I was a month into my first nutrition course and we were given the Blood Sugar Challenge. It was a 14-day protocol to help stabilize blood sugar levels and it was a bit of an elimination challenge as well. We were asked to go through the challenge just to know what it feels like. I had never done any sort of dietary challenge so I figured I could get through these 14 days in no time. My method of planning at the time was buying chocolate chip cookies to celebrate the end of the 14 days. (Oh, the irony. Insert eye roll.)
I just wanted it done. Like yesterday. I viewed it as a task to check off and move on. And there was my first mistake. And it was a big one. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and it was a huge lesson in just how powerful food is. I jumped in head first into that 14-day challenge and let’s just say I didn’t land smoothly. At all. These success strategies are born out of all of my failings in that first attempt at a healing protocol.
-
Ease into it.
People usually fall into one of two camps when heading into a healing protocol, either they want to jump in with both feet as quickly as possible, or they drag their feet into it fearing how it will go. Either way, my advice is the same. Ease into the Whole30, RESTART or your specific healing protocol. Give yourself two weeks ahead of when you plan to officially start to play with new recipes, become more aware of the ingredients in the food you are eating and gently shift your menu over to a more healing one.
This is not only easier to prepare and plan for; it is also a heck of a lot easier on your body. If you are going to be dramatically changing how you eat, that can be a stressor on your body too. Even if the foods you are changing to are nutrient-dense and healing. Ease into your healing protocol over a couple of weeks and your mind and body will thank you for it.
-
Plan.
Sure, you might be able to eek out a couple of days on your new protocol without planning much, but day 3 and 4 and 5 can be when the rubber meets the road. If you already have food in your house and have planned for these days, it makes it so much easier to keep going and ultimately get through it. If you haven’t planned ahead, this is when you’ll fall off the wagon. I’ve seen it many times and I’ve done it myself. Ahem.
During those initial two weeks that I like to call ‘practice weeks’ start putting together a simple meal plan. Figure out snacks that you enjoy that you can have on hand for when you just need something. Make some fat bombs, have some avocadoes on hand and plenty of broth. (The simpler the better in terms of fat bombs, my latest favorite is a 50:50 mix of unsweetnened sunbutter and coconut butter sprinkled with a touch of sea salt.)
-
Have an Accountability Partner.
I love Gretchen Rubin’s 4 Tendencies. I am an obliger. Which means I am much more likely to uphold my word to myself IF I have to be accountable about it to someone else. I believe many of us are that way. If you haven’t yet, take her quiz to help you determine which tendency you have and determine what strategies you need to have in place to succeed at the goals you want to achieve.
If you are an obliger, be ok with it. Just know that if you really want to reach a certain goal, you are much more likely to get there if you have someone else holding you accountable.
-
Journal.
Food is emotional. Period. No questions asked. Taking certain comfort foods out of your diet will stir up stuff. It’s ok. But in order to succeed here, you have to take a look at those emotions, those thoughts and understand where they are coming from in order to be able to let them go.
You are not alone in feeling defiant in wanting the chocolate, glass of wine or cheese. But ask yourself why do you want them? What do those foods offer you? Is there another way to achieve that feeling without those foods?
In addition, it can be really helpful to track not only what you eat, but how you feel afterwards. This exercise can be so enlightening. We often don’t connect the dots and we have no idea how our food is impacting us. Taking the time to write down what you are eating AND its impact on you. This can give you some amazing insights and motivation to make better choices for yourself.
-
Visualize Yourself 3-6 Months From Now.
How many of us spent time when we were little visualizing what we wanted to be when we grew up? Maybe we visualized getting married, having kids and even having a house. How many of us visualize our future now?
Crickets. Right?!? We stopped doing this long ago.
The mind is incredibly powerful. It is a tool we need to use more in our healing practices. The placebo effect is a real thing. When you believe you will get better, when you see yourself eating without worry, doing yoga on the beach while on vacation, taking long pain-free walks again, seeing healthy bloodwork results come back, you set the process in motion to actually make it happen. You start re-programing your cells to conspire with you.
Who doesn’t want that? If you do nothing else, get your mind on board with where you want to go. You’ll be so glad you did.
As for me and my first 14-day challenge, well, it was one of those experiences where I learned a lot. It had a dramatic impact on what I eat still to this day. And those chocolate chip cookies? They remained on the shelf until my husband returned from Iraq six-months later. (He was grateful.)
Sometimes jumping in (with a little mindful planning) is just what you need to do.