even pride. You learn so much about yourself when you do things outside of your comfort zone and you build self-confidence, self-trust.
Whenever I’ve done things I didn’t feel like doing at all, I’ve learned important things about myself. Sometimes, I’d even surprise myself while I’m saying things. In a good way. Not in a prideful, but a confident way. So, build consistency, build trust and see what you’re capable of.
It’s weird how we live with ourselves all our lives and we don’t really know who we truly are and what we’re capable of. Unconsciously, we put ourselves in these boxes and definitions and stay there. But there’s so much more outside of that box. Maybe you start with this 21-day healthy habits challenge and you discover just how much you’re capable of. You’ll be surprised.
Here’s a recap of the daily habits:
- 10k Steps
- Dinner by 6pm
- Hypernourishment
- 8 Hours of sleep
- 20-30 Minute Workout
- Have Fun
- Blogging (work on something that’s important to you!)
I will be tracking these every week, you can do this using a planner or just write in any notebook.