An intentional diet

The April wellbeing challenge was all about changing your diet or doing something different in relation to the food you are eating.

Food is very important and can have a big impact on how we feel and function each day.

Why I choose to take on this challenge?
When we talked about this in the office, initially I thought I had a pretty good diet, however when I sat and thought about it, I realised that I often miss the 5 a day target! I asked myself why and came up with the answer of laziness! When I am hungry I tend to go for the easy, sugar rich, shiny wrapped option over the naturally grown and all round better fruit choice!

So this became my mission for the month - try and have my 5 a day.

To be honest, I found this a very difficult challenge! It took self control and discipline which is something I'm still trying to grow!

In short this is how my month went:
Week 1 - good start, choosing fruit over chocolate and mixing up the veg with dinner!

Week 2 - Started badly with a very bruised banana that had been left in my bag over the weekend. Crips and chocolate occasionally made the hit list!

Week 3 - Easter eggs became a staple part of my diet :(

Week 4 - big final push. Made a concerted effort to eat 5 a day!

As with all the wellbeing challenges and most things in life, it is about being intentional, committing and sticking with it even when it is difficult. Throughout this month I had ups and down with my commitment and resolve. Towards the end of the challenge I realised that I had not told anyone I was trying to do it and therefore had zero support and accountability to help me when it got difficult.

A wise man called James once said 'Let your yes be yes and your no be no'! Be intentional.

This challenge has taught me a lot and left me with quite a few questions that you too can ask yourself:

• Do you struggle to be intentional about what you want to do?
• How do you cope when things get difficult and the goal seems so far away?
• Who do you have around you that can support you to keep on keeping on?

As we encourage you to grow your wellbeing physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, remember that it takes continual choice and effort but through it all you are being shaped, changed and grown.

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