Introducing the 100-Day

Wellness Adventure Challenge

Who’s up for this?

I am not where I want to be health and fitness-wise. Spring is just around the corner; the first day is March 20th. And Summer begins 100 days from tomorrow, March 13th. A number like that can be motivating and fun for me.

We all will pretty much agree that goals are good, right? They give you something to shoot for, to aim at, a target. The way I look at it, it’s kind of the opposite of living haphazardly or aimlessly. And one needs a plan to reach that goal. Plans are the guard rails or tracks to accomplishing something.

And you know me, I am ever the guinea pig. Wouldn’t it be interesting, I thought to myself the other day, to see how much progress I can make health and fitness-wise by Summer. I was pretty stoked to learn that it was coming up in such a fun number of days. One hundred-ish. A good amount of time; enough to be able to achieve significant changes, but not ridiculously long.

Here’s the deal - My Plan

• Eat whole, unprocessed food: Meat, eggs, vegetables, good fats (butter, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, ghee, tallow, etc.), fruit, etc.

• Limit daily carbohydrates to about 50 grams.

• Avoid sugar, empty calories, and processed carbs.

• Avoid all processed oils: vegetable & seed oils (The Hateful Eight: Corn, canola, cottonseed, soy, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, and rice bran, according to Dr. Cate Shanahan in her book Dark Calories. (I strongly recommend this book, by the way.)

• Avoid any food that is personally not well-tolerated. For me this includes gluten, corn, rice, high-histamine items, nightshades, and more.

• Drink at least half your body weight of water in ounces. (For instance, if you weigh 150 lbs., then drink about 75 ounces.)

• No alcohol, unless you want to add in 5 drinks total for special occasions (but only do this if you are sure it won’t derail you).

• FAME: Build your Fitness with Activity, Movement, Exercise. More on this next week. For now, just move more. Walking is wonderful.

• Journal the 100-Day experience in a unused notebook.

What I am Doing Before Starting

• Do a few body measurements. Weight (first thing in the morning), measurements of waist at smallest part, navel area, largest part of hips (plus anything else you think might be valuable).

• Take a photo of face as well as body.

• Make a list of signs and symptoms assessments. Include things like joint pain, lack of energy, tinnitus, floaters, itchy skin, foggy brain, abdominal pain, palpitations, insomnia, etc.

• Write down My Why - why I want to do this challenge.

• Write down some curiosities.

Curiosities & Possibilities that I am Excited About

Aren’t you curious about what kind of you that you will be this summer this year? I am wondering what will happen in 100 days if I make consistent, stark enough, beneficial changes. A few of the 36 that I wrote down:

• Will my skin glow?

• Will I lose weight?

• Will I sleep better?

• Will my allergies and histamine issues improve?

• Will I have more energy?

• Will my face look less jowly?

• Will my abdominal pain resolve or significantly improve?

• Will my tinnitus disappear?

• Will I be able to hike farther comfortably?

Something Else to Consider

I believe it is important to have our actions line up with Biblical ideas. Thus it is crucial that we don’t make pursuing health and/or fitness into an idol. It is also important to remember why we are here on Earth. Here are a couple of ideas to mull over:

Question 1 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism ~

Q: What is the chief end of man? A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever.

“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”.  First Corinthians 10:31

So, are you in? Let me know. I would love for many to join me in this, and then this N=1 experiment could be more enlightening and interesting.

To your health!
~Vanessa
www.vanessamarsden.com
Instagram @wellnessadventure_RN

Note: I am an Amazon Affiliate and may make a small amount of money from an Amazon link, but at no extra cost to you.