6 Daily Habits

During the course of the 28 days, you’ll aim to incorporate these 6 daily habits into your life.

You’ll see that it’s not only about what you eat and drink and how much you exercise, feeling better and healthier is also about managing stress, sleeping well and nurturing yourself.

Ok. I get it. The last three won’t be easy - not in this fast-paced world - and you may not even believe they are important. But we back up our recommendations with solid, indisputable evidence. What we ask is that you give it a shot, and we’ll show you the results. You’ll feel rested, healthy, physically strong, and better able to conquer your life’s experiences.

You’ll keep score to help you keep track. But the real reward is the improvement you’ll feel day by day as the 6 habits begin to work their magic.

NUTRITION

No surprise here. Nutrition is the cornerstone of health and wellbeing. You know pretty much what we are going to say! We will focus on whole, unprocessed foods, with lots of fruits and veg with some variation depending on the program you choose. But not some crazy restrictive program that’s impossible to stick to. Remember? We want this sustainable in the long run! But we won’t only talk about what you eat, but also why you eat. Are you really hungry? Or are you bored, stressed, tired, etc. Figuring out this piece of the puzzle is often a critical component to creating a healthier relationship to food.

We’ll give you lots of ideas for preparing awesome, tasty meals and encourage everyone to share what they are doing too. We’ll also give you ideas on how to look at why you are eating and suggest ways to overcome emotional eating cues and triggers to avoid overeating.

What about alcohol you say? You can have your glass of wine! We ask you to stay within a few guidelines. But remember! It’s about the points. If you decide to have a glass of wine with friends above your budget, you haven’t blown the whole challenge, you just forgo your points for the day!

Find out which plan is right for you here: The Plans!

EXERCISE

Yes. You will have to move your body. It’s important! It doesn’t have to be bootcamp. It doesn’t have to be HIIT (high intensity interval training). We give you suggestions, we will post workouts. But it’s up to you to get your heart rate up for a sustained amount of time 4 days of the week. Whether it’s Zumba, Barre, strength training, walking or otherwise, they all work! We have also teamed with several gyms, Pilates studios, bootcamps and other programs to help you check this box!

SLEEP

You snooze, you lose! Literally. There are lots of reasons here. But here’s a big one: Sleep deprivation causes changes (and not good ones!) to the hormones that regulate hunger and appetite. It also causes us to reach for quick pick me ups (read: sugar!) and stops us from doing healthier things like going to the gym (too tired!) or making dinner instead of picking up take away (no energy!)

On average, we need about 7.5 hours of quality sleep per night. If you are getting this already, another half hour will not help you lose 5 kilos, but if you are a five-hour sleeper and start to sleep for seven hours a night, you may start dropping weight.

HYDRATION

Water, Water Everywhere! There are few things that diet experts agree on - but the importance of hydration is one of them. Firstly, thirst can be misinterpreted as hunger. So when you reach for the danish instead of the water your body wants, you’ve just added several hundred calories you didn’t need! Water also fills you up, makes you feel fuller which can help prevent overeating.

How much do I need? Divide your weight in pounds (your weight in kg multiplied by 2.2) in half. There you go.

WELLBEING

This may feel like the hardest. And I know there are some of you going “Nope!! Too much! You lost me.” But give me a sec. This really is an important part. We put a lot of time and effort into thinking about what to eat and how to exercise to get ourselves into better shape. But what many of us don't realize, is that stress is as big of a factor as both of these when it comes to health.

According to the American Psychological Association, chronic stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide. And more than 75 percent of all physician office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints. So yeah. It’s a big deal.

Now I don’t want you to get stressed out over being too stressed! We won’t ask you to do a 60 minute meditation session. But we will ask you to open you mind to a little deep breathing, a 5-minutes stretching routine, or just doing something else that makes you feel relaxed.

RECOVERY

Time off is essential! Exercising everyday may seem like the best way to lose weight or get in shape. But tight muscles and a stressed body don’t get stronger and are more prone to injury if they aren’t allowed to recover. Stretching, yoga, or other mobility exercises are great for keeping muscles flexible, strong and healthy and help maintain range of motion through the joints.

Lower intensity exercises such as walking and swimming can also be used to recover from hard training by increasing blood flow to the muscles and tissues.