MEATLESS AND MINDFULNESS MONDAY CHALLENGE!!

Challenge Dates: Feb 6th, Feb 13th, Feb 20th and Feb 27th

February is upon us and is National Heart Health Month!! Heart Dis-Ease is one of the leading causes of death in America.

The CDC suggests that periodically starting one HEART HEALTHY HABIT can greatly reduce your risk of heart attack, strokes and more. This month I challenge you to start two habits that are small in action but grand in impact. Take the Meatless and Mindfulness Monday Challenge and reap some awesome rewards. It's easier to start than you think! All you have to do is take an honest look at how you either help your heart thrive and hinder its health... 

Before we jump in, let's talk about Mindfulness, because I am sure "Meatless Monday" is pretty self explanatory. Or maybe it's not :-) hmm, no worries, I'll circle back to that.

What is Mindful? Mindfulness can look different for everyone. Boiled down it is our ability to pay attention to the present moment with an open mind, no attachment, and no judgement. You can bring Mindfulness to an every day task as well as cultivate a full mindful practice, like meditation. More on that later...  

What does being meatless and mindful on a Monday even look like? Great Question!!

​If you are already a vegetarian or a vegan and/or already have a mindfulness or meditation practice; you might think you can skip this challenge. AU CONTRAIRE MON FERE :-) I got a lil summin summin for you too!! AND For those that are newbies or novices - I got you too!!

Let's start with the newbs. This is how you can incorporate the new habit of being Meatless on a Monday:

• You can go all in and have no animal products (egg, butter, cheese, meat etc) all day on Monday
• You can modify and don't consume meat products (poultry, seafood, pork, beef etc) but have eggs for example
• You can choose to go meatless all day and then have a SAD Dinner (Standard American Diet)

There are so many ways to make this work for you and your situation. Give yourself some grace, especially if it is your first time. Do what you can where you can and leave room for mistakes and pivots if need be. As I say in my yoga classes "Take what you need and leave what you don't". Meaning, not all parts of this challenge (or most situations in life) need to be taken on all at once all the time. So, do it all. Do alot. Do an itty bit... it is all better than DOING NOTHING AT ALL!! 

My Pros Out There. Here is how you can amp up your routine if you are already pretty much Plant Based: 

• Incorporate Raw Foods til 4p
• Try all the new vegan/vegetarian dishes you've been eyeing on Pinterest for months
• Decrease your processed food intake and have more whole food meals
• Increase your greens and fresh pressed juices intake
• Learn about your Dosha and eat more foods that support your overall energetic profile
• Try vegan/vegetarian foods for other cultures 

​
Only you can evaluate your current routine and habits to make the most informed decisions on how to make this challenge most beneficial and healing for you. In both cases, ensure that you are getting enough calories and macro/micro nutrients to fuel your body to successfully complete your daily tasks with as much ease as possible. Where alot of people go wrong when they switch to a more Plant Based lifestyle is that they don't eat enough and what they do eat isn't varied enough to give them all the vitamins and nutrients they need. So be sure that you are always filling your tank with premium food sources of various kinds. 

Here are some meal ideas to help you along:
Breakfast - bagel, smoothie, tofu scramble, frittata, veggie BLT, pancakes, loaded oatmeal, quinoa porridge, fruit monomeal, yogurt parfait, 

Lunch - burrito, pizza, tacos, buddha bowl, chickpea chikn salad, soup and sandwich, loaded salad and sandwich, loaded baked or sweet potato and green veggie

Dinner - veggie pot pie, burger and fries, lasagna, spaghetti, stir fry, curry, stew, rice greens and bean bowl, veggie paella

Snack - fruit, nuts, seeds, pretzels, popcorn, granola, protein cookie, hummus and veg 

Now Let's Add In A Mindfulness Practice.

Newbs you first again, because I am nice like that :-)
It is easier than you think to add mindfulness into your day. So easy that people discount it and skip it all together. This is one of those GET ALOT OF BANG FOR YOUR BUCK things! There's no harm in adding it if it can only help, especially if it is an EASY WIN for the day!!  Here are some simple ways to add Mindfulness to your meal times:

• Pause before you eat and admire, bless or thank your food and whomever prepared it (even if that person is you, no - ESPECIALLY IF THAT PERSON WAS YOU)
• Take longer to chew and savor your meals and drinks (this also helps with digestion)
• Enjoy your meal outdoors (or maybe just my FL peeps and those close to the equator lol I am not responsible for frost bite, ha)
• Play some binural beats, classical music, jazz vibes or lofi jams as you cook and enjoy your food
• Turn off all devices and enjoy your food on a deeper level

Not interested in the meal mindfulness ideas? 

Here is another way to add in Mindfulness. You could  try to Meditate or start taking Mindful Pauses through out your day. If you don't meditate, can't meditate, don't know how to meditate, try and "failed" at meditating ... you are making it far harder than it needs to be. PROMISE, it ain't that difficult. Here are some tips to get outta your own way and just get started already:

• Know that your mind isn't going to STOP thinking completely, that's part of BEING ALIVE ;-) Congrats, you're in the land of the living. Your brain is brain'n. YAY!! Stop getting mad at it for doing its job. You are creating space between the thoughts, more and more space, not stopping them altogether. 
• Don't assume you have to take 30 - 60 mins for it to be called "meditation". Meditation can be 1 min or 100 mins. Do what you can when you can. Maybe a Mindful Pause is all you got right now, and that is perfectly find. As I said earlier- some is better than NONE! 
• Judging yourself or comparing your meditation to someone else's isn't going to make it any easier on you. Comparison is the theif of joy. Don't even compare today's meditation to yesterday's meditation. You were a different person then, had a different mood etc. Let that go and get present!! 

Easy 10 Step Meditation for my newbs:

1. Get comfy (seated or laying)
2. Drop your shoulders and open and close your mouth
3. Take a deep breath in and hold it in your low belly, pause, then slowly let it out
4. Drop your thoughts... just creating space between them
5. If a thought comes up, notice it and let it float by
6. Go back to your breath, start to make your exhale a little longer than your inhale
7. Start to get present, whether that means focusing on your breath, your current sensations, repeating a positive thought (affirmation, mantra or chant) or listening to a guide
8. Surrender to the process, each meditation session will look and feel different and that is perfectly fine
9. Now close your eyes, shoulders loose, breathing slow, space between thoughts ... GO! 
10. Repeat steps 3-9 as many times as you feel guided, even if that is just ONE TIME

That's it!! You did it. Easy as 1-2-3. Of course you can make it more complicated and longer and and and... but if you are starting off and meditation has eluded you forever, just start here and see where it goes a few weeks down the line. 

If you are a PRO MEDITATOR and are looking for ways to challenge yourself, try these out:

• Add breathwork (Holothropic, Wim Hof, Belly Breath etc) 
• Add EFT and/or RET  (Emotional Freedom Technique and/or Rapid Eye Therapy)
• Try Transcendental Meditation
• Add chants, mantra or affirmations 
• Record a present tense self hypnosis track and use it as your guide
• Gaze into a Sri Yantra
• Watch a candle flame dance, while breathing slowly and mentally repeating an affirmation
• Add a Kundalini practice 
• Try slow or restorative yoga followed by your meditation practice 

There we have it folks. Easy and quick ways to add or amp up two habits in your life that could have AWESOME long term benefits for your health, heart, mind, emotions and spirit. I hope that you found at least one gem to carry with you and maybe share with someone else. 

Here are some additional resources to help your challenge go even deeper:

Online-
Sweet Potato Soul (Vegan Blogger and Cook)
Avantgarde Vegan (Vegan Youtuber and Cook)
Brain Turner (Vegan Body Builder)
Pick Up Limes (Vegan Blogger and Cook)
Natalie Matthews (Vegan Bikini Pro) 
Leila Hannoun (Vegan Youtuber)
VeggieKins (Gluten Free Vegan Youtuber) 
Abetweene (Vegan Youtuber) 
Naturally Stephanie (Vegan YouTuber and Body Builder)
Sweet Greens Vegan ( Vegan YouTuber)

Videos- 
Forks Over Knives
Vegucated
Fat Sick and Nearly Dead 
Food Inc
The Game Changers

Books- 
​Medical Medium by Antony William
Happy Vegan by Russell Simmons
Atomic Habits by James Clear
How Not to Die by Michael Greger MD
7 Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra 
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell MD
Success Through Stillness by Russell Simmons
Ayurveda by Sahara Rose
Preteinaholic by Garth Davis MD
Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

Cookbooks- 
Eat Plants Bitch by Pinky Cole
The Korean Vegan by Joann Molinaro 
Sweet Potato Soul by Jenne Claiborne 

Packaged Food Brands-
Franklin Farms
Nasoya 
Gardein
Beyond Meats
Follow Your Heart Cheez
Field Roast Cheez and Meats
Morning Star 
Amy's Foods
Daring Plant Chicken  
 
If you haven't checked it out already, stop by my "ABOUT | Janet Gathers " page for a FREE copy of my eBook. It is also available in my Etsy Shop if you would like to buy a copy as a love donation. 

Thanks for stopping by! See you soon.

Leave a comment, share link with a friend ... or enemy LOL!! 

Namaste.
Xo - JG 
 ** as always consult your healthcare provider and/or a nutritionist before starting or changing your exercise and/or diet regimen.