Wellness is a broad subject including everything from physical fitness and financial wellness to mental health. Wellness “Challenges” – activities that engage people in becoming happier, healthier, and more energetic – are gaining popularity and changing lives. Improve your health without getting overwhelmed by trying a new wellness challenge each week or a few times a month.
Being more mindful of your health doesn’t necessarily mean overhauling your entire diet or hitting the gym for an hour every day—there are a lot of little things you can do to help you feel like your happiest, healthiest self. Challenges are a great way to jump back into your health and fitness routine. What is even better is that you can grab a group of your friends to do it with you! You can do any of these challenges for a week up to a month. Decide what works best for you and have fun with it.
Things like staying hydrated, getting in extra steps, trying new things and taking breaks are all important, and it all starts with challenging yourself to pay attention to them.
1. Water Challenge
Most of us don’t get enough water every day, but staying adequately hydrated is important for a lot of reasons—water helps with digestion, maintains your fluid and electrolyte balance, keeps you regular, and carries nutrients around your body.
The water challenge consists of drinking water first thing when you wake up, before and after every meal and before you go to bed until you have had a gallon of water in a day.
This is a great way to rehydrate your body. Many of us are extremely dehydrated and don’t even know it. After a week of this challenge, you will feel amazing and want to continue it for weeks to come.
2. No Screens Night Challenge
Studies show that too much screen time (that includes your phone, computer, tablet, and TV) before bed can negatively impact your sleep, both because of the blue light screens emit, and because it keeps your brain engaged when you should be winding down. Plus, spending the night in front of the TV keeps you sedentary.
Challenge yourself (and your family, if applicable) to a no-screens night—no TV, no devices before bed—and find something screen-free to do. You might find that you sleep better, and it’ll give you an opportunity to find new ways to connect with people.
3. Mediation Challenge
You can’t forget about your mental health. Mental health is so easily overlooked when we think about our overall well-being. We spend so much time on our physical health that we forget to take time to relieve our anxiety and stress. Try mediating for 10 days straight. Every day for 10 days you have to mediate first thing when you wake up. You may have to set your alarm a little bit earlier, but it will be worth it.
4. Dress for Confidence Challenge
Self-confidence is like a mental muscle: Everyone is born with it, but not everyone flexes it. If you want your muscles to grow stronger, you need to exercise, right?
Yes, clothes are fun, they’re a great creative outlet, and they’re a fun expression of our personal tastes, but that’s not where their true power lies. The true power behind your clothes is their ability to change the way you think and feel about yourself, enabling you to live the very best version of your life.
With this challenge, you put effort into your look in its entirety. Your hair, nails, clothing, the works. The key is to look and feel as if you are important and going somewhere important,.
When we speak of dressing well, we mean what YOU, as an individual, feel portrays your own style in the best way possible.
5. Morning Walk Challenge
Sometimes what you need to jumpstart your day is a little activity and some outside time. Maybe you can’t fit in a full workout or make it to the gym before you start the rest of your day, but you can probably fit in a short walk, and that’ll likely help get your energy up for the day. No need to jog or push yourself to run, just get yourself moving
6. No Junk Food Challenge
We all love to have treats every now and then, especially now with quarantine. But after a couple of months of indulging in all of our favorite foods, it’s time for a junk food cleanse. For a week, 2 weeks or however long works best for you there is no junk food allowed. This will allow you to put the proper nutrients back into your body.
7. Gratitude Challenge
Gratitude means feeling thankful as well as expressing thanks and appreciation. And there is more to gratitude than meets the eye — practicing gratitude can have a positive effect on all areas of your life: physical, mental, emotional, and even social! Research has shown that individuals who regularly practice gratitude experience these benefits:
- Stronger immune systems
- Lower blood pressure
- Less stress
- Improved sleep
- More joy and optimism
- Expressing more positive emotions
- Improved and strengthened relationships
There’s a lot to be thankful for. Express gratitude and write down something new that you are thankful for every day for a few weeks. Cultivating gratitude doesn’t cost any money and it certainly doesn’t take much time, but the benefits are enormous.