Going into the first week of C29, you’ll want to be at optimal mental and physical health in order to maximize training adaptations. We’ve outlined a few key strategies that you can incorporate into your daily routine to help prepare you for this upcoming Challenge.
Manifest a Positive Mindset
The week leading into the Challenge, it’s important to take ownership of our goals. What does this mean, exactly? Visualizing the action steps we will take to support our goals allows us to begin to manifest a sense of positive change. Self-talk and visualization can make it easier to establish new healthy habits and create purpose. Journaling has shown to be an effective way to manifest this positive frame of mind. Writing just three actions that you will take each day to support and align with your goals is just one example. We cannot expect a new habit to stick unless we develop a purpose for making the change.
Develop a Morning Meditation Practice
There are numerous benefits of a morning meditation practice. Research has shown that even a five-minute meditation practice can help us filter out negative thoughts and eliminate feelings of stress. By starting your day with just five minutes of deep breathing, we can lower the stress hormone (cortisol) and reduce feelings of grogginess that we all experience every so often.
Meditation has also been shown to be extremely effective in helping us adapt to daily challenges more effectively, as we are able to think more clearly and be more productive.
Hydrate Every Morning
Aside from meditation, hydrating at the start of the day is absolutely essential to avoid dehydration and promote mental clarity. For coffee lovers, be sure to have your morning coffee after you’ve had at least 8 ounces of water. Coffee is a diuretic, and can lead to dehydration without water consumption. If we start our day in a dehydrated state, we are limiting the ability of our cells to work effectively and provide enough blood flow and oxygen to the rest of our body, including our brain. This is why dehydration can often make us feel tired and unproductive. Fluid intake in the morning is necessary to promote blood flow to our body. If you’ve ever experienced days where you just can’t seem to focus or have brain fog, it’s likely you’ll need to up your water intake.
Full-Body Detoxification
Aside from eliminating processed carbohydrates and pro-inflammatory foods, including fast foods and fried foods, we recommend a full-body detox. You may have heard of ‘metabolic cleansing’ before. Essentially, it focuses on incorporating gut-friendly foods that allow the body to rid itself of toxins and promote efficient digestion. Over time, we can experience a build-up of toxins from either the environment (air and water pollutants, heavy metals, etc.) or the food we eat, which has the potential to hinder kidney and liver function. The F45 Nutrition team has outlined a few tips below that will benefit full-body detoxification without breaking your budget:
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- Hydration. Water with fresh lemon is a great natural liver detoxifier.
- Increase your daily intake of fiber-rich foods. Chia seeds are a great source of fiber and can be added to smoothies (check out this high-fiber smoothie recipe!).
- Consume whole, unprocessed foods.
- Consume organic produce and meats.
- Incorporate a high-quality probiotic.
