Week 9: Eliminating Grains & Gluten for 28 Days

Week 9: Eliminating Grains & Gluten for 28 Days

Eliminating gluten and grains will have a bigger impact on your overall sense of wellness and your body composition than any other single change you can make.  

The first time I completely eliminated gluten for 21 days I couldn’t believe the difference.  It was like a fog within my head had been lifted.  My ability to focus improved drastically, my energy levels were consistent throughout the day for the first time in my life, and I shed 15 pounds even though I was already at around 9-10% bodyfat at the time.  The difference in my skin was the most profound and noticeable change.  I had always struggled with acne, but all that cleared up within the first 10 days of elimination for the first time since I was 13 years old.  Until I gave up gluten I also didn’t realize how mucousy I was all the time.

Another benefit of being grain and gluten free I’ve come to appreciate more at age 32 than I did at 25 is how much better my joints feel.  When I eat grains (due to social conventions, lack of other options or just plain indulgence) I notice a distinct difference in how my joints feel.  I wake up in the morning with a stiff back and neck, achy knees and inflamed elbows, especially if I trained hard the day before.  When I’ve been grain free for at least 14 days all that goes away along with any water I may have been retaining.  

Week 8: Present Moment Awareness

Week 8: Present Moment Awareness

This week we are going to look at an approach to being still, present and attentive to ourselves and our surroundings. By making time to enrich and nurture ourselves internally, we can regain a deep sense of who we are and restore our inner wellbeing by reconnecting with ourselves and with life. This connected state is not far away or out of reach, nor does it require a particular environment within which to discover it. Instead it can be found by simply relearning how to pay attention to what is happening right now, both internally (inside the body) and externally (the environment surrounding us). 

Week 7: Gratitude & Appreciation

Week 7: Gratitude & Appreciation

What does the word “appreciate” mean?  On the surface it means to be thankful, grateful, to value and so on.  

There’s another definition of the word that’s used in the financial sector.  When shares of stocks increase in value they’re said to “appreciate.”  So to appreciate something is to increase its value.  

One creative ability we seldom wield to it’s full potential is:

 

Whatever we give our full unconditional attention to increases effortlessly.  

An easy experiment you can do today to hone your ability to appreciate is to give meals your full attention.  

Week 6: Reduce Sugar, Increase the Vegetables & Fat

Week 6: Reduce Sugar, Increase the Vegetables & Fat

If have trouble losing fat even though you’re eating clean and exercising regularly you have probably built up insulin resistance.  Insulin resistance occurs when you’ve maintained chronically high blood sugar levels over a long period of time.  Usually from a combination of poor diet with too much sugar, eating processed sugars, a lack of healthy fat/protein/fiber, and insufficient exercise.  High cortisol levels from chronic stress can also contribute to insulin resistance.  

Week 4: This week you’re going to create an optimal environment for sleep

Week 4:  This week you’re going to create an optimal environment for sleep

This week you’re going to create an optimal environment for sleep.  

A perfect diet and a consistent daily movement training routine are all for naught if you have poor sleep.  Making some small changes to your sleeping environment (aka: the bedroom) can have a dramatic effect on the quality of your sleep.  

The task this week is to optimize your sleep chamber by going through the following checklist: