Hello Everyone!
So we are almost at the end of our second week of the challenge, well done everyone, almost half way through! How’s it been? I would love to hear your thoughts on the challenge so far, please feel free to share them below this blog post.
Day Twelve (Friday):
1. Out with gluten, processed sugars, sweeteners, alcohol and fizzy drinks
2. Meditate for 10 mins a day (do a guided meditation if you’re new to this)
3. Drink at least 2 litres of water a day
4. Do 20 seconds of planking
5. Pick another drawer or cupboard to de-clutter, use the natural vinegar solution (mentioned in day two) as a cleaner rather than any toxic chemicals.
6. Note 20 things you are grateful for in your gratitude pad.
7. Increase the amount of steps or length of time you walk today by 5% from the previous days total.
8. Take a daily probiotic.
9. Eat 7 fruit or vegetables a day (preferably raw for optimum nutrition).
10. Make sure you have breakfast within a hour of getting up and don’t skip meals, make sure to eat something (if only something little) every 3-4hrs.
11. Reduce your caffeine intake by 50%, or replace it with green tea.
12. Watch at least one inspirational or motivational video each day.
13. Have at least one smoothie or a juice every day (the choice is yours which one), but make sure it has some veggies in as well as fruit.
14. Where possible try having sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes (they make yummy wedges and jackets).
15. Try introducing fermented foods into your diet. These are extremely high in friendly bacteria and yeast, so they help keep the bad one’s at bay and balance the health and effectiveness of the digestive system. Fermented foods and drinks include, kefir, kombucha, unpasteurised sauerkraut and other unpasteurised pickles &/or veggies.
16. Get off the bus a stop early or park your car at the wrong side of the car-park to your destination. This way you won’t really notice the increase in exercise each day.
17. Replace unhealthy transfat cooking oils with coconut oil. Coconut oil is one of the few fats that keeps it’s nutritional content and goodness when heated. For a list of all the things coconut oil is good for please check out my blog, the Wonders of Coconut Oil: http://livingalifelesstoxic.com/2013/12/13/the-wonders-of-coconut-oil/
18. Introduce a 10 minute yoga, pilates, tai-chi or Qi Gong routine to three days of your week. You can watch or download these from places like YouTube. They help strengthen your inner core, tone muscles and reduce stress and anxiety.
19. Try not to say negative things about yourself, either out loud or in your own head. The way we talk to ourselves has a massive impact on our self image and self belief, so try to be kind and see what a difference it makes.
20. Introduce some superfoods into your daily diet. Items like blueberries, oily fish, spinach, pistachio nuts, peppers, quinoa, brown rice, avocado’s, garlic, goji berries, broccoli, lentils, apples, sweet potatoes, hemp seeds, chia seeds, watercress and oats are all super foods and should be included in your diet for optimum health.
New For Day Twelve:
21. As it’s Friday I’m going to be kind to you……sort of! =0) If you are still treating yourself to the odd bit of chocolate please replace this with dark, high cocoa concentrated chocolate. Believe it or not some consider dark chocolate a superfood. Cocoa is full of antioxidants, it’s thought to lower blood pressure and contains lots of healthy plant compounds. Little and often is the general rule of thumb (no more than 100 grams a day).
22. Consider switching one of your skin or hair care items to a natural alternative. We absorb up to 60% of what sits on our skin. This adds to our bodies toxic load and encourages weight gain, fatigue, headaches, skin complaints and even mild depression. Places like Holland and Barrett, Health Food Shops and many stores online to natural versions of every skin and hair care product there is. If you want more info on my personal favourites then please post below and I’d be happy to share them.
That’s it for Day Twelve, see you tomorrow for your weekend challenge!
