In the past couple months I have experienced some pretty significant changes in my life. One of the changes is that I decided to move to London to pursue my goal of becoming a great (CrossFit/personal) coach. While me committing to this job is a great challenge and opportunity for me, there has always been this part of me that is afraid to fully commit to certain aspects of life and hold on to things that are familiar. Since my job has everything to do with health and fitness you should think of drinking beers with friends, not saying no to that desert when you go out for food and watching way to many tv-shows instead of trying to learn new information or a skill. I like a challenge but committing to something for a longer period of time is a whole other thing because simply put, time is precious. All of this might not sound like a huge deal but if I and anyone else that wants to be great at whatever they’re doing, we will have to commit. Commit to details and sometimes make the more difficult choices. If you’re like me and you work in a world where people judge if they should believe and listen to what you’re saying mostly because of how fit you look (first appearance) it becomes a pretty big deal. I am not saying that drinking a (couple) beer(s) on the weekend is wrong or that eating a dessert is a crime because I am all for having a few beers and I am also one of those sweet tooth’s that wants to eat all the cookies and ice cream. All I am saying is that it’s good to step out of your comfort zone and commit to something for a little while. This is not about trying to follow a ‘’diet’’, cleansing my body or a new year’s resolution. I am doing this purely to step out of my comfort zone for 60 days and commit to something that is going to challenge me, I want to tell you it can positively impact you as well.
I had been travelling for 2 months, going from Canada to over 10 different States to finally hiking the 4 day long Inca trail. I did not have any access to a gym whatsoever for about 2 months, I really tried to stay in shape but obviously it’s hard when you want to experience everything that travelling has to offer. So when I got back home one of the first things I did was go to the CrossFit gym that I have trained at for the past 5 years. I had already accepted this CrossFit coach job in the U.K and was trying to make all of that happen while starting my training back up again. One day I was sitting on the couch watching the final episodes of this tv show called Arrow on Netflix and I was scrolling through my Instagram at the same time. All of a sudden I saw this post pop up from my new boss and colleague about this ‘’60 days strong’’ challenge. Reading through the rules I thought ‘this looks like an interesting concept’ but I was also thinking that I shouldn’t have to do this because I am living and eating ”healthy enough”. Looking back on it this was not the reason why I didn’t commit right away.From my point of view this challenge is not just about living a healthier lifestyle but also accepting different aspects that will just make you better and your day more balanced.
So let’s dive into the 60 days strong challenge for a second and talk about what it is actually all about. On paper this challenge is straight forward and there’re not that many rules that you have to follow. But most of the rules you have to follow can have a significant impact on your day and life in general.So here is a quick overlook of the rules for every single day:

• – 1 workout a day
• No alcohol or cheat meals
• 2.5 liters of water
• A minimum of 3 well balanced meals
• 10 pages of reading, E-books do not count
• Most importantly: if you cheat on any of these rules you have to start over no matter what day you’re on

So pretty straight forward right? And it definitely is, but completing this challenge for all 60 days is a completely different beast. Looking at these rules I know that everybody will have their own rule that they look at and think to themselves ‘’ I will never be able to go without………. for 60 days. For me that’s the no alcohol and cheat meals for a month because like I said I like all the cookies and beers way to much. So you’re right in thinking it’s going to be difficult at times but it’s called a challenge for a reason. Let me explain some of the rules a little bit more. So the first rule should be self-explanatory like all of them. It’s not to be expected however that everybody should do a workout every day because your body also needs rest, or because you might not have the time to go to the gym every single day. But by working out they also mean: biking, running, swimming and simply going for a walk outside. So there’s no excuse not to check this of the list every day.The second rule is pretty straight forward as well, however everybody can have their own opinion about what a cheat meal is and what isn’t. I am not here to tell you what is and what is not called a cheat meal, but I am just going to say that if you’re wondering if something is a cheat meal it probably is.We’re just going to skip number 3. Drink water!Rule number 4 is a little bit tricky and different for every person and lifestyle. For me I am leaning very much towards the ‘’earn your carbs lifestyle’’ ( inspired by Ryan Fischer, go look him up on Instagram!) And maybe a blog about this one later on). Simply this means that I am not focused on eating loads of carbs every day and every meal, but I absolutely still do eat them. What I am focused and conscious about is eating based on what my body has done that day and at what times throughout the day. This is absolutely different for your lifestyle but as long as you look at what your body needs and hit 3 of those meals, you’re good.The last rule is easy to overlook but so important. It’s nice for your brain to just drown out all the exterior noises and drift away for a couple minutes. Also depending on what book you’re reading it might help you soak up new information every day. Or maybe it’s a good excuse to start reading that book that you have been meaning to read for a while but have completely forgotten about. For me this rule gives me a good ending to my nightly ritual, simply turning on the dimmest lights I have and read (at least) 10 pages. The last thing I do before I go to sleep and a good way to finish the day.
I was hanging out in Dublin before new year’s eve, just a couple weeks after finishing those episodes of Arrow, for some reason I mentioned this challenge. As I was talking about it I went over it in my head and thought to myself: ‘’ why not do this, why not challenge myself, why not commit to something that many of my clients are going through in a couple days’ time. Not having an answer to any of these ”why not” questions that satisfied me made me commit to the challenge virtually out of nowhere, or was it? I am happy I made the decision that day and that I started doing this challenge. But I would be lying if I said I am not worried about completing it and doing this for an entire 60 days. But I just remind myself that the hardest step is the first one and that it gets easier with every single day. I also tell myself that one of the hardest things in life is looking back and knowing you did not take advantage of every opportunity life threw at you. I also know that I am not the only one doing this challenge and I can’t go back on everything I am trying to motivate people for and make them excited about I am glad I have taken the first step because of the well balanced days it gives me while I am trying to become the best me.
Like I said this is not about a new year’s resolution but it’s for damn sure that it’s a great start to 2020 and it’s going be an even better year because of it.