I still remember how I felt when I participated in my first challenge. Though I had already started making a few changes to my lifestyle, it wasn’t enough to make a dramatic impact on my insulin resistance. Valerie had asked me to be a part of it because she knew that we were feeling similar levels of sluggishness and discord with how we were (or weren’t, more accurately) taking care of ourselves. I felt nervous, unsure of what to expect, a little overwhelmed but also hopeful and excited to have a clear path.
I will admit my first challenge point values were pretty sad. I rarely got perfect points on any given week, I struggled to stay within reasonable boundaries when it came to sweets and failed miserably in meeting my exercise goals. Well, that’s inspiring... But, here’s the thing, despite my imperfections I still did pretty well. My team was supportive and as I kept working at incorporating exercise and good nutrition into my life, along with the other habits, I started to feel more energetic and I wanted to continue to move more and eat better. My work on a few key areas started a domino effect in other areas of my life as well. After consistently working to improve my healthy habits, I eventually DID see those dramatic changes to my insulin resistance diagnosis that I was looking for. In fact, after a year or so of making these changes, I was insulin resistance-free and continue to be so today.
Lifetime Wellness Challenge rules are pretty straightforward. You earn designated points for the healthy habits you complete within a day. The habits that are encouraged (through points) are common-sense based; personal growth, exercise, increasing consumption of fruits & vegetables, adequate hydration, not eating late, staying in contact with your support system, contributing to the Hot Topic discussion, and participating in the fun weekly bonuses. Even though the rules are straightforward in what needs to be completed, sometimes we can feel at a loss as to how to implement these changes into our lives daily without going crazy. So, I’d like to share a few tips for how I got started.