Introduction:

This is NOT a fitness challenge, and this is NOT any sort of FAD DIET….

This is a 30 Day commitment that is designed to make you STRONG!

A strong mind, a strong body, a strong spirit and a strong heart.

The goal of 30 DAY STRONG is to increase your mental toughness, your discipline, and to leave you feeling GOOD… inside and out!

30 DAY STRONG

1. What is it?

A 30 day challenge that requires 5 “tasks” each day

2. What is the purpose?

To build MENTAL TOUGHNESS, self discipline, and to FEEL GOOD!  To improve your mind, your body, your spirit and your heart.

3. What are those 5 tasks?

• Drink 80 ounces of water

• 45 Minute Workout 

• 1 Act of Kindness

• Follow a Healthy Eating Plan - no cheating

• 20 Minutes of Spiritual Strengthening

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HERE IS THE BREAKDOWN:

Drink 80 ounces of Water … MINIMUM!

This is pretty self explanatory… but it’s not EASY. It might look easy initially, but it will require your attention everyday!

I suggest filling up some sort of container each morning or before you go to bed each night.  Anytime you drink water, pour it from this container.

I just have an old milk jug with a line marked at 80 ounces… or you can buy a fancy jug on Amazon like this one.

It doesn’t need to be fancy, but it does need to be done EVERYDAY.

This is one of the more simple tasks that you can do for your health and it will likely require you give up your other “drinks” in order to get in this much water.

This is also about mental toughness.  Learning to stick with a task even when the adrenaline has worn off…. To keep going… and to complete the task everyday!

I have an app called the HABIT TRACKER (it is a pink icon with a white check mark) that helps me check off these 5 things each day!

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One 45 Minute workout each day

Remember, this is NOT a fitness challenge.

This is about PERSONAL DISCIPLINE and growth.

Your workouts don’t need to be complicated and you don’t need any sort of extravagant equipment.  Just strap on your running shoes and MOVE.

Don’t underestimate the benefits of just walking.  If you don’t have a gym membership, or any equipment at home, you can easily just go for a walk.  Or play tennis, or watch a show while on the stationary bike.  It doesn’t matter what you do…. Just move your body for 45 minutes EVERYDAY!

This is time dedicated to YOU!

This is the equivalent of putting the oxygen mask on yourself FIRST so that you can show up in every other area of your life!

You get ONE shot at this life and your BODY is the one thing that is going to carry you through it.  So take care of it.  Priorite exercise so that it happens each day!

Ideally you will do this all at once… but if you absolutely need to you can break it up each day.  

And try to push yourself.  Try to see at least a little growth and progress in this category at the end of the 30 days.

If you decide to take Sundays off for a rest day… no problem, I get it.  You will still get an ‘A’ (although I have found that walking the dog or going on a family stroll has enhanced my Sabbath day.. But you get permission to do what is best for you!)

Bottom line…. Commit to Exercising everyday for 30 days!  Grab a partner, grab your kids, or simply put in your headphones and get in the zone!  Let’s go!!

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One Act of kindness 

This was one of the main things that I changed from 75 Hard.  In that program, the task was to take a progress picture each day.  I totally understand the principle behind it.  The first was to make sure that the small and simple tasks are getting done each day and aren’t the reason that you have to start all over again.

The second reason is that we often don’t have the right perspective to be able to see the impact that small changes can have over time.  The point of the progress picture is to have something concrete to look back on and see just have far you have come.

I get it.  And I have no problem with it.  It just wasn’t something that was helping me progress in a way that was important to me.

There are a few obscure versus hidden deep within the bible (Haggai) that struck me one day.

“Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

Ye have sown much, and bring in little; 

ye eat, but ye have not enough; 

ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; 

ye clothe you, but there is none warm; 

and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.”

I wanted part of this challenge to be focused not just on the here and now, but a little on the “later”.  I wanted to find one thing that could, little by little, brick by brick, build my mansion in heaven.  

And so this is it…. One small act of kindness for someone else.  A progress picture focuses inwards… an act of kindness focuses outward.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Pay for someone’s drive thru

• Deliver a loaf of bread

• Leave a generous tip

• Send a card

• Pray with a friend

• Offer your forgiveness

• Shovel some snow

• Drop off a treat

• Let someone go in front of you at the store.

• Say I’m sorry.

The options are endless.  And feel free to combine it with other goals you might be working one. For example, if you want to be a nicer mom, secretly do one of your kids’ chores.  Want to be a better child, call your parents. A better spouse? Plan a date night or give a massage.

The possibilities are endless… and just think of the impact that one act of kindness would have if everyone in the world were doing it! Write it down each day so that you have a list when you’re done!

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Mindful Eating - Make a Plan and Stick with it!

Decide How you want to fuel your body for the next 30 days… make a game plan and then STICK with it.

This can be anything you need it to be!  The point is to be intentional, to practice mindfulness, and to make changes that will help you progress in this category!  

We all want to FEEL good, and what we put into our bodies is a HUGE part of the equation.  So put a little thought into it, WRITE IT DOWN, and create a game plan!

This is not a diet.

There aren’t “good foods” or “bad foods”... and there ere are no foods that are “off limits”

HOWEVER, it’s important to remember… nothing changes if NOTHING CHANGES!

This is your chance to make a commitment to yourself that you are worth taking the time to be more intentional with what you are eating.

What do you want? Do you want to be leaner? Build more muscle? Simply get back in control of your food choices?  Whatever it is…. Set up your systems for success.   If you want results, focus on your SYSTEMS and not so much on your goals.  I heard this quote and I loved it:

You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.

That might mean doing food prep.  That might mean having a fridge stocked with fruits and veggies.  That might mean simply keeping a food journal and writing down what you eat each day (which studies have shown helps you to be more mindful.)

The point is that YOU CHOOSE what you’re going to do and YOU STICK WITH IT.  For 30 days!

Here are a few ideas:

• Intermittent Fasting

• Addition vs Subtraction - Try adding rather than removing (ex. A vegetable everyday, or a salad each night)

• Plan out your day before it begins and stick with it.  If something “extra” pops up, you need to wait until the next day.  It’s not denial, it's delay.

• 3 meals and 1 snack each day. (Carb, Protein, Fat)

• Follow the "plated" method

• Counting calories, or sticking to your macros.

Or simply follow this rule:

Eat when you are HUNGRY,

stop when you are SATISFIED.  

You might be surprised to find how often you eat when you aren’t really even hungry.  That’s because food is NOT just simply fuel… we eat for lots of different reasons.

Maybe make a list of the foods that you tend to overdo it on and make a game plan for those foods. The goal here is to FEEL GOOD!! And for many of us that means making some changes in what we are eating!!

This are all just ideas to help you create the plan that works for YOU!

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20 Minutes of Spiritual Strengthening

In my opinion, this 20 minutes has the potential to impact your life more than just about anything else. 

You will grow into this.  

It is the practice of stepping away from the world, and stepping into a spiritual world… one we can’t see, but one that is very very real.

This is dedicated time to tune into your own spirit and to connect with God. 

There is something powerful that can happen when you intentionally set time aside each day (ideally unplugged) to pour out to Him and to listen.

This can be anything that you need it to be.

Your “spiritual” is up to you. 

My guess is that your spirit already knows some of what it needs.

This is your chance to listen. And your chance to connect with heaven. 

It can be listening to a sermon or a talk. 

It can be praying and meditating. 

It can be a gratitude Practice.

Breathing Exercises. 

Time in Nature. 

But in my opinion, your greatest connection to God will be when you have his word open in front of you, a prayer on your heart, and a pen in your hand. 

My simple routine often looks like this:

• Pray

• Read a book or talk (Spiritual Reading)

• Read the scriptures

• Write down the thoughts that come

This is your journey, so you get to decide what works for you!

GET STARTED

Decide WHEN you are going to start?

Decide WHAT you NEED to start? New running shoes, a cookbook, a journal, a place to study, a water jug…. Get everything you need to help you be successful. 

Keep in mind, most of our brain lights up when we are planning or anticipating something, and only 10% lights up when we are ACTUALLY DOING IT.  This will get boring. But commit now.  Find a partner to do it with.  Vocalize it to people around you.  YOU ARE COMMITTED.  And if you miss a day, you just start over.  This is more about personal discipline as it is about results!