The Nutritional Challenge

The Nutritional Challenge i.e. Diet

If you’ve read the Coffee Shop and Bus Stop Nutrition article you’ll understand that diets fall into the Bus Stop category i.e. we use them for a limited time when we expect a specific result. If you haven’t already, go back and read that article, by clicking here.

We call diets ‘Challenges’, as diets are generally quite challenging. By calling it a challenge you add an element of competition with yourself and your coach, me.

This article will help you decide which diet/challenge is right for you and how long you’d like the challenge to last.

Challenge Start Date & Duration

We begin by selecting a start date for your challenge to begin. The challenge doesn’t have to begin next week. Select a time period when you’re free of major stressors and life events. Ideally allow yourself some planning and prep time e.g don’t expect to move into your new house on Sunday and begin your challenge on Monday!

Now select the duration. Understanding a difficult task or period won’t last forever provides more energy & motivation now, when we need it. This'll also allow us to measure the results and adherence providing valuable feedback for future attempts.

Typical time frames can vary...3,5,7,14,21 days are suggestions. If you’ve never done this before start small i.e. 3-7 days. Or, if the challenge is extremely intense such as ultra low carb the days will also remain low.

If you’re a seasoned pro shoot for a higher number, you can even try 28 days upto 6 weeks!

Remember;

Intense Challenge = Short Duration
Moderate Challenge = Longer Duration

Ponder these decisions for some time, don’t rush it. The right time frame should be ‘comfortable, but a little scary’. 

Selecting the Challenge.

Read through the list and assess which one’s sit well and which one’s don’t.

1. Elimination Diets - Simply remove items or food sources from your diet for the challenge period. Commonly sugar, caffeine, alcohol, processed food, diary, pudding, fizzy drinks etc, the choice is yours.
2. Strict Meal Planning - create or follow a specific meal plan without deviating.
3. Specific Diet - select and follow a specific diet protocol. Wikipedia has an exhaustive list of diets click here to view them
4. Ultra Low Carb - similar to the Atkins Diet preparatory phase, you limit Carbohydrate to <30 grams per day.
5. Intermittent Fasting - only feed (eat) or fast (don’t eat) during specific time frames. Common diets are ‘5:2’ (5 Day Feed - 2 Day Fast), ‘Leangains’ (8 hour feed - 16 hour fast). Click here for 6 Popular Ways to do Intermittent Fasting from Healthline.com for more info.
6. Detox / Cleanse Diets - Due to insurance reasons I will not be able to support you through a full detox or cleanse protocol such as Juicing or other company offered products.
7. Detox / Cleanse Meals - we can however select detox style meals and stick to these meals throughout the challenge. Greatist.com offers some great detox recipes, click here to view them. 

The most common challenges are listed above. However, if you have something else in mind let’s discuss during our call.

You should now have;

• Start date options
• Challenge duration suggestions
• A Challenge short list​​

Want support creating a Nutritional Challenge? Write me a message and we can discuss, click here