30 Day Wellness Challenge
Do you want to feel better and start the new year fresh with a focus on wellness and self-care?
Join us for a 30 Day #bewellfull Wellness Challenge where we kick off the New Year with a focus on self-care and incorporate a few simple activities to build new healthy habits. ❤️🌱💪🧘♂️✨
The following will be our daily routine:
🧘🏽 10 minutes of meditation
🤸♀️ 10 minutes of stretching
🏃♂️ 30 minutes of movement
🍊 Eating 3 servings of Fruit and Berries
🥬 Eating 3 servings of vegetables
🚰 Drinking 10 glasses of water
All you need is 50 minutes for yourself to accomplish the daily wellness goal, no matter if it’s right after you wake up, in the middle of the day, or before going to bed. Speaking of bed, try to get 7-8h of good quality sleep.
If you are new to meditation, stretching, or workout, try some of the many videos that are available online to find what suits you best, or just follow along with our daily posts!
Why This List?
Good question! All of the items on our list are added because as per science they are important puzzle pieces to make us feel better, function better, support our immune system and provide us with all the feel-good hormones that contribute in our well-being, and that is the definition of wellness in a nutshell.
Meditation
Meditation is known to be a great tool to not only feel grounded and calm, it’s also beneficial for physical health and mental health, reduces anxiety and depression, improves memory, attention span and sleep. We know that stress is a contributor to many diseases and by practicing mindfulness and cultivating a peaceful mind, we can decrease stress and find serenity within us.
Movement and Stretching
Movement and stretching are essential activities for our bodies, especially in modern society where a sedentary lifestyle is the norm. Bodies are made to move, and we need to train our musculature to be functional and able to maintain a proper posture, prevent pain and chronic disease.
Fruits and Vegetables
Science says, the more plants we eat the longer we’ll live and the healthier we’ll be. We all know we should be beating better, but it’s hard to do it consistently. Apparently it is easier for us to add healthy foods instead of just cutting down on all the bad foods. By adding 6 servings of fruits, berries and veggies, we can get the benefits of all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber, and by adding that amount, we automatically eat a bit less of the unhealthy stuff which is already a win.
Water
Our body is made of many different molecules, but 60% of our body mass is pure H2O aka water. Many different bodily functions require water. We lose water through breathing, sweating, peeing etc, and we need to refill what we lose to stay well and healthy. Unless you have a specific disease like kidney or heart disease, or you are sweating profusely, you need about 10-15 glasses of water (2.5-3.5lt) per day to stay hydrated. Most people have a hard time drinking the daily requirement and science has shown that even mild dehydration can cause mood swings, concentration, fatigue, headaches, etc.
💪🏽 DAY 1: Inner Peace
👂 QUOTE: “Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
🗝️ TOPIC: 🧘🏽 Meditation: Finding Inner Peace
Finding peace within ourselves is a great start into our new wellness journey and we are setting the foundation for a calm nervous system and serene heart which promotes wellbeing.
Stand, sit or lay down in a comfortable place, soften your gaze to the ground or close your eyes and focus on your breathing.
Place your attention on your body and your breathing, while remaining aware of your environment.
Feel each breath as the air comes in through your nose or mouth goes out through your nose or mouth and dissolves into the space around you.
Whenever you notice a thought or feeling, acknowledge that you have a thought or feeling and return your focus to your breathing.
Continue to focus on your breathing until you want to end the meditation.
If you like to add to the meditation, repeating a mantra can be a good way to tune into an intention. As an example a mantra to repeat with each breath is:
“May I be happy and find peace”.
💪🏽 DAY 2: Inner Light
👂 QUOTE: “The sun is a daily reminder that we too can rise again from the darkness, that we too can shine our own light.” – S. Ajna
🗝️ TOPIC: 🤸♀️ Stretch: Sun Salutations, Surya Namaskar
In the yogi and Hindu tradition, Surya Namaskar, or sun salutation, is included in a regular morning ritual. It is a prayer in motion of Lord Surya, the god of health.
The ancient teaching says that each of us replicates the world at large, embodying “rivers, seas, mountains, fields, stars and planets, the sun and moon” (Shiva Samhita, II.1-3). The outer sun is a token of our own “inner sun,” which corresponds to our heart. Here is the seat of consciousness and higher wisdom (jnana).
The physical benefits of the classic sun salutations include: increased circulation, boost in energy, whole body strength and flexibility, release of tension in shoulders, chest and hamstrings.
💪🏽 DAY 3: Eat Your Veggies
👂 QUOTE: “The best anti-aging advice I’ve ever received? Drink a lot of water and have a plant-based diet.” – Carolyn Murphy
🗝️ TOPIC: 🍊🥬 Nutrition: Adding Plants To Your Plate
Vegetables and fruit are full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and powerful nutrients. The challenge is to eat 3 servings of veggies and 3 servings of fruits and berries per day. Start with fruit in the morning, eat a big salad at lunch, have a smoothie in the afternoon, and a side of vegetables for dinner. Done!
💪🏽 DAY 4: The Force of Water
👂 QUOTE: “Water is the driving force of all nature.” – Leonardo da Vinci
🗝️ TOPIC: 🚰 Water: The Importance Of Keeping Hydrated
60% of our body mass is pure water. Drinking water is essential for us to stay hydrated since we lose water through our breath, sweat, urine, and bowel movements. Water is also needed for many bodily functions that range from regulating body temperature to carrying nutrients and oxygen, lubricating joints, assisting kidney and liver function, dissolving minerals and vitamins, and so much more. Setting an hourly alarm for 10h/day is a great way to encourage ourselves to drink the recommended 10-15 glasses of water per day.
💪🏽 DAY 5: Let’s Get To The Core
👂 QUOTE: “Core strength is the key to good posture and prevention of back pain” – bodono
🗝️ TOPIC: Movement: Strengthening the core should be our first priority when it comes to exercise. Our core is the center of gravity. Our core muscles control our movement and balance, stabilize our spine and hips, and transfer power between the upper and lower body and the limbs.
Our core is more than just abs. The back muscles, pelvic, glutes, hip flexors, and the muscles of the upper legs are all part of it. (In detail: rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, internal and external obliques, erector spinae, multifidus, trapezius, latissimus dorsi, diaphragm, pelvic floor muscles, psoas minor and major, iliacus, pectineus, sartorius, the glutes, piriformis, hamstrings, quads.)
If you are new to exercise or are getting back to working out after a hiatus, then these strengthening core exercises are a great way to start out with:
- Planks
- Cobra
- Superman
- Hollow Body Hold
- Glute Bridges
- Dead Bug
- Bird Dog
- Flutter Kicks
- Crunches
- Warrior Crunches
- Mountain Climbers
- Side Planks
- Clam Shell
- Donkey Kicks
- Fire Hydrants
- Russian Twists
- One-legged Balance
- Squats
- Lateral Squat Walk
- Lunges
- Deadlifts
💪🏽 DAY 7: Relax
👂 QUOTE: “Choose stretching over stressing” – unknown
🗝️ TOPIC: 🤸♀️ Stretch: No matter if we lead a sedentary life or if we work out a lot, our muscles like to be stretched. Muscle fibers either contract or relax, there is no halfway muscle activation. However, if we overuse a group of muscle fibers, then the muscle fibers can become hyperactive and tense, the muscle shortens, and together with the tissue that surrounds the muscles, they can develop “knots” which often causes soreness or pain. This can happen from working out, being active, doing repetitive movements at work, having poor posture, sitting a lot, sleeping in bed, or even when slouching on the sofa.
Stretching keeps the muscles flexible and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain muscle length and range of motion in the joints. Stretching also promotes overall relaxation, improves circulation, and releases endorphins into the bloodstream. It is recommended to stretch in the morning after getting out of bed, and in the evening before going to sleep. There are many different stretches for all the different muscles one can do. While everyone’s needs may be a bit different, most people benefit from stretching at least the main muscle groups in the legs, hips, chest, shoulders, and neck. While there are many different stretching techniques, static stretches are the easiest to start out with. For a static stretch, move the muscle as far as it can go without feeling pain, then hold that stretch position for 30 seconds. Don’t forget to breathe, don’t hold your breath but instead focus on taking slow and deep breaths, as breathing during stretching increases circulation, relaxes the body, and helps to get rid of lactic acid buildup.
Let’s focus on these stretches today:
- Calves
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Glutes
- Pectoralis
- Neck muscles
If you are unsure of how to do these stretches, we recommend looking up any of the workout libraries online.
💪🏽 DAY 8: Let Food Be Thy Medicine – Hippocrates
👂 QUOTE: “Today, more than 95% of all chronic disease is caused by food choice, toxic food ingredients, nutritional deficiencies and lack of physical exercise.” – Mike Adams
🗝️ TOPIC: Eating Plants for Disease Prevention
Studies have shown, that the most common chronic diseases including heart disease, cancer, stroke, obesity, diabetes, and arthritis could be prevented and some of them can even be reversed simply by eating a whole-food plant-based diet.
To eat this way, fill your plate with the following foods: vegetables, fruit, berries, whole grains, beans and legumes, nuts, and seeds. Buy organic products as much as possible, especially when getting any of the foods listed on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list. The more you eat this way, the better you’ll feel, the more your weight will regulate, and the healthier your body will become.
💪🏽 DAY 9: Water as the Foundation of Health
👂 QUOTE: “Pure water is the world’s first and foremost medicine.” ― Slovakian Proverb
🗝️ TOPIC:🚰 Water: We all know that we have to drink water to stay healthy. Unless we have a specific disease, are on a high-altitude adventure, or sweat excessively, we should be drinking 10-15 glasses of water per day.
Water is needed for regular body functions, to maximize physical performance and brain function, and to prevent kidney disease, constipation, acid reflux, arrhythmias, dehydration, etc.
Drinking plenty of water supports the body when fighting infection, managing fever, or while having diarrhea. It has also been shown to be helpful in managing headaches, treating kidney stones, improving energy levels, and aiding in weight loss.
💪🏽 DAY 10: Be Strong My Friend
👂 QUOTE: “Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.” – Plato
🗝️ TOPIC: 🏃♂️ Movement: While any type of movement is good for us, it is highly recommended to incorporate strength training at a minimum of twice per week into our wellness routine.
Strength training, resistance, or weight training is an important component in having a functional body. Whether we prefer bodyweight exercises, free weights, gym machines, elastic bands, or suspension tools to build and maintain muscle mass, the benefits are plentiful:
- it makes us stronger
- it prevents pain
- it burns calories
- it prevents injury
- it decreases the risk of falls
- it improves body mechanics
- it protects bone health
- it improves heart rate
- it boosts energy levels
- it improves blood sugar levels
- it improves cognitive function
- it boosts our self esteem
- it boosts our mood due to the release of endorphins
It is important to train in a systematic way and to build up all the muscles around each joint to improve functionality, range of motion, and optimal posture. Each joint has an agonist and antagonist muscle, which simply put means, that one muscle moves the body part forward while the opposite muscle moves the body part backward, some joints of course, like the hips and shoulders as an example, have muscles that also move the body part sideways as well. We need to make sure to train both agonist and antagonist equally to keep the muscle pull on the joint evenly and to prevent pain and injury. As an example: if you do push ups, you should also do pulls or rows, if you train biceps you should also train triceps, if you do sit ups then also do back extensions etc.
💪🏽 DAY 11: Letting Go Of Worry Through Mindfulness Practice
👂 QUOTE: “Worrying is like paying a debt you don’t owe” – Mark Twain
🗝️ TOPIC: Worrying about things or situations may be helpful when we are in an acute emergent situation where we need to find a way out. However, when we worry about things that we have no influence or power over, it can be a very draining activity that can make us physically ill. Chronic or excessive worrying triggers our nervous system to release stress hormones which are known to contribute to depression, increased blood pressure, heart disease, weight gain, and decreased immune function, and life expectancy.
When we worry about the future, we are creating a physical and emotional reaction about something that has yet to occur. In fact, studies have concluded that about 90% of our worries will never even come true. In other words, worrying is basically a waste of brain capacity and energy.
Mindfulness meditation has been shown to reduce anxiety and worry. Practicing regular meditation will give us the gift of self-observation and like a mirror, lets us look deep into our thinking patterns.
Researchers have found that attention-based meditation (which focuses on the breath and internal and external stimuli) have been shown most effective in reducing negative thought patterns.
The practice of mindfulness meditation is not to quiet the mind, instead it is to pay attention to the present moment, without judgment.
Here’s a simple way to start out with:
- Choose a quiet space, sit either on a chair, or on the floor in a comfortable position
- Rest your arms either on your legs or in your lap
- Soften your gaze and let it fall downward or close your eyes
- Start bringing your attention to the physical sensation of your posture and your breathing
- Focus on the feeling of the air moving through your nose or mouth and your belly rising and falling with each breath
- When you notice your mind is wandering, gently return your attention to the breath
- When you hear a noise, notice it and then return your focus to the breath
- You may find that your mind is wandering constantly, try not to be judgemental towards yourself, instead, just observe that you are thinking and put your focus back on your breathing, again and again
- Once your meditation time is over, congratulate yourself that you completed your mindfulness practice and do it again the next day, and the next, and the next… and with regular practice, you will feel the difference!
💪🏽 DAY 12: Stretching at Work Keeps The Doctor Away
👂 QUOTE: “Stretching your body and mind is essential to avoid rigidity.” – Haresh Sippy
🗝️ TOPIC: 🤸♀️ Stretch: Whether you work from home, in your car, or at an office, sitting for long hours increases stress and tension in our muscles, and joints and leads to pain and stiffness. Besides maintaining a suitable sitting posture, it is critical to give yourself a break every hour or two and stretch your body to prevent aches and pains from occurring.
The following exercises and stretches will help to relieve tension:.
- Head rotations and nods
- Neck stretches
- Shoulder shrugs
- Shoulder stretches
- Wrist, hand and finger stretches
- Torso sideways stretches
- Torso rotations
- Sitting cat-cow stretches
- Hip stretches
- Leg stretches
Stretching your body is more likely to keep you healthy and minimize discomfort than not stretching all day. So find the time to repeat these exercises. If you do not have your own office you can do the stretches in your cubicle.
💪🏽 DAY 13: Plants Bring Longevity
👂 QUOTE: The longest-lived people eat a plant-based diet. They eat meat but only as a condiment or a celebration. Nothing they eat has a plastic wrapper. – Dan Buettner
🗝️ TOPIC: 🍊🥬 Nutrition: A simple approach to healthy eating is to fill at least half your plate with vegetables or fruit, the other half with whole grains, beans, and legumes. Vegetables and fruits contain fiber and phytonutrients, and many vitamins and minerals that are not found in other food sources.
Vegetables and fruits, as well as all other plant-based foods also don’t contain any Cholesterol and saturated fats. That’s why a plant-based diet is the optimal diet to prevent or even reverse heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and many other lifestyle-related diseases.
It is recommended to choose a wide variety of veggies and fruits in all different colors throughout the week because each plant family and plant color contains a unique combination of nutrients that bind to specific proteins in our body. Also add a daily dose of dark leafy greens, as they are the healthiest foods on the planet and offer the most nutrients per calorie.
As per Dr. Greger, who is a physician and science-based nutrition expert, we should be eating the following daily:
- 3 servings of fruits
- 3 servings of beans or legumes
- 3 servings of whole grains
- 2 servings of vegetables
- 2 servings of leafy greens
- 1 serving of cruciferous vegetables
- 1 serving of berries
- 1 serving of nuts
- 1 serving of ground flaxseed
- ¼ Tsp of Turmeric
💪🏽 DAY 14: Water, Water, All Day Long
👂 QUOTE: I try to start drinking water as soon as my feet hit the floor in the morning.” – Mary Kay Andrews
🗝️ TOPIC:🚰 Water: Everyone knows we should be drinking at least 3 liters of water (or 10-15 glasses) per day, yet most of us are having a hard time to accomplish it. The fact that oftentimes we just don’t feel thirsty is one problem, and the other problem is that we suffer from the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ syndrome, because we are so distracted from doing other things all day long.
Here’s a tip that might be helpful:
Get a gallon of water which is 3.7 liters, and with a black marker add 5 lines evenly spaced, then write 10, 12, 2, 4, 6 next to the lines. When you get up in the morning, you start drinking and you can see easily how much you should drink until 10am, then keep drinking down the next line which is 12pm, then 2pm, and so on and so forth. This way you evenly space out the water you should be drinking over the course of a 12h day cycle. Easy reminder to yourself!
💪🏽 DAY 15: I Like to Move It Move It
👂 QUOTE: “Life is a balance between rest and movement.” – Rajneesh
🗝️ TOPIC: 🏃♂️ Movement: You don’t have to do olympic lifting, extreme rock climbing or endurance running. Just make sure you move your body for one hour a day and you will feel the difference in your wellbeing both physically and emotionally.
We all know that sitting or standing for long hours is taking a toll on our body. So put some music on and dance, dance, dance. Or go play outside with your children, go for a bike ride, a swim, a run, go paddle boarding or rollerblading, use the hula hoop or do cartwheels or handstand, go for a stroll in the neighborhood, or whatever you feel like, whatever movement it is, just DO IT TO IT!
💪🏽 DAY 16: Meditation As A Tool For Success
👂 QUOTE: “The elevator to success is out of order, you’ll have to use the stairs, one step at a time” – Joe Girard
🗝️ TOPIC: 🧘🏽 Meditation: To be successful in life one needs to build emotional resilience which boosts happiness. And the happier we are, the more successful we’ll be.
Meditation is a great tool to become aware of our own thoughts and emotions, to work with our emotions and to deal with stress. It calms the nervous system and has shown to improve focus and memory.
There are many different meditation techniques with different approaches, so it’s recommended to explore a few different methods and find what works best for us.
If you want to learn more about meditation or find a guided meditation to start out with, look up the following well-known mindfulness teachers:
- Andy Puddicombe
- Angel Kyodo Williams
- Deepak Chopra
- Elena Brower
- George Mumford
- Jack Kornfield
- Jeff Warren
- Jetsun Khandro
- Rinpoche
- JoAnna Hardy
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Joseph Goldstein
- Ram Dass
- Sakyong Mipham
- Rinpoche
- Sara Auster
- Sharon Salzberg
- Susan Piver
- Tara Brach
- Thich Nhat Hanh
💪🏽 DAY 17: Stretching
👂 QUOTE: “Doing 20 minutes of stretching, light weights and floor exercises three times a week takes the same amount of time as a long coffee break.” – Joan Collins
🗝️ TOPIC: 🤸♀️ Stretch: Stretching doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated to be effective. Here’s some pointers:
- Stretch in the morning and before going to bed
- Stretch before and after a workout
- Hold a static stretch for at least 25 seconds
- Never bounce while doing a static stretch
- Try dynamic stretches before working out
- Add foam rolling a few times per week
- 1 cup of whole grains (i.E. quinoa, brown or wild rice, buckwheat, millet, bulgur, barley)
- 1 cup of legumes (i.E. blackbeans, chickpeas, edamame, lentils, kidney beans, etc)
- 1 cup of vegetables (any of your favorites, can be raw or cooked)
- 1 handful of greens (spinach, kale, swiss chard, collard greens, arugula, watercress, etc)
- 1 Tsp of seeds or 1 Tbsp of nuts or ½ Avocado
- Sauce or dressing (optional)
💪🏽 DAY 19: Hydration for Skin Health
👂 QUOTE: “Drinking water is like washing out your insides. The water will cleanse the system, fill you up, decrease your caloric load and improve the function of all your tissues.” – Kevin R. Stone
🗝️ TOPIC: 🚰 Water: The skin is our biggest organ. Drinking plenty of water and keeping our body hydrated has a positive effect on our overall health, including our skin, after all your skin contains 64 % of water. Studies have shown that drinking 10 cups of water improved skin density and thickness and blood flow in the skin. Participants also reported a more radiant glow on their skin.
Although the link between hydration and skin health has not been studied extensively, most dermatologists seem to agree that keeping hydrated as well as limiting alcohol intake, abstaining from smoking, moisturizing, wearing sunscreen, and eating lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats are key for a healthy and radiant skin.
💪🏽 DAY 20: Just Dance, Dance, Dance
👂 QUOTE: “Take action! An inch of movement will bring you closer to your goals than a mile of intention.” – Steve Maraboli
🗝️ TOPIC: 🏃♂️ Movement: Is it too cold to go outside for a walk or run? Too lazy to drive to the public swimming pool or to hit the gym? Still need to get your movement in but not sure what to do? Sometimes things don’t have to be complicated. If all else fails, just put your favorite music on, pump up the volume and dance, dance, dance in your living room. It’ll make your blood pumping and your mind smiling!
💪🏽 DAY 21: The Art Of Meditation
👂 QUOTE: “To know oneself, one should assert oneself” – Albert Camus
🗝️ TOPIC: Meditation is a wonderful tool to get to know oneself. A common misconception is that meditation is confined to sitting in a lotus position on a cushion on the floor while trying not to think. A common answer to the question “did you try meditation” is: “I tried it but it’s just too hard to sit still and not think anything, I just couldn’t do it”.
But there is not just one form of meditation, actually, there are over 100 different meditation techniques one could choose from. It is recommended to try different techniques and find what works best. Here’s some of the most common methods:
-Guided meditation
-Sitting meditation
-Walking meditation
-Yoga meditation
-Zazen meditation
-Mantra meditation
-Dancing meditation
-Chakra meditation
-Quigong meditation
-Soundbath meditation
-Insight meditation
-Mindfulness meditation
-Focused attention meditation
-Body scan meditation
-Visualization meditation
-Loving-kindness meditation
-Transcendental meditation
-Vipassana meditation
-Movement meditation
-Progressive relaxation meditation
-Third eye meditation
-Kundalini meditation
-Self inquiry meditation
-Tantra meditation
-Taoist meditation
💪🏽 DAY 22: That’s Just How We Roll
👂 QUOTE: Even if you don’t have time for a big workout, stretching in the morning and night really changes your body.” – Erin Heatherton
🗝️ TOPIC: 🤸♀️ Stretch: Foam rolling is such an effective way to relax overly tense muscles and should be part of everyone’s stretching routine. Compared to regular stretching, a foam roller has the ability to not only release muscle tension, but also release myofascial restriction. What does that mean?
Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds all our organs, bones, muscles and holds everything in place. Muscle fibers are bundled and surrounded by fascia (called Myofascia) which is usually flexible, but with overuse and stress it can tense up and become more rigid and tight and restrict movement of the muscle. We can feel those areas often as sore or painful spots that we often call “muscle knots”. A foam roller or foam ball is able to soften up the fascia and release those restrictions, and it improves circulation in the tissue.
It is recommended to foam roll those tight spots before stretching your muscles, and it is most effective when done before and after workouts.
A lot of times people say that they hate foam rolling because it hurts. The reason for this is two things: the foam roller they use is too hard and they roll too fast. The trick is to use a softer foam roller and to go SLOW. As a matter of fact, just keep the pressure on tense areas and wait for it to release before even starting to roll the muscle out.
💪🏽 DAY 23: Preparation Is Half The Battle
👂 QUOTE: “The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” – Thomas Edison
🗝️ TOPIC: 🍊🥬 Nutrition: Eating healthy throughout the week can be overwhelming for some people. But there are simple ways to make it easy to win that battle:
-Plan all your meals and snacks and shop accordingly
-Focus on eating mostly vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans and legumes
-Keep meat and dairy to a minimum, or no more than twice a week
-Buy fresh produce as possible or choose frozen fruit and veggies
-Pick a few different whole grains, beans and legumes
-If you eat meat and dairy choose organic, free range, and fish wild caught
-Instead of oil, use water or veggie broth when cooking
-Pick a day in the week to batch cook and prepare
-Store each food in separate containers
-Make a few different sauces and store it in the fridge
-Throughout the week, mix and match from the storage containers and fresh produce to have a variety of different meal combinations ready at your fingertips
Planning and preparing your meals for the week will not only help you eat better, but it saves time and money and reduces food waste as well.
💪🏽 DAY 24: Water Is Life
👂 QUOTE: “Water is life’s matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.” – Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
🗝️ TOPIC:🚰 Water: We know we need to drink water. Yet it can be a struggle to get yourself to drink enough, whether it’s because of the taste or because of other reasons. Drinking plenty of water should be something we just do without thinking about it.
Here’s a few tips on how to make it a habit:
-Create a routine i.E. drink a glass every hour, drink a glass every time your wake up, when you brush your teeth, when you use the bathroom etc
-Drink a glass of water with each coffee, tea, or soda and with each snack and meal
-Keep a full bottle of water with you wherever you go
-Add some flavor: Add some fresh lemon juice, orange juice, cucumbers and mint, pieces of fruit or different herbs to make it taste different
-Use a gallon of water with marks so you can drink from marker to marker during the day
-Track your intake: use your smartphone to track it in an app or write it in your notes
💪🏽 DAY 25: Take A Walk On The Bright Side
👂 QUOTE: “A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.” – Paul Dudley White
🗝️ TOPIC: 🏃♂️ Movement: Taking a walk is one of the easiest and best things we can do for both our physical and mental health. Whether you are taking a stroll through the neighborhood, a walk in a city park or taking a hike through the wilderness, walking outdoors has shown to bring many benefits.
Walking lowers stress levels, improves mood, increases energy, attention span and the ability to feel empathy, and it improves circulation, blood sugar control and it’s good for the heart and overall health. Plus it’s free of charge and can be done alone or with the whole family, and you can even take a walk and have a conversation. Why not make it a ritual and celebrate family time while going for a walk with the kids every Sunday?
💪🏽 DAY 26: Happiness As A Side Effect
👂 QUOTE: “You do not find the happy life. You make it.” – Camilla Eyring Kimball
🗝️ TOPIC: 🧘🏽 Meditation: Practicing a few minutes of meditation on a regular basis has been shown to promote happiness, improve focus, cognition, attention, and empathy, and to reduce stress, anxiety and depression. Studies have shown that improved connectivity between different brain regions occurs and that regular meditation reduces activity in the brain’s default mode network, aka the “me” center or “monkey mind” that is responsible for mind-wandering and self-referential thoughts. The great majority of study participants are reporting an overall improvement of their feelings of happiness.
Besides meditation, practicing gratitude regularly has been shown to improve mental wellbeing as well. Taking a few minutes every day to think about all the things we are grateful for, writing a gratitude list and saying “thank you” to others when we feel grateful are all ways to improve our feeling of happiness.
💪🏽 DAY 27: Not A Stretch Of The Imagination
👂 QUOTE: “If you stretch correctly and regularly, you will find that every movement you make becomes easier.” – Bob Anderson
🗝️ TOPIC: 🤸♀️ Stretch: Stretching your body should be part of our daily routine in the morning and evening, and before and after workouts. While there are many different stretching techniques, the easiest two ways to stretch our own body parts are static stretching and dynamic stretching.
When doing a static stretch, we extend a specific muscle and hold the position for 30 seconds. During a dynamic stretch on the other hand, we make an active movement that stretches the muscles to their full range of motion during the movement and we don’t hold the position. Doing muscle-group specific dynamic stretches are a great addition to stretching before doing workouts that target those muscle groups.
Deep squats, lunges, leg swings, arm circles, cat-cow and various yoga poses are all examples of dynamic stretches.
💪🏽 DAY 28: Strong As An Ox
👂 QUOTE: “People eat meat and think they get strong as an ox, forgetting that the ox eats grass.” – Pino Caruso
🗝️ TOPIC: 🍊🥬 Nutrition: The Plant-Based nutrition has become more popular recently for good reasons. Studies have shown that people who eat a whole-food plant-based diet live longer and are healthier than vegetarians and omnivores aka meat eaters.
The most common question meat eaters ask vegans is: “Where do you get your protein from?”.
The simple answer: every plant food contains a certain amount of protein, so if you fill your plate with plant-based foods, you will have protein on your plate. It’s just like when you shop a few things at the store, every single item looks like a low dollar amount, but at the end the bill adds up quickly and you are handing the cashier a chunk of money.
There are many opinions out there regarding the right amount of daily protein intake. But unless you are a bodybuilder, you don’t need as much protein as you would think. As per the center for disease control and prevention, the daily recommended protein intake is 46g for women and 56g for men. If you are eating whole-food plant-based and are filling your plate with vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds, then you will easily get the daily recommended amount of protein. If you are still worried, here’s a list of the plant-foods that contain the most amount of protein:
- Seitan (60-70g protein/8oz)
- Tempeh (47.5g/8oz)
- Tofu (40.5g/1 block)
- Peanuts (34g/1 cup)
- Teff (26g/1 cup uncooked)
- Quinoa (24g/1 cup uncooked)
- Buckwheat (20g/1 cup)
- Amaranth (26g/1 cup uncooked)
- Lentils (19g/1 cup cooked)
- Black, Pinto & Navy Beans (15g/1 cup cooked)
- Chickpeas (14g/cup cooked)
- Kidneybeans (13g/cup cooked)
- Edamame (12g/1 cup frozen)
- Hemp Seeds (10g/3 Tbsp)
- Green Peas (9g/cup cooked)
- Soymilk (7g/cup)
- Wild Rice (7g/cup cooked)
- Oatmeal (6g/cup uncooked)
- Brussel Sprouts (5,5g/cup cooked)
- Chia Seeds (5g/3 Tbsp)
- Sweet Corn (4g/cup canned, 5g/cup fresh)
- Brown Rice (4,5g/cup cooked)
- Potato (4,5g per medium sized baked potato)
💪🏽 DAY 29: Don’t Sweat It
👂 QUOTE: “Hydration is everything. Think of this: your muscles are 70-plus percent water – how are you not drinking water during a workout? I get the whole, ‘Let’s challenge ourselves; let’s do that prison, tough guy thing,’ but at the end of the day, you’re underperforming.” – Gunnar Peterson
🗝️ TOPIC: 🚰 Water: Drinking water is important in everyday life, but even more important, when working out or doing activities that make us breathe heavily and sweat, and when we workout in hot climate or at higher elevation. Whether you are an elite athlete or a weekend warrior, drinking water before, during and after exercise is essential for both performance and wellbeing.
So how much water should we drink when exercising?
The general recommendation is as follows:
-Drink 15-20 oz of water one or two hours before working out
-Drink 8-10 oz of water fifteen minutes before starting a workout
-Drink 8 oz of water every 15 min during a workout
-If the workout session is less than 90 min long, water alone is sufficient
-If the workout is longer than 90 min, carbohydrates and electrolytes may be recommended to be added to sustain carbohydrate oxidation and endurance performance
💪🏽 DAY 30: Move To Improve
👂 QUOTE: “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” – John F. Kennedy
🗝️ TOPIC: 🏃♂️ Movement: Regular exercise has shown to improve cognitive function, attention, learning, and memory, and it’s also been found to reduce the risk for Alzheimer’s Disease. Several studies have shown that different types of exercise, and even just walking had a significant positive effect on brain function, memory, motor-skill coordination, and mathematical problem-solving ability.
So the conclusion: If you wanna be a smartass move your booty!
And with that you have come to the end of our 30 Day Wellness Challenge!!
If you have followed along and completed your daily activities of meditation, stretching, movement, healthy eating and water intake, you can pat yourself on the shoulder my friend!
We hope you found this challenge helpful and have discovered a few new and interesting things about yourself along the way.
Well done, and we are so proud of you for having taken the steps to take better care of yourself! May you continue on the path to wellness and self care and may you be healthy and happy!
Written by Eliane Baggenstos, owner of bodono, Registered Nurse, and Certified Health Coach with certification in Plant-Based Nutrition by the Cornell University and Evidence-based Health Coaching for Healthcare Providers by the National Society of Health Coaches, Licensed Massage Therapist with certifications in Advanced Sports Massage and Medical Massage, and Personal Trainer NASM CPT.
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