Not sure if you can relate, but this past year I have felt a spiral out of control.. The whole world was shutting down and I realized that with the pandemic I was taking on the energy from it all (🥺empath problems).. amongst all the chaos in my own personal bubble. I tuned into gratitude and my deep spiritual practices, extending my offerings to bring about more peace and strength to channel that energy into a positive direction… but I also was doing the opposite. I realized I was also numbing myself away from those problems…trying to elude myself from all the sorrow, suffering, and pain I was feeling from the world and from my own personal family issues.. the loss and separation of two people whom I was extremely close to, the loss of income and job opportunities, disconnect from family and friends, at home again with two kids schooling, entering in to this virtual reality (did you believe this would really happen when you watched the Jetsons as a kid?🙌🏻😳). So much change and so much worry about the unknown.
Yet each day I filled up with all my blessings and tried to drudge through with hope...
So I would make excuses for myself and look forward to those glasses of wine like a badge of honor, like I deserved it. But It was bringing me down.. It didn’t serve me and I knew it but every day my mouth would salivate like pavlovs dog and I was trained to enjoy that glass. It’s only one I would think? When I realized that maybe it was a bad habit that has somehow conjured its way in, a little too much dependency on something so unworthy of my time, I realized I was in need of a BIG SHIFT AND CHANGE!
I remember my friend telling me about this mental challenge she was doing. I thought initially she was CRAZY, how could she give up her wine for 75 days?!? 🙈
But it sat with me, it resonated with me…
I knew that there was a need in me that wanted to be free of requiring anything taking control over me and so desperately wanted to take control back with these new set of rules…
THE CHALLENGE
Stick to any diet of your choice I chose intuitive eating to start mixed in with Vshred for the last 3-4weeks, again this wasn’t about the diet for me but it definitely motivated me to shift my old habits.
Read 10 pages a day of a non fiction book, so you learn a little something each day and fill your brain with some juicy wisdom! I did mix this in with a fiction Book Club book though. I honestly love reading so this wasn’t much of a challenge except for those nights I couldn’t keep my eyes open
Drink 1 gallon of water a day! This I on some days found very hard. Especially in the beginning when you feel like you’re pregnant again and have to pee a thousand times. I have done this before with my Isagenix cleanses but keeping track on which # I was on was a challenge in itself, along with remembering all the rest of the rules to stick to lol. I would find myself chugging 32 oz right before bed because I didn’t get it in throughout the day. Tea counts thankfully! :)
NO ALCOHOL! Eek this one was thee hardest to resist. I kept reminding myself when I was pregnant (twice!) that I was easily undisturbed by the idea of not drinking. I had life inside me and had no desire once those little miracles were seeded. If I could do it for them, then I could certainly do it for me!!! BUT It is very tempting to say the least. Some conversations are solely around this substance! Especially when the weather gets nice and you want a cold one out in the sunshine to cool you off. Lots of associations are around alcohol, you forget until you stop. You can make every excuse in the book to cheat and that it’s not the right time to stop drinking. I’ve heard it many times before from coaching people through cleanses… “I have this coming up…” or “I just can’t not drink that day”…. ok, I get it but if you have that mentality than you will ALWAYS be making excuses and never cleanse yourself from it. There is always a holiday, some event, or reasoning we develop to not commit……..Mind you that I had several family and friend BBQ functions, a bridal shower, Memorial Day weekend, a bachelorette party (!!!) but I made myself useful and was the “DD” for the night so the girls seemed happy, and I survived it all WITHOUT alcohol! If I can get through those functions without it, anyone can! This is a mental shift, anything is possible once you set your mind to it.
TWO 45 minute workouts… Yes, you read that correctly! Not one, but TWO! AND.. one of them has to be outdoors! Rain, shine, hot days, cold days.. I even went out for a walk when it was hailing outside one day! You HAVE to get your butt off the couch and get outside for one of those workouts! This was not my forte, I love being cozy and snuggled up on rainy days so it was definitely an effort to get me outside.. but I have to say, once I mentally got out of my head and got myself out there, it became one of my favorite parts of this challenge! My daughter would even come join me and we would run and dance in the rain together! This is one of those take-aways I will forever try to motivate myself to continue doing. Just get up and GET OUT!
PROGRESS PIC I am going to be honest and say this was not my top priority. I did take some but again this wasn’t a weight loss challenge for me, although it was motivating to see results… this was all about shifting my old habits for my personal journey. Everyone’s journey is different. If you listen to Andy Frisella’s podcast he explains why this is important but I have done before/afters for cleansing and I wanted to focus on the inner growth this time around.
Honestly, at first glance, these rules are quite simple but it seems a lot easier than it looks.
For me it was about a mental gain, an inner strength and wisdom within us.. our inner warrior saying we CAN and WILL do what we DECIDE to set our MIND to! There were some really tough moments during this challenge.. BIG thank you to my friends and family who got me through those rough days (especially day 40, 50, and 60 lol)!
This challenge rewired me.. Shifted my habits… was a sweet reminder that you ARE much stronger than you think..to push past your limitations you set in your mind… to dissolve the negative self talk and relinquish the old patterns. Each day brought on its own challenge to conquer.
“One day at a time” is my new mantra.
I’m honestly going to miss it!!! And I may even be crazy enough to do it again!!
Whatever the motivating factor is for you. I hope this sits with you and resonates as some inspo to make some shifts and changes in YOUR LIFE! Listen to the podcast and it may make an impact as it did for me and countless others. Big thanks to Robyn & Eric for paving the way! Excited to have our celebratory Cheers!!! We deserve it!! 🤣
