Friday, 24 January 2014

Two BIG announcements! EXCITED!

100 Days of Change…

As part of my goals/resolutions for 2014, I wanted to get my diet and health in prime condition.  The year has started out ok with more up’s than down, but it is time to really challenge myself and turn things around for my long term health, wellbeing and to enrich my life to the greatest extent that I can.

I am a firm believer that what you eat and drink can play a profound effect on your long-term wellness.  This includes disease and cancer prevention, long term weight management, and mental clarity, achieving ultimate running fitness, looking young (I need help in this department! Ha!) and general life satisfaction on a day to day basis.

Those who know me know that when it comes to health, food, research and study on all things wellness, well, I am a bit of a nerd.  Through my investigations, I have been constantly brought back to what is known as the Esselston, Forks Over Knives, or Engine 2 way of eating as the pinnacle of lifestyles.  The medical research alone behind this lifestyle (conducted by some of the leading cardiologists and doctors across the world) is MORE than compelling to make me want to strive for this way of life.  And that is not even taking the way it makes you feel, perform, think, react and live into consideration.

SO, what is this way of eating and why 100days?  Well some of you might remember that at the end of 2012 I did the 28day Engine 2 Challenge.  It is the same plan I had results on then.  For those who missed it, here it is.  Of course it is a wholefoods, plant based diet (vegan…as if I am going to change from this!).  You can consume as much food as you like as long as everything is wholegrain (nothing processed, ie. White bread, pasta etc), has NO added oil (apart from whole foods like  avocado, nuts etc) and you take on NO stimulants (coffee, tea etc).  Easy right?!  All this along with the obvious fruit, veg, nuts, seeds, legumes and grains.  And why the 100days?  One of my inspirations in life is Rich Roll and he believes (which I agree with) that it takes 100days to change/break a habit.  So, 100 it is!

Now….I am not making this decision lightly.  I believe that I need to do something remarkable, challenging, scary, tough and life changing to make a difference in my world and to my health.  I try to do this on a daily basis, but this is going to take things to a new level.  To be perfectly honest…I am PETRIFIED!!!  I know that the first week or two of this is going to be very hard (not that it is that much different to how I eat now accept for cutting out sugar and not having caffeine…help me Rhonda!)  BUT…I look forward to sharing the journey and experience it all with you. 

So, my plan of action is to start on Australia Day (26/1) and keep a daily journal online through my blog.  I will post it, along with my training and weekly weight, and any other things I think up each week.  I ask that, if you don’t mind, you keep me accountable.  I fully expect to have the occasional slip up (which I hope I don’t) but plan to stay the journey and see it through for the full 100days.  Public accountability can sometimes be the best form of keeping one in check!  Bring it!

There it is.  Simple, yet extremely life changing.  This journey will literally change  my long-term health prospectus.  Whilst I hope to drop some kg’s and see my running performances continue to improve, my ultimate goal is eating/drinking habits for a lifetime, not a quick fix! 

If any of you might be at all interested in joining me on your own journey, that would be AMAZING!  You can commit to what you like, but the same plan would be ideal so we can do it together.  You can Google The Engine 2 Diet and see what beautiful stuff you CAN eat, and if any of you are keen, I suggest you buy the book and do your own research online…the rabbit hole is deep and the answers you will find (especially about disease prevention) is eye opening!  Also, I STRONGLY suggest you ALL watch Forks Over Knives, even if you are not ready to commit to this big change straight away!  As a collective start date for anyone wanting to play along at home, might I suggest the 1st of February, to give you a couple of days to get your head around the idea and start preparing for what I promise will be a life changing journey we can share together!

Thank you all for your support.  In anything I have done in the past you have all been amazing and I have no reason to believe you won’t be during this next venture!  Bring on Auzzie Day….lets get this party started!

PS - EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT!

A SECOND piece of big news for this blog….I have been trying and trying for a fair while now but due to my lack of computer skills been unable to get it sorted….but….I FINALLY have my own You Tube channel set up!  I have posted two videos so far, an intro one and my video from Coast 2 Kosci.  The quality might not be incredible but I have done my best and I am sure I will improve with time!  I hope that you might go over, subscribe to the channel and share the love!  Below are the links for the Channel, and the two videos.  ENJOY and let me know what you think!  Thanks again!




2 comments:

  1. Hey Mat, I'm not sure if you're already a part of it but Engine2Diet are looking for bloggers to take part in their "national" Engine 2 Challenge and blog about it. I'm not sure if they'll take internationals on but I thought you might be interested since you are planning on doing this anyway. They will link to your blog and give you some swag to give a way if you're accepted. Take a look at their Facebook or Twitter for details.

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  2. Thanks heaps David. I will check that out for sure! Sounds ripper!

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