Two of the most important things that I’ve learned about my fitness in 2019 are that I can accomplish my goals if I tackle them in one-month chunks and that I cannot out train a bad diet. That’s why I’m setting the goal of going junk free in January. I hope you’ll join me.
Stop me if this sounds familiar to you: In my 20’s and into my early 30’s I could eat anything and, as long as I exercised, the weight stayed off. Now in my 40’s, I work out more than ever before (302 days this year) and two days of bad snack choices adds five pounds to my frame.
Stop me again if this sounds like you: December was a hard snack month for me because my partner makes amazing Christmas cookies and I have a huge sweet tooth!
The Challenge
The challenge is to avoid eating junk food in the month of January. “Junk food” can mean different things to each of us, but you know what it is for you. For me it’s things like tortilla chips and cookies. For you it might be potato chips and Mountain Dew. Whatever it is, avoid it for the month.
Thinking about avoiding something for the month can feel overwhelming. So break it down to making a good choice each day. When I went beer-free in June I used Judson Brewer’s approach of just thinking about how the choice would make me feel then and in the near future. That approach worked for me in June and I’m sure it will work again in January.
The Prizes!
I don’t have any fantastic prizes to offer you other than a fantastic feeling of accomplishment and better health. Well, I do have a whole bunch of Ed Tech Fitness stickers that look like the one below that I can send to you if you finish the challenge. You’re on the honor system.
