It was Wednesday night. I sat curled up on my couch, laptop on the arm of the chair checking in on the blog related places on social media. I’d had a Tupperware party. A rather large and loud one. I’d had party pies and wine for dinner. And it felt like again. Since the start of September we have had a single weekend at home with nothing to attend. The silly season started early for us and we got lazy. The food we are eating is convenient and packed with all the nasties that we normally avoid. Numbers and words I can’t pronounce.
And pizza, so much freaking pizza.
I’d had enough. I declared it time for a detox and asked if you wanted to join me. It turns out, a number of you did. A two-week challenge idea was born. Two weeks for clean eating, regular exercise, better sleep patterns and no junk.
The Green Monster Team Challenge was born.
Named after my love of all things green smoothie, of COURSE.
This is a fun and fabulous group aimed at supporting us all to nourish our bodies through rest and whole foods, get some regular exercise and head into the holiday season fighting fit. This is not a weight loss program, a diet or a how-to guide. Please consider not weighing yourself. Instead take some measurements if you like. This is about wellness and health, I don’t care what you weigh. Neither should you in my opinion. For me it’s a trigger to spend too much time on the scales, measuring and obsession. Let’s keep our heads about this.
If you are doing this with the intention of being fighting fit your weight will never really give you the best guide to that anyway. I’m sure there are people who would argue with me, much more learned people in fact, but those people have been proven wrong before {hello food pyramid!} so grain of salt and all that.
Right!
So are you ready!? Are you ready to clean up your diet and treat yourself with the care and concern you deserve? Well I hope so, because here we go. Best you finish reading this post and declare your intention to participate below! We kick off tomorrow morning. Everything’s better when you start it on a Monday. I know it’s short notice but do what you can.
Suger’s Green Monster Team Challenge Rules
Stick to foods on the food guide where possible
Get at LEAST 15 minutes exercise every day
No junk food
No booze
Limit caffeine
Get to bed before 11pm
Challenge dates: Monday 11th November to Sunday 24th November 2013.
Take on all the challenges or just a few of them. You make the decision what’s going to work for you. I’m here to support you. Maybe you’d like to set a personal challenge. Like an earlier bedtime, more time spent one-on-one with your family or something else that improves the quality of your life. Add that.
Below is a suggested beginner’s clean eating guide I found online. It has some USA brands {I assume} so replace with your favorite local brand. Modify it as per YOUR requirements and don’t forget to make sure you are eating regularly throughout the day with meals and snacks, drinking LOADS of water and avoiding those pesky junk items.
For more about the clean eating for beginner’s guide pop over to Melissa Morris’s page. While I’m not a fan of before and after photos {like, ever} there is an awesome Clean Eating 101 guide and the image I have used below was pinned from her blog. It will get you underway. Her clean eating pinterest board is also pretty darn fab. I also recommend searching clean eating recipes on Pinterest if you are stuck. SUCH a great resource.
Let’s get social – Instagram, Twitter and Facebook!
Now it’s only a team challenge if we work together. Share our wins, losses and all that as we go. So share your images, tips or recipes in the comments on this post and I will make sure I make it easily accessible on the front page of the blog. You can also share them on any of the Suger Coat It platforms, tag the page or use the #sugersgreenmonsters or #teamsuger hashtag where you can so we can find them. Let’s work together and get this thing going.
The disclaimer:
I am not a professional nutritionist, medical professional or person who studies health or wellness. I like the interwebs and it seems to provide the answer to most things HOWEVER you are in charge here. There are some basic guidelines but I am not going to tell you what you do. You should consult your medical professionals for advice before taking on any lifestyle change like this. If you have other experts in your life, speak to them too. Be smart, be safe.
Now who’s IN!?
It’s important to declare yourself so do so below. Give me your name and a SUGER I’M IN!
