About the Wellness and Nutrition Challenge
28 Days for you, your health, and to change your life.
The Wellness and Nutrition Challenge includes 5-10 minutes of mindful yoga each day, light journaling/posting, eating healthy education, recipes and participation!
Our next Wellness Challenge will be in the Fall of 2012
What it’s all about…
We live in a hectic, fast paced, hot and fast world – as evidenced by the number of Starbucks, Fast Food, and increasing rate of unhealthy Americans. The Wellness Challenge is derived from my personal studies and practice with nutrition and yoga. I’ve gained much of my nutrition knowledge from Registered Yoga Instructor and Oriental Medicine Nutritionist, Tiffany Cruikshank, as well as Doug Kaufmann creator of Know the Cause, the Paleo Diet, Raw Food Cleanse, and Dr. Gonino’s Center for Healing.
The Wellness Challenge will give you an opportunity to re-train and re-wire your mind and body to operate slow and cool. You will feel happier, healthier, stronger, and more energized as you wean yourself off of the cycle of uppers and downer chemicals we create with our own thought patterns, and with what we eat and drink. This is an opportunity to give your body the chance to function as it is optimally designed, by filtering out additives, blockages, and providing a platform to unwind, even when we’re busy.
It’s only 28 days of your entire life, you literally have nothing to lose by trying this, you only have something to gain!
Cost The cost of doing this Wellness Program is $40 for new participants, and $25 for veterans.
Post here to ask questions about the challenge and to sign up!
sarahobalance
timariemiko
realgreendaily 
44 comments
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June 4, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Melissa stoddart
Macaroni Grill was a challenge last night. I basically ate an enormous plate of dry spinach. It turned out to be very filling…..haha
June 4, 2012 at 7:19 pm
timariemiko
I’m traveling for work, and eating out is always a challenge…but it is possible! I try not be too picky for the server. 🙂
I had a huge yummy salad today for lunch with olive oil and cilantro dressing.
My meditation practice this morning was very grounding for my busy day of seeing clients. After sitting in the car and restaurants all day, my body is aching for a little asana practice!
June 10, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Amanda Hefner
Today is going well. I’ve really enjoyed the focus on my health and adding the meditation and yoga to the challenge is great for me. I’ve actually relished being outside of social networking – it’s great to talk to REAL people. I had a cheat this weekend. We went berry picking at Ham’s Orchard and they have homemade fresh peach ice cream and I couldn’t resist a taste. Otherwise things have been good.
I wanted to share this recipes – this Green Goddess dressing is amazing.
Green Goddess Dressing:
1 ripe Hass avocado, pitted and peeled
1 Tbsp. chopped basil
1 Tbsp. choppsed parsely
2 tsp. chopped tarragon
1 tsp. chopped garlic
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
Ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Water
In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine avocado, basil, parsley, tarragon, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and process until very smooth, scraping down sides. With the motor running, add olive oil. Add enough cold water to make the dressing pourable, about 3/4 cup. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
It is delish – I’ll dip anything in it and pour it over anything!!! I even dipped salmon patties in it and it was awesome.
June 10, 2012 at 8:00 pm
timariemiko
That sounds amazing! I find that the same ingredients are needed over and over in healthy recipes – it makes it easy to grocery shop.
June 16, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Melissa Stoddart
LOVE IT!
June 10, 2012 at 6:53 pm
Melissa stoddart
Hey …..about these four days I have spent with my son…since I started early, I think these days should not count against me…haha. I promise to be good when I get home.
June 10, 2012 at 7:58 pm
timariemiko
Just keep track of your cheats!
June 11, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Melissa Stoddart
too many to count
pizza, grilled cheese, beer, coffee,…basic college kid food is what they fed me
I fed them quinoa, spaghetti squash, and egg casserole and lots of vegetables
June 11, 2012 at 11:49 pm
Timarie
Are you staying at a place where they feed you? I know NY is full of healthy food spots! I was in CA for 5 days of this challenge so far…it’s tuff when you’re out of town, but still possible if you want it to be! Good luck!
June 14, 2012 at 8:40 am
Melissa stoddart
I was in Arkansas helping my 21 year old son move into a house with two other boys. It was sort of like camping because they have nothing…haha. I brought my own sheets and towels because I was scared.
June 10, 2012 at 8:14 pm
Melanie Cooper
Roger and I are doing well on the challenge. We have a favorite Recipe for this time of year. We vist the Dallas Farmer’s Market frequently during the summer months. There are many great fruits and veggies out right now. Best of all it is Beef Steak Tomato season.
Gazpacho
3 cups tomatoes, very ripe and seeded unless you use the Beef Steak variety.
2 cups red Bell Pepper, diced (OK sometimes we throw in an orange or yellow bell pepper)
1 1/2 cups red or Vadalia (Yes they are in season too!) onion, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
3/4 cup cucumber peeled and diced
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 3/4 cups organic, low sodium, vegetable juice.
1/8 – 1/4 tsp. cayenne to taste
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 – 1 tsp. sea salt (only if you use low sodium vegebtable juice, otherwise skip the salt.)
Mix the diced vegetables in a bowl, divide in two portions. Put the second portion in a blender, add the minced garlic and the vinegar to the blender and puree until smooth. Add vegetable juice, cayenne and cumin to the blender . Gently blend. Pour the puree over the remaining batch of diced vegetables and mix well. Refigerate overnight.
We serve it cold and eat on it all week. It gets better every day.
June 11, 2012 at 9:13 pm
Melissa Stoddart
Great cucumber noodle salad
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
2 cucumbers – peeled into strips like noodles
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon organic sunbutter (sugar-free)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon coconut aminos
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (now Whole30-approved!)
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 scallion, dark green part only, thinly sliced
June 11, 2012 at 9:46 pm
Amanda Hefner
Yum! Everyone’s recipes sound so fabulous! Today was good – even if people at work think my food is weird. Bell peppers stuffed with quiona, black beans, tomatos, chickpeas, diced onion and tomato sauce, with cayenne and cumin. Mmmmm. I did cheat one time today though – at 4:15 in the morning it was very hard to remember I wasn’t supposed to have coffee. I was actually halfway through the cup before I woke up enough to realize I was drinking something I wasn’t supposed to be.
June 12, 2012 at 10:08 pm
Amanda Hefner
First day completely without coffee… I’ve only had to pinch myself a few times – kidding.
Water – 70 ounces
Breakfast – banana, hardboiled egg
Snack – Fruit leather, dried cherries
Lunch – avocado with sea salt and pepper, almonds, apple with almond butter
Snack – almonds, black tea
Dinner – leftover stuffed pepper, banana and coconut milk smoothie
Snack – Piece of “brownie” (Combine 13 oz. dates, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 avocado, 2 cups pecans, pinch of sea salt, 2 tsp vanilla in food processor until smooth. Press into 8×8 square pan. Create frosting in food processor out of 3 avocados, 1/2 cup cocoa power, pinch sea salt, 1/2 cup avave nectar plus more to taste. Frost “brownies”. Freeze for at least 3 hours before eating and keep in freezer.)
As an aside, even though all the ingredients on the “brownie” list are legitimate, they gave me too much of a sugar rush to really fit the spirit of what we’re doing here. These brownies are tasty, but I’ll probably save the rest for post-challenge. 🙂
June 12, 2012 at 10:21 pm
timariemiko
Interesting observation on the “brownies” Dates and Agave Nectar are very, very high in sugar.
Today, I was SO tempted to take a piece of the macaroon cookie a co-worker brought, but I resisted!! I have a recipe for a macaroon cookie whole-foods style. I’ll share in case any of you love coconut like me. 🙂
June 14, 2012 at 8:35 am
Melissa stoddart
Yesterday was my mom’s birthday and I ate NO cake. Instead, I made those dried fruit and nut treats and added a tiny bit of dark chocolate. Yum!
I have been doing yoga with a friend or my daughter every morning.
Another breakfast idea…smash up a banana with some almond butter and cook it like a pancake (use low heat because it Burns easily). Serve with plain yogurt..I also added hemp seeds to top it off!
June 14, 2012 at 9:52 pm
Amanda Hefner
I feel like things have gone off the rails. This week was going awesome, but yesterday and today I had offsite training at a different facility. The training was all day long, and they catered lunch for us (with no real option to bring a lunch or go out on your own). Given that, I did the best I could, but it’s hard to stick to this when my box lunch contains a sandwich with lunchmeat, cheese, and bread with a side of chips and a cookie. I had all of tha stuff today, but on the plus side their afternoon snack selection included Larabars, so I was able to stay on track there. Last night I went to dinner with an old friend who I haven’t seen in years, and we were at Gloria’s in Dallas. I ordered nachos, which is clearly not on the plan, but on the plus side tonight I got to have hardboiled eggs and avocado for dinner.
Not only do I feel guilty about cheating, but after eating carb-free for these past few weeks I’m feeling kind of icky from just a couple pieces of bread and some chips in my lunch today. Just goes to show you how much what you eat really affects you. (The lawyer in me would argue I had little option at the lunches yesterday and today, save skipping lunch altogether, which would result in cranky sleepiness in the afternoon.) So in the past two days I have had the following cheats: Fajita lunch (cheese, jarred salsa, meat cooked with some kind of seasoning that probably wasn’t part of the deal), nacho dinner (chips, cheese – beans probably okay), box sandwich lunch (bread, lunchmeat, cheese, chips, cookie).
So other than that ridiculous list, I’m doing pretty well. *sigh*
June 14, 2012 at 11:16 pm
timariemiko
You’re doing fine! Good that you observed how you felt. That is most important. After having the bite of mustard potato salad, I could tell that they added a little bit of sugar to it. Would not notice that if I was eating sugar all of the time. 🙂
June 14, 2012 at 11:15 pm
timariemiko
Today I ate dinner at a bbq restaurant – I had sliced turkey and the cucumber/tomato/olive salad. I had a taste (bite) of their new homemade mustard potato salad (cheat!) and left the bread for the birds.
I’m feeling good! But wanted to share that it IS possible to eat out on this plan.
June 16, 2012 at 2:36 pm
Melissa Stoddart
I am back on track with thus challenge – truly do not even want a cracker or bread….at home. It is the smell of bread baking in a restaurant that will almost make me cry.
Ok I did have a small glass of wine at the concert by the lake! But I enjoyed it so much more than I normally do!
Check out my pinterest board of recipe ideas
I have done yoga six days a week but using an app and actually going to class are two very different things!
June 16, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Amanda Hefner
Today was awesome! Breakfast of leftover scrambled eggs (whatever my kids didn’t eat), plain yogurt with blueberries, and black tea. Snack of fruit strip. Lunch of avocado and a black bean sloppy joe thing my kids love (but no bun for me). Dinner was fajitas, but I just mixed the chicken with pico, avocado, and grilled veggies for a salad type thing, that was awesome. Tonight I might splurge and eat a date, but that’s TBD. Plus we had some fun family time and I got to go for a run.
The real challenge is tomorrow. We’re taking Erich to a Rangers game for Father’s day and will likely eat dinner at the ballpark. Here’s hoping I can find something remotely on the plan!
June 17, 2012 at 10:01 pm
Melissa stoddart
Ok I had some wine and a bit of homemade blueberry pie, 2 tortilla chips, a bite of bread, and 3 penne noodles.
My daughter cooked a fathers day feast and I had to taste it…..rude not to…haha
June 17, 2012 at 10:07 pm
timariemiko
How did it taste or feel physically? Fantastic, or dizzy or sluggish? You didn’t really have too much, I love that you said “3 penne noodles!”
June 18, 2012 at 10:54 pm
Melissa stoddart
Starving all day today and tired of disagreeing with my family over food
June 19, 2012 at 8:23 am
timariemiko
Eat some more nuts and seeds, dip your carrotts in almond butter, have a sweet potato with apples and greek yogurt on top. I’ll share a recipe for “bread” this week.
For your family and you – check out http://www.knowthecause.com The way you are eating is essentially clearing your body of patterns of highs and lows and allowing it to function optimally by reducing inflamation and yeast. Excess of Wheat, grains, and sugar, are linked to many many many health disorders and diseases including high cholesterol, cancer, heart disease, skin problems, allergies and even down to the common cold…the list goes on. Go to this website, or have your entire family go to Dr. Gonino in Heath on Horizon Rd. That might help!
June 19, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Melissa Stoddart
they don’t care. i have been fighting this battle since the kids were born. Craig thinks i am too extreme with food.
but feeling better today. i have been painting my daughter’s room in silence instead of playing the radio.
June 19, 2012 at 10:47 pm
timariemiko
Stick your ground, they may come around on their own. I’m glad to hear that you took some time for silence! I’m afraid all of mine will be this weekend!
June 19, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Melissa Stoddart
Made the portobello pizza from my pinterest board – YUM
June 20, 2012 at 10:26 pm
Amanda Hefner
Today we had a demonstration of a functionality to our customer that I have been the lead of for over a year. We had catered lunch and I tried, but I did eat a roll and a few pieces of fried okra. After the whole chaos was over, the whole team went out for a happy hour (job well done!) and I had two margaritas and some nachos. Now I’m drinking a glass of wine. Today was a disaster, food-wise, but work-wise things couldn’t have gone better. There was a ridiculous amount of celebrating our own success. I’m really REALLY happy with how this project was presented to our customer, so I feel okay about a cheat day (almost entirely, with the exception of breakfast) to celebrate an entire year of planning. Tomorrow, back on track…. I wanted to post and keep myself accountable. I’m so ridiculously amazingly excited about how things went today.
June 21, 2012 at 8:54 am
timariemiko
Thank you for being so transparent and honest! It’s refreshing. Glad that your project was a success!
June 20, 2012 at 10:29 pm
timariemiko
I had an epiphany this morning! Even though I am normally silent in the mornings for 1-2 hours, today, I consiously decided to be silent as I played with my dogs and got ready for work. Consciously being silent turns out to be an entire different experience than just being silent because I have no one to talk to…I found that as I was deciding to be silent, that my mind stilled and relaxed even more, and honestly, it was such a sweet treat!
June 21, 2012 at 12:26 pm
timariemiko
I have a confession to make! I am stressed about finding a car by Monday and arranging meeting people in between a full workload! (I’ve done so much yoga this week to balance out my stress, I am extremely sore!) Anyway, I just grabbed a handful of trail mix that had peanuts and m&m’s in it. It didn’t really taste very good at all, but it satisfied the monkey in my head! Need more yoga and meditaion. 🙂
June 25, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Melissa Stoddart
get a fiat. i smile every time i see mine.
June 24, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Amanda Hefner
This weekend is going well. Tonight we’re repeating our Korean beef and vegetable skewers – it’s yummy steak and super lean. I’m ahead of the curve on pampering – I got a pedicure on Friday while Erich was at work!
I’ve really enjoyed focusing on what I’m eating. The daily yoga is great too. I haven’t figured out how to be silent. I was silent for over an hour while I was running, but I don’t really think that counts because I was alone anyway and didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Being silent around 3 and 2 year olds isn’t really a thing that is very easy… When they’re asleep I’ve been asleep lately, so that doesn’t count. I’ve been silent for more than 2 hours at work, but that doesn’t count…
June 25, 2012 at 11:05 pm
timariemiko
How about consciously being silent while you’re getting ready in the morning? You’ll notice a difference.
June 25, 2012 at 1:29 pm
Melissa Stoddart
Made blackberry cobbler yesterday with berries we picked in Terrell! Yummy – it had almond flour topping
Cheat – wine this weekend
June 25, 2012 at 11:16 pm
timariemiko
Almond flour topping, yum!
June 25, 2012 at 6:57 pm
Amanda Hefner
Does it count if I was making my boys chocolate milk, got a tiny bit of syrup on my finger, and then licked it off absentmindedly without thinking? I seriously didn’t even mean to do it, but I realized what I was doing as soon as the sweetness touched my tounge. It wasn’t even a bite or a sip or anything! Does an accidental lick count?
I made your tabbouleh yesterday and it is amazing. Yummy! Plus the guacamole salad from last time is one of my absolute favorites.
June 25, 2012 at 10:07 pm
Amanda Hefner
PS – I didn’t put any corn in my guacamole salad, which makes it okay, right?
June 26, 2012 at 10:20 pm
Amanda Hefner
You know what tastes amazing? Really cold coconut water after a long run in this heat. I like Zico.
Today was a good day, but I’ve entered into this crazy weird planning thing at work that requires sitting in a conference room for 10 hours a day with the same people arguing over phrasing of things. This process results in me getting alternatively really agitated, defensive, frustrated, or sleepy. That explains the two cups of coffee I drank today. Otherwise, good day. I’m really starting to get the hang of eating enough when I’m completely abstaining from grains. When we first started this I would get really cranky because I wasn’t eating enough. Better now! 🙂
June 27, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Amanda Hefner
Today – banana and almond butter, water, coffee (cheat!), quinoa and zucchini “lasagna”, guacamole salad, dried cherries+dried cranberries+almonds, larabar, scrambled eggs, spaghetti squash+homemade pasta sauce. Lots and lots and lots of water.
June 28, 2012 at 6:39 pm
Amanda Hefner
Today I am thankful for my health. Someone at work told me at work today that he’d hate to be my wife after seeing my lunch full of fresh nourishing foods in a meeting we were in over lunch. His lunch consisted of french fries, a cheeseburger, a pint of ice cream, and Mountain Dew.
Somehow I felt okay about being my husband and children’s eating habits anyway.
June 30, 2012 at 1:57 pm
timariemiko
Truly, people say these things because they know you’re right. They’re justifying their actions. I don’t think anyone living today would argue that what he was eating was healthy and good for him!
December 31, 2012 at 2:32 pm
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