28 Day Challenge Kicks off in Vienna: 2 Brave Ladies Step Up!
Tuesday marked the start of our newest 28 day health and wellness challenge. For $28 participants get a month of support, recipes, advice and healthy living encouragement from Whole Foods Healthy Eating Specialist Barclay Todd and other memebers of our Vienna community. (yes, you can still sign up, email barclay.todd@wholefoods.com for more information).
When the session started we asked if anyone wanted to take the challenge “in public.” We were thrilled when two friends, sitting in the first row, raised their hands. Lara and Leslie came together to the challenge. When we asked them asked why they to go through this process on a public blog and facebook said, “this way we can be accountable to more than just eachother.”
So here’s what drove them to Whole Foods Market Vienna on a (very) COLD January night. In their own words:
Two excited 28 day Challengers!
From Leslie:
“You want to go to this thing with me at Whole Foods Tuesday night?”
“What is it”
“I don’t know, this 28 day challenge thing”
“Sure, why not?”
And with that I came to the 28 day challenge – not really expecting anything. But leaving with a cart full of non processed foods and lots of fruit. I am trying this out to finally get on track eating right. I turn 30 this year and it seems like a good time as any to get on the right track. I would love to feel more awake and have more energy and losing a few pounds wouldn’t hurt either. I don’t really weigh myself that often, but just feeling healthier in general would be great.
But I’m scared too. I’m totally out of shape and getting back in to shape isn’t going to be the easiest process. I’m also really good at starting things and never finishing them, so just making it though the 28 days will be a small victory. I also love dairy more than the average person, I’ve never seen a piece of cheese I haven’t loved – so thats going to be like saying good bye to a good friend for a few weeks.Cooking at home is something that I am good at but rarely do, so this is a good practice in making meals at home and sticking to a meal plan, who knows, maybe even save some money in the process (eating out everyday is expensive!) But I’m excited to see how it goes.
From Lara:
I am 29 years old and very aware that this year I will turn 30. In terms of my diet, I don’t eat red meat or chicken and try to avoid dairy as much as possible (it’s difficult as I love cheese and have a major sweet tooth) but I know my body feels better when I avoid it. I either run or practice yoga 5-6 days a week. I don’t weigh myself but have realized that my clothes have been fitting different lately (and not in a good way).
My downfall is that I’m an emotional eater and a bored eater. I have a problem distributing my calories evenly throughout the day and typically eat the bulk of my food in the evening. I also don’t cook at home at all. I’ve also been breaking out and my skin looks more dull than it has in the past. I’m excited to participate in this challenge to experiment with different foods throughout the day and to prepare them myself at home. In this same vein, I’m nervous because I don’t prepare food at home and I’m afraid I’ll get bored of what I make. I’m also nervous about going out to eat…eating (and drinking) out is a large part of my social life and I’m not sure how these next 28 days will affect that.
At any rate, I’m excited about what the next 28 days will bring, how they will change my feelings about food, how they will make me feel in terms of energy level and how they might change my appearance.
We will be checking in with these lovely ladies as they start cooking, following the diet and thinking about food a little differently. Hope you’ll stay tuned!
- Filed Under:
- Healthy Eating Challenge
Good luck ladies.
Dad
I would love to have more information about it. Thanks in advance.
Sonia, email barclay.todd@wholefoods.com for more information!
I’m so proud of you ladies. You have me and 24 all your fellow challengers behind you.
Good Luck Ladies! Can’t wait to read about your progress during the next 28 days. Hopefully you two inspire others (me included) to make healthier food choices.
Am so excited for you and hope you both have a great 28 day experience. Hope we can all get some tips along the way!
[...] Our Two Challengers (and the other 24) are making great strides this week. We asked them a few questions so that folks out here on the internet could get a sense of the challenges (and the good things) that come along with this process. We’ll let them take it from here: (Here’s the link to their first blog post) [...]