Healthy 2020: Week 1 and 2

This year I started with my Healthy 2020 challenge and this will be week 2. You are invited to join if you want to. It’s not that I was unhealthy, because I did exercise a lot, but in terms of diet, I still had a long way to go. The reason why I want to get healthier is so that I can be super fit and set a good example for my students (I’ll be teaching karate classes this year). You probably also have a good reason for wanting to be healthier, even if it is just to feel a bit better.

Are you ready for Healthy 2020: Week 2?

Learning healthy habits

Since I am no good at restrictive diets, I have decided to take a go at this thing at a very slow pace. Every week I will introduce a small change in my diet. For example, in the first week, my challenge was to drink 2 litres of water per day. That is it for week 1. I was surprised at how easy it was, and that I even drank more water than that on most days. The idea behind this approach is to introduce small changes that I know I will be able to achieve and build on. Slowly but steadily I will be learning new, healthy habits that lead to a healthier me. This helps that I don’t get overwhelmed because the weekly goals are quite realistic.

Disclaimer

I’m still working out the kinks of this Healthy 2020 challenge. I am not a dietician or a doctor, so feel free to skip this post if you feel like it. However, I do have an internet connection for research and common sense. I can tell you this, Healthy 2020 will definitely be a whole lot easier to stick to than trying any of those other drastic diets you see on TV. Although it will also not head quick results, it will obviously be a lot more sustainable.

No deprivation

What I also like about it, is that it does not focus on deprivation – what you’re not allowed to eat or drink, but rather on setting goals about what you want to include in your diet and lifestyle. If you focus on including more healthy stuff, the unhealthy things will not be on your mind that much. Basically, it’s better to focus on nourishing your body with the right foods and lifestyle changes, not constantly thinking about what you should not be doing.

Week 1

In case you missed it, the challenge for the first week is to drink 2 litres of water every day. It does sound like a lot, but in fact, it is just eight glasses. If you drink a glass of water every hour or hour and a half you will easily reach your target. If you want to drink other beverages like coffee, tea, cool drink, etc. feel free to do that, but it must be in addition to the water. (However, don’t go over 3 litres of fluids in a day, especially if you’re not used to it.)

Why is this the first challenge, you might ask. Do not underestimate how bad dehydration makes you feel. Also, oftentimes we don’t even realise that we are dehydrating. It can happen easily when it’s summer and we’re sweating or drinking beverages that make us urinate a lot (and we don’t replace the fluids again). Every chemical reaction in your body happens in the presence of water, thus it makes sense to make sure you’re getting enough of it.

Week 2

Every week you will be adding one healthy habit to your lifestyle. In week 2, in addition to drinking 2 litres of water a day, you have to eat breakfast within 1 hour of waking up. At this point it doesn’t even have to be a healthy breakfast, pretty much anything will do. This week it’s just about getting into the habit of eating breakfast.

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” is the old cliché. I’m not 100% sure whether that is true, but it’s definitely important. Think about it, when you wake up, you probably haven’t eaten in a couple of hours. Your body needs energy, and it also needs food to help the digestive system going. By eating breakfast you’ll feel less ‘hangry’ when you get to work, and from personal experience, it can also help you wake up.

And that is it for week 1 and 2.

In summary:

Week 1: Drink 2 litres of water per day

Week 2: Eat breakfast within one hour of waking up

Disclaimer (again)

Again, I’m not a dietician or doctor, feel free to give this challenge a skip. Also, always consult your doctor when you make drastic changes to your diet (just to be on the safe side).

What do you think of my methods towards a healthy lifestyle? Contact details below.

Meh.

Michelle

P.S. If you’d like to contact me, feel free to comment below, send an email to thatmichelleperson@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter @M_ClutterBox.