A Lean and Clean Refresh

 My 2025 word of the year is refresh. This week, I'm beginning a six-week intensive focus on refreshing my approach to my physical wellness. 

I'm a member of a Cross Fit gym called Cross Fit Canuck. From May 12 - June 22, I will be participating in a Lean and Clean challenge.

This is not supposed to be a weight loss program. The goal is to develop healthier habits. We began with personal body scans to let us know where we are at, more than just the number on a scale. We attended a nutrition seminar on Saturday May 10.  There are five daily goals we have, related to: 

1) Exercise

2) Food Intake

3) Steps

4) Sleep

5) Hydration

Both my husband and I are going to participate. I know this is not going to be easy. I won't have any problem with the sleep goal (since I'm only required to get 7-8 hours per night and my preference is at least 9!). However, the other benchmarks will be challenging. I didn't take a "before" photo. (Classic "weight loss" images have a sad pudgy person as the "before" shot. Not me. I was actually pretty happy eating whatever I wanted. I just knew that, in the end, it wasn't exactly good for me.) We will see if it makes a difference.

Having a partner is going to help a lot. So are the plans. This is a photo of the schedule I've made of our workouts for May and June. It's taped up on a wall in our basement.

How does this connect to school? Well, it will impact the way I eat at school. I was inclined to skip lunch so that I could get things done, like running clubs or conducting Forest of Reading book chats. (The Forest of Reading Festival is this coming week. I will let you know next week how it went.) I'm also teaching a lot of health education with classes collaboratively, because it is part of the Human Development and Sexuality unit that most teachers struggle with. It will probably make me more attuned to body issues. I'm also going to have to use a bunch of tracking apps (which I dislike - my phone already knows too much about me, and now I'm allowing it and inputting data in it so there's more information about me available). It will force me to use real-life math, as I calculate percentages and weight as I pay more attention to my meal portions. 

Wish me luck!