8 Week Healthy Habit Challenge - Week Two

Welcome to Week Two of the 8 Week Healthy Habit Challenge.

Last week’s challenge you were to keep a journal of everything you ate and drank for three days. This was to help you assess your worst health habit. This week, you are to continue eliminating that habit, as well as incorporate the next challenge. You will also continue to include yellow and orange foods in your meal plans.

This week’s challenge is to begin eliminating sugar from your and your family’s, diet. Sugar can lead to hypersensitivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating and crankiness in children. It also contributes to diabetes, arthritis, and suppression of the immune system. In addition, sugar raises the level of neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine which can cause you to crave more sugar.

Challenge:

Begin replacing sugary drinks with unsweetened tea (flavored teabags work great), nonfat milk, water (try adding lemon for flavor), or diluted vegetable or fruit juices. Reduce foods with added refined sugars to three or fewer servings this week. Read the labels on your yogurts, cereals, crackers, and other processed goods; eliminate the ones that contain more than 5 grams of sugar per serving.

For healthier snacks, use sliced fruit, Greek yogurt, natural peanut butter, nuts, hummus, unbuttered popcorn, or yogurt berry popsicles. You can find a recipe for the popsicles under "recipes".

Tip: Measure your portion sizes to make sure you are not underestimating a serving.

Food Color: Reds and Purples

Foods that are red-purple or red-pink contain anthocyanins; the pigments that help protect you from oxidative stress. Red onions help reduce inflammation, and tomatoes (and tomato sauces) are an excellent source of vitamins A, C, K, B6 and potassium.

Try using rhubarb, cherries, radicchio, watermelon, pink grapefruit, red bell peppers, red cabbage or radishes in your menu plan this week.

Fitness Challenge:

Beginners: Begin adding power walking to your regimen. For 30-40 minutes, alternate between fast-paced speed walking, and a slower recovery pace. Walk 5 days.

Advanced: Try this routine. Upper and Lower body workouts, alternating days.

Pick one exercise for each body part:

Lower – Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes and Calves. Squat, Deadlift, Lunge, DB Calf Raise.

Use a weight that will give you 15 reps, drop 10lbs and do 20 reps, add 20lbs and do 8 reps.

Upper Body – Chest, Back, Shoulder, Triceps and Biceps. Chest Press, BB Row, Overhead Shoulder Press, Cable Tricep Pressdown and BB Bicep Curl.

Use a weight that will give you 15 reps, drop 10lbs and do 20 reps, add 20lbs and do 8 reps.