Challenge Yourself!
by Allison Montanaro, Healthy Eating Specialist
Challenge yourself to living plant-strong for 28 days!
Regardless of what you might see on TV or in stores, February is more than just chocolate and football. In fact, we’re planning an event that is quite the opposite of that. We will be kicking off our bi-annual 28 day challenge with an info session on February 1st to tell you everything you need to know to get ready for the challenge. The program will last for 4 weeks, and will include Monday evening meetings and Wednesday afternoon support groups full of tasty food, interactive cooking demos, and lots of fun learning. Each meeting will center around a theme and a lesson, from oil-free cooking techniques, to meat substitutes, to adding more greens to your diet! We will help you plan your meals for the week, sample some tasty plant-strong food from The Engine 2 Diet book, and guide you on your journey to feeling and looking amazing.
If you are unfamiliar with the program, the Engine 2 Diet was started by Rip Esselstyn, a Texas triathlete-turned firefighter and the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a world-renowned doctor for his work on fighting heart disease with a plant-strong diet. He created the plan as a way to help his fellow firefighters ensure that they were in the best physical shape to not only do their jobs better, but also to lead an overall healthier lifestyle.
We are big fans of this particular 28 Day Challenge because of the accessibility of the recipes (hello, nachos anyone??) and the ease with which it is designed to fit into your lifestyle. There are no crazy rules and the general guidelines are easy enough to tailor to any food preferences. It is also very comparable to our Health Starts Here program, which increases the number of Engine 2-approved recipes you can make! In addition to the food aspect, we have teamed up with the Abington YMCA to offer group fitness classes for all participants. You are welcome to drop in on 5 of them free of charge throughout the duration of the challenge, and we think you will really love all that they have to offer.
Each week we will be raffling off cool prizes, including a month membership to the Abington YMCA! Come discover how delicious healthy food can be and learn how you can make this lifestyle change for your whole family. Our challenge wraps up on March 5 with a graduation ceremony and a final E2 dinner where you can share your success stories and be inspired by everyone else’s. There may even be a guest skyping in to chat with us about living plant-strong J We hope to see you there!
To register for the challenge, call customer service at 215-481-0800 or ask to speak to Allison, our Healthy Eating Specialist, for more information.
Last night’s intro was great. Thank you for spearheading this program. Looking forward to getting started!
Where do we send our recipes to be “converted” to Engine 2 approved? And do I get an extra raffle ticket for asking?! haha
Glad you enjoyed the info session. We’re looking forward to kicking off the 28 Day Challenge on Monday. Anne- you can send your Recipe Re-do to our Healthy Eating Specialist, Allison, at Allison.Montanaro@wholefoods.com (And you get 5 raffle tickets for submitting!)