The Difference Between a Challenge and Your Lifestyle
And how there *may* be a time and place for both
Hello, Friend! Happy Tuesday!
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I was talking with a gym owner the other day about helping him host a nutrition challenge for the members at his gym. The challenge he has run in the past includes things like eating balanced meals, drinking water, getting sleep, and working out. Great! But, it also includes things like removing sugar and alcohol.
Typically, I don’t support complete removal of food groups, and am pretty much against any extreme challenges (I dislike 75 Hard, for example, because I think it’s too overwhelming!). I don’t think we want to, or need to, skip pizza night with our families, or never eat birthday cake, do multiple workouts per day, or never have an alcoholic beverage to be successful… nor do I think that’s a very fun life. I really do believe that all foods can fit within a healthy food plan and that we need to understand how to interact with and make choices around all foods every day. HOWEVER, I also see the benefit of an occasional challenge… something that makes you deviate from your norm and requires some effort to complete, within reason.
Can I still get on board with helping this coach run this challenge even though, philosophically, I don’t preach the ideals of the challenge with my real-life clients?? Yes! As long as we discern the difference between a challenge and your regular lifestyle habits. We need to understand that the former is often a temporary surge in effort, while the latter encompasses our enduring daily habits. With that being said, if someone can complete a challenge and come away from it with one or more habits they integrate into their real lives, then that’s great! We wouldn’t want someone to do a challenge and then go right back to what they were doing before, zero lessons learned or adjustments made.
Challenges are characterized by their time-bound nature, intensity, and structured approach. They serve as catalysts for change, pushing us beyond our comfort zones and instigating a heightened focus on specific goals. The motivation behind taking on challenges is clear—to experience sometimes-rapid transformations or learning experiences, and overcome obstacles in a condensed timeframe.
Yet, challenges are inherently temporary, and herein lies the distinction. A lifestyle, in contrast, is about cultivating sustainable, long-term habits that seamlessly integrate into our daily routines. While challenges *may* provide a jumpstart, they often lack the adaptability required for navigating the complexities of real-life scenarios, and that’s okay, as long as we know that going into it and know how to communicate to others around us about what we’re doing (like why we’re skipping pizza night with our kids, for example… a post for another day).
The mindset during challenges is one of intensity and pushing boundaries. It's about embracing discomfort and striving for exceptional results within a defined period. This mentality, however, differs significantly from the mindset necessary for a lifestyle, which values consistency, balance, and moderation.
Building habits is the bridge that connects challenges to routine. It can involve taking one or more of the behaviors established during a challenge and transforming them into permanent habits. The key is gradual integration, allowing these habits to become second nature and woven into our daily lives.
While challenges *may* be valuable milestones in our fitness or nutrition journey, the true measure of success lies in the sustained changes that a lifestyle brings post-challenge. Sure we can celebrate the achievements unlocked during challenges, but recognize that the real triumph is in the consistency of healthy choices over the long term.
Do I think you need to participate in a challenge to create a successful food or fitness plan? Absolutely not. Some people just thrive on the idea of doing something difficult. That’s not me personally, I’m much more of a working-on-establishing-habits-in-real-life kinda person. And if that’s you, that’s fine too! Knowing yourself and making changes in ways that you respond to best is awesome!
What do you think?? Agree? Disagree? Have you had a positive or negative experience with a challenge or making a lifestyle shift?? Let me know in the comments or send me an email at sara@nutritionforlifeproject.com.
And if you know of a group who would benefit from support with a challenge, I’m here for you! ; ) Please reach out.
As always, thank you for reading,
xoxo,
Sara