I’m about to start my second Whole Life Challenge on May 3rd and I want you to join me. Why? Because the more people that you do this with – the better.
What is it? The Whole Life Challenge was started by two guys, Michael and Andy, while at CrossFit LA. It’s an 8-week ‘game’ where you incorporate exercise, diet, mindfulness and a whole bunch of other things you need (but just don’t realize) and earn points. You deduct points if you miss a workout or eat something non-compliant and earn extra points for completing additional ‘lifestyle’ challenges. It’s really easy and really challenging all at the same time. In a word, it’s awesome! Their video does a much better job of explaining it – go ahead, watch:
Am I a cross-fitter? Umm, no… but I have mad respect for them. I’m pretty sure I’m NOT who Andy and Michael had in mind when they developed this program. I don’t speak cross-fit: i.e. do W.O.D’s or burpees. And while, I used to be athletic, I’ve finally come to accept that being on a varsity team 20 years ago in high school no longer qualifies me as ‘athletic’. Now I have to work my ass off to make sure I don’t have a big ass. (Sorry)
In my thirties (ok almost forty!), post-kids, I’ve struggled with maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Remember my cleanse with Gwyneth? That was awesome and everything but totally not sustainable. Coming off this past Christmas, I felt gross. Like really, really gross. I was overweight, plump and frumpy. All of which was attributable to stress, poor diet, enjoying a glass of wine at night and zero exercise. Nothing fit. Everything just felt gross. Gross, gross, gross. We had a trip to the Bahamas for spring break planned and the idea of being so self-conscious that I wouldn’t want to play on the beach with my kids made me incredibly sad. I had do something.
I stumbled onto the Whole Life Challenge while reading blogs for work and thought the video sold me. I needed something that was going to shake things up and hold me accountable. I wanted a healthy lifestyle to be at the center of things. I did not want to do a cleanse or a diet. Next thing I knew, I recruited two friends and we started a team.
So let me jump to the results.
I played at the intermediate level which was totally doable. No grains, no dairy, no sugar. I could still have my morning coffee and one glass of wine a week. Wait… WHAT?? Yup, that’s right. I could still have caffeine be it green tea or coffee AND a glass of wine and not feel guilty. No shakes (unless I wanted them) and I could eat carbs. WTH? This was never going to work. But you guys, it TOTALLY did.
I basically adopted a paleo-ish diet and exercised daily for 8-weeks. Sometimes, I was only able to eek out the minimum required of 10-minutes a day (for me that was a walk around the block) and this is what happened:
- Lost weight (18 lbs on the challenge, since then total 22 lbs.)
- Lost inches (9 inches all over)
- Slept better, more rested
- Increased energy
- Felt calmer (wasn’t expecting that one!)
- No seasonal allergies (??)
Ready for my before and after pictures? (I can’t believe I am going to do this…) For reference, I’m 5’9″.
I’m kind proud of those photos because I did work my butt off. I did exercise almost every day for 8-weeks and I did make healthy eating choices. But I never once felt deprived or hungry or grumpy, or like I was dieting. I learned some great new recipes and became a little better at meal planning. My whole family benefitted. The change I experienced was so great and empowering that I’m signing up to do it again. And I want others to learn from what I figured out in the first one!
Other than eating some sweet treats here and there little has changed for me since the last challenge but I’m excited to try to do things better than I did. Like what? Like the stretching. I totally just did that to get it over with. I didn’t get into it at all. So I think I will try something else this time for that requirement.
So this next spring/summer whole life challenge starts on May 3rd. Who wants to do it with me? SAY YES!
Sign up here: www.wholelifechallenge.com
Want to be on a team with me? Join my friend Kareen’s team Revamp Warriors. Let’s do this people!
Next I’ll share some of tips and tricks I learned during the last whole life challenge so be sure to check back.