More Than A Challenge.
Its weird what happens when words like “challenge” or "competition" gets thrown into the mix. People push themselves a little harder, dig deeper and fight to be the "winner". Most of the time this is a good thing as it forces us out of our comfort zones and enables us to change for the better. But every so often it works in the opposite direction. People might cut corners, bend the rules or sacrifice the true intention of the goal at hand just to be on the top off the leaderboard. The same dynamic can come into play when the the phrase "nutrition challenge" gets thrown around. Some will see this for what its worth and others might think the only way to win is to starve themselves on a new "diet" in order to lose pounds on the scale. The 617 Healthy Life Challenge is not about that life! This challenge was created to help gain a better understanding of how to live an overall healthier lifestyle. It isn’t just about eating better, or losing weight, it’s about creating new daily habits to feel better, perform better and really be a better person. Our challenge is broken into four main categories: Lifestyle, Training, Nutrition, and Detox.
So How Does It Work?
Its 4 weeks long. For each category, you have the chance to earn points for yourself. Along with bonus opportunities, there are 40 available points up for grabs weekly. Each category has a checklist of objectives that we provide in order for you to gain your points. At the end of the week you'll submit your points into SugarWod so we can keep track of our totals. You even get a point just for inputting your score, its honestly that easy. And while you earn your points individually, this is a TEAM challenge. We'll separate everyone into teams and your points will go towards your overall team score. At the end of the 4 weeks, we will crown one team the winner! There is a small buy-in to have some skin in the game so we also give out a prize pack to the winners which includes cash money and other treats from our partners and vendors.
What Are The Objectives?
The sole purpose of this challenge is to build healthier habits through our daily objectives. In the Lifestyle category, examples would be things like reading, hitting mobility, getting proper sleep, or even just going for a walk. Each time you complete an objective, you earn a point for that day. In our Training category, you earn 2 points for each day you train. We only allow 10 points max here on purpose. We encourage athletes to ONLY train 4-5 times a week and avoid OVERTRAINING by coming 6 or 7 times a week. Again, the point being we are changing our routine for just these 4 weeks to see how it makes us feel. The distinction between the next two categories is probably the most important of this challenge. In the Nutrition category, we focus on eating 3-4 healthy, balanced meals per day. In these meals, we ask that you eat a protein, healthy fat, and carbohydrate in proper portioning. Yes, you need to eat actual food. We'll provide you with a list of smart choices for your proteins, fats and carbs along with a guide for portion control. The Detox category works in correlation to your Nutrition category. By detoxing, we are earning a point per day by avoiding alcohol, sugar, and unhealthy fats like vegetable oil or seed oils. We provide you with a detox cheat sheet of items to avoid.
Whats The Goal?
The goal of this challenge is not to be perfect. Its to attack the 4 weeks with the intention off creating new habits along with the help and support of other gym members and coaches. We want to be realistic while challenging ourselves to make better choices. For myself, the first year I did this challenge I knew every week I would lose a detox point because I would enjoy a nice pint of Ben & Jerry’s every week. Prior to the challenge, I was enjoying it more like 2-3 times a week. Since I would lose points in the Detox category, I always made sure that I crushed the other categories. Training was the easiest because I would hit class 5x a week. Nutrition was challenging at first but as I focused my effort on eating my 3 meals correctly, it became easier and almost routine by the end. The Lifestyle points were definitely the most enjoyable which consisted of sleeping 7 hours a night and reading 30 minutes before I went to bed. By the end, I felt like a machine and have never looked back. I'm still utilizing many of the habits and tools I learned during my first challenge over 3 years ago. Now, it's so routine I don't even have to think, its become a part of my lifestyle.
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