Hi everyone, welcome back to the Lake Foundation’s blog! It’s Stacey Mensah here, The Lake Foundation’s guest blogger. As many of you may know I embarked on a 31-day challenge at the start of May. I invited all of you lovely people on this journey along with me as I was documenting this journey over on Instagram.

What is the 31-day challenge?

If you know nothing of this you need not worry because a month ago I knew nothing of this either. The 31 days saw me take on the challenge of staying away from processed foods and artificial ingredients. I was only able to eat natural things. This basically meant that I was paleo for the month which was an interesting experience for me.

What have I learned during the 31 days?

At the start of the challenge I was feeling incredibly optimistic. It was the beginning of the new month and I felt ready to take on anything and everything. Honestly I thought this challenge was going to be a walk in the park – oh how easily deceived I was! Below are some of the key things I learned during my journey:

Don’t get comfortable

The first four days were amazing. I stuck to the paleo diet of vegetables and meat and I was all about prepping my meals. It was only until the fourth day did I get a bit comfortable. I remember someone asking me about how it was going and I simply said, ‘oh yes, it’s going well’ in such a blasé manner. I hadn’t recognised how well I was doing and therefore passed it off as if I was just taking it in my stride. And because of that, I momentarily went back to my old eating habits at the end of day five. Terrible, right? But the one thing I decided before the journey began was that regardless of whether I stumble, fall or jump off this bandwagon I would always get back on.

If you don’t meal prep, you better be mentally prepared

 If you don’t meal prep one or more of the following things will happen:

1. You’re going to have to be mentally prepared for the other options that are available
2. You will most likely have to spend an arm and a leg to get food that is tailored to your diet
3. You will end up compromising. Eating food that you normally would not consider.

Depending on how busy your lifestyle is, meal prep can be incredibly tedious but you have to weigh up the alternatives. Would you rather spend an hour now making your meals for the next two days, or spending two hours during your lunch time on Monday running around London trying to find a healthy alternative? I know which one I would rather do but of course I ended up doing the latter. Of course there are many stores serving incredibly healthy options but you need to figure out what works for you. Many healthy breakfasts in London’s various trendy cafes include oats, eggs, nuts or apples and of course I am allergic to all of these things, so if you are going to skip out on your meal prep for the day please just be prepared.

Have someone to keep you accountable

Getting towards the second half of the month I enlisted the help of a friend to keep me accountable. Naively, I gave him permission to confiscate any unhealthy food that was in my possession. Now of course I didn’t think he would do it but boy, was I wrong. During this time, I was working towards a deadline. I was having an incredibly stressful day and so I thought this was reason enough to indulge in a chocolate bar.

So on this particular day, I walked into the newsroom with a Kinder Bueno, feeling somewhat settled, I approached my friend. Thinking that he would have compassion for me I began telling him how stressed I was and I realised half way through our conversation that his eyes had been fixated on this chocolate bar. He suddenly shouted, ‘No’, snatched the bar of chocolate from me and threw it in the bin. He then began an unexpected monologue on why I shouldn’t be eating this but of course I was two steps ahead. The analytical skills I spent building up during my years of undergrad were suddenly awakened. I quickly left and ran around the corner, remembering that I had one more bar left. Unfortunately, he found me, tackled me, snatched the second bar from me and stepped on it vigorously. That was the end of that!

As you can imagine I was not pleased but he was simply just doing what I had asked him to do. It’s great to have people around you that are going to keep you accountable but ultimately this is your journey.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink

Whether you recruit a single individual or a group of individuals to keep you accountable the responsibility of completing a programme or living your life a certain way rests on your shoulders. It’s important to have a reality check in times like this. The only obstacle in your way is yourself and so you can’t place the blame on others. It’s up to you to have enough self-discipline to stick to your convictions.

You’re not a dog, so don’t reward yourself with food

This is a habit that I am incredibly guilty of. I don’t know what it is but food has been something that I have always gravitated towards. I think it’s important to establish your relationship with food because starting a lifestyle change because then you are able to anticipate how you will react in certain situations. For some food is a source of comfort, a security blanket or for the lucky few it could be simply a source of nutrition. Either way you have to be prepared and know what your vices are.

As I’m now at the end of the 31-day period, I can say that my relationship with food has changed. Although everyday isn’t filled with glowing green smoothies and nutritious meals I have learned to listen to my body. I plan to continue this lifestyle change going forward and I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to challenge themselves, both mentally and physically.