When we sat down with Instructor Katie Hill to talk about the Whole 30 Challenge it was like hearing someone talk about a new love. Katie actually glowed as she talked about how the Whole 30 Challenge has changed her life and her desire to help others find the same success she has.
“If you had told me about this a year ago, I would have said no way. I was too stubborn.” Katie says. But after many years of a vegetarian diet and seeing no results, Katie knew something had to give. “If you want to see results you have to change what you’re doing.”
Being a yoga teacher, Katie also realized the need to “Walk the walk and talk the talk,” about healthy living and mindfulness in eating.
The Whole 30 Challenge focuses on whole foods devoid of sugar and gluten to encourage the body to detox and shed its addiction to sugar. There are also wonderful anti-inflammatory effects. As with any detox plan, there are ups and downs but Katie stresses that the Challenge is not meant to be punitive. It’s more about 30 days of giving your body what it needs, not focusing on what you can’t have…one day at a time.
Katie held herself accountable to the Challenge by keeping a daily blog of her progress. The first ten days were the most challenging she said, as her body was withdrawing from sugar addiction. You can read about her journey here: http://www.katie-hill.com/blog/2012/9/22/digest-my-august-2012-whole30-challenge.html
Starting in October, Katie will lead a Whole 30 Challenge at Dragonfly Hot Yoga. She says that honesty and accountibility are the two most important ways for people to stay on track for 30 days. There is no cost, just support groups, and Dragonflyers can invite their friends, relatives and coworkers along on the journey.
“We’re so willing to hand over money to diet plans like Weight Watchers and then find ways to cheat the system,” says Katie. “I’ve found that my grocery bill actually went down as I’ve overcome my fear of cooking.”
If you want to join Katie and other Dragonflyers on this journey, information sessions will be held for 15 minutes after Katie’s 7pm Slow Flow class in Fitchburg and Sunday morning 11:45am Flow in Middleton starting in October. (You need not attend class to come to the info session!) Katie also wants to start a new blog featuring participants’ stories. Sign up for the challenge today at http://www.katie-hill.com/whole30-sign-up/