The CFL Lifestyle Challenge

Setting a specific date to reach a goal can be a great way to accomplish great things, like reaching a target body weight, running a 5K, completing a Spartan or or triathlon, etc. But after the target is reached, it's not uncommon to experience some backsliding in our daily routine when it comes to nutrition and workouts.

So our focus at CFL is to help you establish and build on habits that you can sustain over a period of a few decades instead of just a few weeks.

To that end, our challenge will center on a single aspect of the 5 Factors of Health each month, giving us the opportunity to effectively internalize incremental improvements in how we eat, sleep, train, think, and connect. September will focus on EAT, then in October, we'll add the goal of improving SLEEP, then TRAIN in November, and so on.

For the month of September, we are adopting the 800 gram Challenge as a way to improve our eating habits. I like it because it's uncomplicated and not restrictive. It doesn't eliminate any foods, but helps you to avoid junk foods because you're satiated from eating your 800g, plus protein. It also avoids the obsession and unsustainability associated with fad diets.

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The rules are simple for September:

1) Get an accountability buddy (or more than one if you like)

2) Eat 800g of fruits and vegetables each day. Add your favorite protein to your meals, and keep a personal record of how you do each day. It's helpful to have an inexpensive food scale, or you can use measuring cups.

Here is a description of the program.

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Keep track of your daily points, according to the description in the graphic above. The reason for doing so is to improve your own performance, not to compete with someone else.

(Note that you can optionally purchase a detailed 30-day program from https://optimizemenutrition.com/800g/ but that's not required to participate in our challenge)

REMEMBER: Progress, not perfection, is the goal. If you failed to reach your target yesterday, who cares? Focus on reaching the goal today. Tiny incremental improvements produce outsized results!

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