I recently finished up a 9 day cleanse. It was awesome and hard and amazing and challenging and totally worth it.
I am really proud of myself for holding strong to it, even though throughout those nine days I went to several restaurants for meetings where it was really tempting to just cave and get 12 sushi rolls or a chai latte or french toast, but I didn't. In doing the cleanse I not only lost 6 pounds and 9.5 inches that have been sticking around no matter how much I work out and eat healthy, but I gained mental and emotional strength as well. It forced me to look at my relationship with food, how even though I eat a mostly healthy vegan diet, I still eat because I'm bored or I'm avoiding something or because it's a social thing to do, even if I'm not hungry.
The cleanse is here, by the way.
So after doing that for 9 days, I thought, hey, I can do anything for 9 days, thus the idea for the 9 Day Challenge was born. I want to pick something every 9 days to stick with. It doesn't have to be huge. It just has to be something I want to work on. And maybe through these 9 day sequences I can find what works for me, what I want to make a permanent habit, and just have fun!
For the next 9 days, (actually, it started yesterday) I want to write my morning pages. I'm an artist (www.thecheekywhale.com) and read the Artists Way years ago, where she recommends writing 4 pages (I think) every morning. Unfiltered, unstructured, just write and get everything in your brain all out on paper. This is extremely therapeutic and beneficial to anyone, artist or not. I used to be amazing at journaling throughout my youth (did I really just use that word?) and would like to make it a regular habit again. So for the next 8 days now, I will continue to do my morning pages. If you want to join in on this 9 Day Challenge thing-a-ma-do I'm doing, let me know! It would be fun to have friends.
I am really proud of myself for holding strong to it, even though throughout those nine days I went to several restaurants for meetings where it was really tempting to just cave and get 12 sushi rolls or a chai latte or french toast, but I didn't. In doing the cleanse I not only lost 6 pounds and 9.5 inches that have been sticking around no matter how much I work out and eat healthy, but I gained mental and emotional strength as well. It forced me to look at my relationship with food, how even though I eat a mostly healthy vegan diet, I still eat because I'm bored or I'm avoiding something or because it's a social thing to do, even if I'm not hungry.
The cleanse is here, by the way.
So after doing that for 9 days, I thought, hey, I can do anything for 9 days, thus the idea for the 9 Day Challenge was born. I want to pick something every 9 days to stick with. It doesn't have to be huge. It just has to be something I want to work on. And maybe through these 9 day sequences I can find what works for me, what I want to make a permanent habit, and just have fun!
For the next 9 days, (actually, it started yesterday) I want to write my morning pages. I'm an artist (www.thecheekywhale.com) and read the Artists Way years ago, where she recommends writing 4 pages (I think) every morning. Unfiltered, unstructured, just write and get everything in your brain all out on paper. This is extremely therapeutic and beneficial to anyone, artist or not. I used to be amazing at journaling throughout my youth (did I really just use that word?) and would like to make it a regular habit again. So for the next 8 days now, I will continue to do my morning pages. If you want to join in on this 9 Day Challenge thing-a-ma-do I'm doing, let me know! It would be fun to have friends.
[My cleanse results]
