Earlier this week, I talked about my powerful Make-Good Monday strategy, and how this can help you rebalance and restore your body after an indulgent weekend. I shared how my personal Make-Good Monday plan involves some sort of exercise, and a big, hearty salad for lunch — usually a vegan Kale Caesar Salad.
But what if you don't like kale? Do you have to eat a kale caesar salad to do Make-Good Monday? Of course not!
The specifics of your Make-Good Monday ritual are entirely up to you.
Now, it's all well and good to follow a Make-Good Monday ritual, but the real magic happens when you string it together with a Make-Good Tuesday, and a Make-Good Wednesday… and keep going until temptation strikes, which is most often on the weekend.
Keeping your clean rituals on rinse-and-repeat for as long as you can accomplishes a few things. A few super important, “everything” kind of things:
- Your palate will start to change, and healthier foods will actually start tasting better to you.
- Your cravings will change. Sugar cravings will become less intense and even disappear, and you'll start to crave healthier foods.
- Your body will be flooded with antioxidants, nutrients, and fiber. This, in turn, will help smooth out hormonal imbalances, stabilize blood sugar, improve mood, and boost your immune system.
- Your energy levels will improve. It's hard to be energized or feel like a rockstar when you're jacked up on bad food, excessive caffeine, or too much drink. Taking a break from all of that gives your body a chance to de-stress, stop working overtime, and restore balance.
- I'm saving the best for last: you'll reduce your risk for cancer, heart disease and other scary situations. Enough said.
You Don't Have to Wait Until Monday
Ready to get started?
Great!
The good news is that you don't have to wait until next Monday to get started. You don't even have to wait until tomorrow morning, for that matter.
How about now?
You can get started with your very next meal, or even your very next bite.
It goes well beyond food, too. Maybe you start by doing something amazing during the next 10 minutes — try meditating, or walking around the block, or moving through a few yoga poses. Or try something as simple as drinking 12-16 ounces of fresh, filtered water with a squeeze of lemon.
Think easy. Think small. Come up with something you can do right now, in your current surroundings.
Choose rituals that please you, and excite you. Choose something you're naturally curious about.
Ideally, choose something that's a treat for the senses: a deep breath, or the scent of the outdoors, or a ripe peach vibrating with flavor.
And if some part of you says hey! you don't have time for this! or come on — what good can a 10-minute walk possibly do for you? simply recognize that this is completely normal. This voice, this critical and often fearful voice is what author Steven Pressfield calls Resistance. We all have it.
Navigating Resistance
As Pressfield says in The War of Art…
Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.
In fact, Pressfield writes about Resistance's Greatest Hits in his book, and guess who made the list?
“Any diet or health regimen.”
See? It's perfectly normal to have mixed feelings about eating or living clean. When it comes to change, we can absolutely be one part inspired, and one part terrified. One part committed, and one part flaky. One part loving it, one part hating it.
So, when we're trying to live a healthier life, follow healthier habits, or do anything else that is aspirational — and because of that, slightly or really uncomfortable — we need to turn down the volume on Resistance, and do it anyway.
It's okay to be skeptical or reluctant. That's just one part of you talking.
It's time to give the other part of you the mic.
Recipe/Video of the Week: Kale Caesar Salad
If you need some extra inspiration, check out my latest video on More Good Day Oregon. I'm the show's healthy living expert, and my segments run on Mondays. Tune in sometime at 9am Pacific time on Fox-12 Oregon as I make healthy smoothies, salads, snacks, hearty entrees, and more.
The links for the Kale Caesar Salad recipe (including dressing, protein and topping) are listed below.
Happy kale-ing!