Fall Nutrition Program

For the past two years, we’ve held a gym-wide Whole 30 during the month of October. Many of you learned a lot doing this difficult dietary challenge. It requires tedious preparation, planning and deviating from social norms. For some of you, it’s a worthwhile challenge, but for most, it’s simply too difficult and the failure rate is high.

I wanted to do another nutrition group this fall, using foundational principles of healthy eating: cooking your own food, planning meals ahead, limiting processed foods with too many ingredients and too much sugar. It needed to be more sustainable and much more approachable than the Whole 30.

Starting on October 14th, we’re going to have our own nutrition program lasting 45 days, ending on Thanksgiving. The light at the end of the tunnel will keep you motivated to make tough choices through October and November. While I do think the Whole 30 is too big of a task for most, the principles are sound, so we created a menu to help make all your food choices. It’s Whole 30-ish in a sense, that it’s about eating whole foods, planning, cooking and being consistent for a long time. I wanted to create some wiggle room, so more of you would be willing to give it a shot.

We’re allowing one glass of wine per day, rice, and aren’t going to be as strict with things like butter or cooking oil. This menu is adapted from the Whole Life Challenge, which essentially works people up to doing a Whole 30. You’ll still have to stay away from cake and donuts and ice cream and French fries, but this less aggressive challenge will keep you consistent through all 45 days.

In addition to the nutrition component, you’re going to exercise for a minimum of 10 minutes per day. Yes, every single day for 45 days. Before you stop reading, going for a 10 minute walk is exercise, a type that we’d all benefit from more of. You’re also going to pick a third category, sleep, meditation or mobility, and work on that with terms that you define.

We’re going to be using a scorecard to make a game out of it. Each week, like we did with the Whole 30, you’ll hand in your scorecards to me for some added accountability.

If you’re interested, on Monday October 7th at 7pm, I’m holding an informational meeting to show the menu, the scorecards and answer any questions that you may have. If you’ve been thinking its time to lock it in before the holidays, this is for you!

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach