Wellness Challenge

What is the objective of the 13 Stars Wellness Challenge?

The goal of the challenge is to reflect on current behaviors in our lives and think about where we can improve. The categories we hope to target are diet (we will be following paleo for this challenge), water intake, exercise consistency, and screen time detox.

Being a part of the challenge is not about having a perfect diet or a perfect workout regiment. That’s why the challenge asks you to enter your scores daily. If you have a day where you are struggling to meet the goals, you get to start fresh and try again the next day. We hope at the end of the challenge, each athlete will establish at least one good habit to continue with after the six weeks.

What are the dates?

September 9 through October 20.

What do I need to do to enter?

Please add your name to the signup sheet at the gym or email Brian ([email protected]). The cost to enter is $20 and 5 non-perishable items to donate to the Interfaith Food Pantry. You can give your cash to a coach or use Venmo. There will be a box for the food drive at the gym.

You will also need to check your email and enter your scores in an online spreadsheet throughout the challenge.

Yeah, but how do I win?

We like to think we are all winners just for participating, but if you’re after the cold, hard cash, here’s where you need to pay attention.

Challengers can earn points in the following categories:
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• Food (Earn 5 points for each day you eat paleo – up to 35 points for the week)
• Water (Earn 3 points per day for drinking at least 64 ounces of water per day – up to 21 points for the week)
• Workout points (Earn 5 points for each day you workout for up to 20 points for the week; consistent physical exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes outside of the gym also counts as a workout)
• Cell phone detox (Earn 1 point per day for putting your phone down for 1 full hour during a time you would usually carry it around – up to 7 points for the week)
• Weight loss % X 5
• Improvement in the benchmark WOD (TBA)

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What are the prizes?

The competitor with the most points will win 50% of the cash; the second-highest scoring competitor will win 30%; third place wins 20%.

Where do you do your grocery shopping?

A lot foods are naturally Paleo or gluten-free, so you do not need to shop anywhere specific, you just need to know what you’re looking for / trying to avoid. We do most of our grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s though, because they have a lot of very clean products (and you don’t have to choose from 1 or 20 different brands). Don’t get me wrong, not everything at TJs is clean, so still keep an eye on ingredients.

Do you have a food guide I should work off of?

We sure do. Take a look: https://ultimatepaleoguide.com/files/2013/01/Food-List.pdf.

There are many variations of the Paleo Diet, where one diet is stricter or more relaxed than another. Much like in CrossFit we need to have our standards, so this list will be our standard for the next 6 weeks.

NOTE: but please see the exceptions list 3 sections down.

What foods should I avoid?

The big ones are pasta, noodles, breads, pastries, crackers, baked goods, pancakes, waffles, biscuits … and beer.

What if I am not sure?

Reach out. We’ll have a good idea if it’s a green light or not. And pay attention to the ingredients. Aim for food items that you not only can pronounce the ingredients, but have a good understanding of what they are. Food companies enjoy trying to change up the name of ingredients (ie. sugar to brown rice syrup) to trick people into buying their products.

Exceptions to the rule (there are always a few!)

Our ultimate goal with this challenge is to find a new, sustainable way of living healthier lives. To help facilitate this throughout the process, we are allowing the following exceptions to the Paleo Diet throughout the challenge:

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• 3 drinks per week (wine, agave tequila, or potato vodka (Tito’s))
• honey or agave (as sweeteners, use sparingly)
• quinoa, brown rice, wild rice or basmati rice
• dark chocolate (60% cacao or more)
• sweet potatoes
• ghee

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Do you have any suggestions for recipes?

The sites we normally use are PaleOMG.com, ElanasPantry.com, NomNomPaleo.com, BalancedBites.com, PaleoGrubs.com, and AgainstAllGrain.com.

“I can’t do this … <random day on my calendar> is coming up!”

Well, that would be like saying, “I can’t make the WOD on Monday, so I’m just going to skip the whole week.” Doesn’t make much sense to abandon healthy options because of one day. So, take a 0 for whatever day you have coming up and then get back to it the next day. No biggie.

Give It A Try

If you are thinking about doing it … I would encourage you to give it a go. If you feel like you have been kicking @$$ in class, but feel like you should be seeing more results than you are … chances are pretty good that cleaning things up in the kitchen may be what is missing. We do these once in awhile to encourage folks to try to change things up for a short period of time and see how they feel. Holding yourself accountable for 6 weeks to water, food and working out can be a game changer. So, think about it. And if not for your health … then do it for the dough!