The fli challenge
It’s the beginning of June and I just had my first baby last month.
I am absolutely ready for this next chapter of my life..
Being a mom, having my body back to myself (kinda sorta), and reinventing who I am again.
What better way to start the rest of my life than with a habit challenge?
After all, our habits are what create and shape our identity, and here I am.. a new me.
This whole idea of the fli challenge started because a few years ago I stumbled upon the 75 Hard Challenge -
a mental toughness challenge where you follow several rules for a consistent 75 days, and if you missed a rule, you start over, back at day 1.
But in taking that challenge on (for just 60 of the 75 days) I gained so much more than just mental toughness.
I went through a mind, body, spirit transformation during that time.
It wasn’t just due to that challenge and following it’s rules, but what I was learning alongside it.
75-hard got me mentally in shape by strengthening my willpower and self-discipline to follow the rules every day, consistently.
It got me physically in shape by doing the two 45-minute workouts, following a diet (of my choice), and drinking a gallon of water a day.
(I wrote about it in another blog, so won’t dive into the details here.)
The other part was the kicker.
I was going through a spiritual awakening of some sort at the same time.
Not because of the 75 Hard challenge, but I would almost describe it as learning how the Universe worked and how to work with it.. or play with it, rather.
I felt amazing..
In my body, my mind, and my spirit.
I felt totally uplifted.
I was high vibing.
I was genuinely happy.
And I felt genuinely in love with myself and life.
After I completed my 60 days of the challenge, I kept up fairly well with the rules.
A bonus to doing a strict and challenging challenge to the tee for so long was that it made keeping up with the “gist” of the rules a piece of cake.
It was easy to do a workout every day, drink a gallon of water, and (mostly) stick to my diet.
I created healthy habits, and they stuck.
(The ones that were the most manageable anyway..)
I felt like I had just learned the key to creating and maintaining healthy habits for physical and mental health.
But the part that intrigues me the most is creating and maintaining that self-love, high vibe, and spiritual upliftment.
I know the 75-hard challenge isn’t really sustainable as a lifestyle.
A softer version of it that would still imprint healthy habits into your life, yes, for sure, and it was worth the effort.
And with all the lessons I was learning that raised my vibration so high,
I knew that by combining everything together somehow, it would be a recipe that could uplift so many in the best, most meaningful way.
Now.. about 3 years and a baby later..
I’ve been living and learning how to soften my all-or-nothing approach to creating those physical and mental habits,
Bring in a lot more balance and forgiveness,
And maintain that high vibration.
The truth is.. it’s going to be work.
Positive, forward-progressing effort.
(Which I believe we can turn into “play”)
And that’s where the “challenge” comes in.
The strictness and consistency of the 75 hard challenge created an aftermath of residual, positive habit formation.
Paired with forgiveness that fosters persistence, balance, and the mere capability to incorporate this into our daily lives creates a lifestyle.
Enter, the fli challenge.
the fli challenge
The fli challenge is designed to create healthy lifestyle habits that strengthen your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
The idea is to strive to perform all of the habits daily for at least 30 days.
However, if one (or more) of the habits are missed, you do not have to start over.
What you have to do is take a mental note of:
why it was missed
how to not miss it in the future (fail-proof it)
And keep going.
You will learn persistence, improvement, self-forgiveness, and self-trust.
You will learn that you do not have to be perfect.. you have to keep evolving.
You will learn how easy it is to feel better, and maybe even your best, in all areas of your life.
And that you are the key.
the rules
These 7 habits are meant to be performed daily.
Strive for 100%.
If any are missed, take the time to think of and maybe even journal about:
why it was missed
how to not miss it in the future (fail-proof it)
You do not have to perform each for a specific amount of time (except for the workout).
Just perform them for the amount of time that fits into your schedule.
We are building the neural pathways to turn these tasks into habits.
By doing these tasks even for a little bit, no matter what, we are adding a rep to build that habit muscle.
the habits
Meditation
Journaling
45-minute workout
walk/jog outside
1-gallon water
Intermittent fast - eating window = 8 hours or less
No processed sweets
A little more guidance and detail..
Meditation
find a space to relax and close your eyes while you do a bit of deep breathing and relax all the muscles that you can in your body starting from head down
don’t worry about the amount of time you need to do this. 3+ minutes is good.
Journaling
with pen and paper or typing is fine
no time min or max
try to use this time to clarify what improvements you can make to your habits, clear your head, do stream of consciousness, and/or use prompts
45-minute workout
just try to keep moving/working for this entire time
stretching is okay - you’re working
listen to your body - slow down when you need to and amp it up when you can
1-gallon water
try to get it in well enough before bedtime so you don’t disrupt your sleep by waking up to go to the bathroom
Intermittent fast - eating window = 8 hours or less
determine your start eating time and end time to strive for each day (ex: start @ 12:00 and end @ 8:00)
If you end up eating later than your start time (ex. 1:00), then you can push your end time if needed (ex. 9:00), BUT if you want to see and feel better results, try not to push that end time.
strive to lessen your eating window if you’re needing to lose extra weight
No processed sweets
this means packaged sweets
homemade sweets are okay.. it’s especially good if you make them yourself
strive for healthier versions of sweets (like dark chocolate date bars, banana nice-cream, energy balls, etc.)
There you have it!
If you or someone you know tries out this challenge, I hope it serves you well and you enjoy yourself while doing it.
It’s all about learning and improving and being able to feel our best, so I wish that for you and anyone who tries it.
If you’d like to learn more, connect, and join me in my own journey with this challenge, you can find me on:
YouTube @fitlivinginspired
Pinterest @fitlivinginspired
and Instagram @fitlivinginspired (though I’m on here less and less these days)
Stay fit living inspired.. stay fli!
- Mel
