#impACTforLife ACTion Challenge - Week 4

If you started with us early in January and are still hanging in there for the final week, <ding, ding, ding> YOU WIN THE PRIZE! There really isn't a prize. Unless -- you've started seeing a change (how your jeans fit) or changed the way you view fitness and nutrition!

The word diet makes me mad. A once perfectly fine word that has too much negativity and restriction associated with it. I'm sure that when the word was first used, it was used to describe a positive, healthy foods, lifestyle. Not anymore. At least, not to me. Please indulge me. 

"No, I can't have that. I'm on a diet."

"I've gotta lose 35 lbs before my class reunion by Tuesday, so I'm on the ________ diet."

"I've been on 17 diets and none of them work!"

The decision was made in my daily vocabulary to edit the word to a more palatable term:  Nutrition.

In November, 2012, when in my personal devotion (praying, reading the Bible, etc.), I felt like God was asking me to do a fast from December 1 to 24. Assuming He wanted me to abstain from all food, I whined, "But, God, that's the holidays." After Thanksgiving I planned to focus my mind, body and spirit on a fresh pursuit of God valuing Him more than what I threw down my throat. I chose to eat only whole grains, fruits and veggies until celebrating with family on Christmas Eve.

My nutrition took on new purpose after reading a theory regarding animal protein, "hot flashes" and night sweats in perimenopausal women. Nutrition will become the pathway to lower my bad or "lousy" cholesterol (LDL). Via nutrition I plan to retrain my brain for healthy choices. Nutrition = Nourish.

Tuesday, December 18, solidified my decision for nutrition when my husband suffered a heart attack resulting from a blockage in his Left Circumflex Artery. A terrible, horrible, really bad day. Driving away from Vanderbilt Hospital just four days, later, with Terry, I explained my nutrition vs diet opinion, as well as, personal health concerns for the future. We aren't vegans nor vegetarians. But, we decided to do this thing, together...for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.

#impActforLife – Week 4 -- The FINAL ACT

Nothing Changes until You ACT!

Monday

Clean the house from top to bottom!

Try some green clean tips.

Turn up the volume to music & water intake & get that heartbeat up!

impACT Blog: Cleaning Schedule

impACT Blog: Green Clean

Tuesday

Pack a healthy snack and pack extra to share with a friend!

Show and tell on our ImpACT for Life facebook wall and twitter and instagram using the #impACTforLife hashtag!

impACT Blog: 7 Healthy Snacks

Wednesday

Do a circuit workout today!

impACT Blog: Blonde Ponytail

Thursday

Throw together an easy plant-based appetizer or late-night munchie!

impACT Blog: Forks Over Knives

Friday

Enjoy a leisurely photo stroll.

With your cell phone or fancy-schmancy camera, view your world from a different perspective. Share your treasures with us on the ImpACT for Life facebook wall and on twitter and instagram using the #impACTforLife hashtag! Set a goal: 30 mins to 1 hr.

Final Weekend

HOORAY! You did it! It’s the final weekend of our #impACTforLife ACTion Challenge! To celebrate make a special healthy dinner for the family with candles and music! Add extra veggies and go easy on the cheese and sauce. Perhaps, you could start a blog chronicling your new journey to great health! Keep making good nutritional choices and keep ACTing!