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“DO THESE FIVE THINGS EVERY SINGLE DAY TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE”
That’s the name of a podcast by Rachel Hollis—she is a girl on fire right now. First of all, can I just say that I have mad respect for her? She has built a crazy-successful business for herself. She’s also a mom and a wife, a runner, and all about spreading the message of girl-power.
I, like so many others, have read her best-selling book. I did glean a few memorable snippets of advice from it. I also was enjoying her podcasts, until I heard this one.
Now that she has a popular “last 90 days” challenge going on, I keep seeing the same message every day on social media too.
Listen, I get it. She’s THE most popular author, podcaster, and influencer right now. But it really annoys me when so many people blindly take the advice of a popular person JUST because they’re popular.
Unfortunately, her list gets one thing very wrong.
So let’s talk about these five life-changing activities you are supposed to do every day, as she suggests.
Drink More Water
I don’t remember the order she puts them in, but one is drinking more water. Definitely advice that probably every person on earth could benefit from. I’m not sure about life-changing, but we’re just going to go with it. Even being slightly dehydrated can impair athletic performance. Also, adequate water intake has known benefits, like better skin, helping to prevent constipation, and just simple maintenance of electrolyte balance in the body. So yep, aim for half your body-weight in ounces of water daily.
Exercise
Another activity is daily exercise. When you change the wording to “movement” this also is solid advice. Our bodies were made to move, and so many of us spend so many hours at sedentary jobs, even “active” people could benefit from more movement every day. This doesn’t have to be dedicated time at the gym, or running a certain number of miles. As Rachel says, it can be a dance party while you’re making dinner, or playing on the playground with your kids, a bike-ride through the neighborhood, etc. You can’t go wrong by getting in more of what your body enjoys—moving more!
Get Up One Hour Earlier
Another one is getting up an hour earlier. This one actually has personally changed my life. I started doing it at the end of 2017 after reading “The Miracle Morning.”
The premise is that you use that hour for YOU. I use it for a short period of devotion and prayer, drinking my first cup of coffee 🙂 and getting in my exercise for the day, all while my house is silent. You can journal, say affirmations, meditate, etc….the idea is to make time for the things you say you don’t have time for.
But here’s the thing—you also have to go to bed one hour earlier. You cannot burn the candle at both ends for too long. Just trust me—you will get sick or burned out or both. Sleep is SO important. So thank you Rachel, for emphasizing that!
Practice Gratitude
The fourth thing that made her list was making a gratitude list every day. There is no arguing that the practice of gratitude can change your life. She suggests writing down 10 things every day (this is a great thing to do to start your day, maybe as part of the extra hour of time in the mornings;-)). I have found that even writing down THREE things can drastically change your mood for the day. They don’t have to be huge things, like your health or your house. It can be something as little as “hot coffee!”
What She Gets Wrong
Hold on to your bloomers, because I’m about to rock the boat.
Cut Out a Category of Food
The fifth thing she suggests is to cut out a category of food for 30 days. She says to pick one you know is unhealthy, like “fried food or fast food or carbs—so like bread. Things you KNOW are bad for you.”
Let’s unpack this. I get her idea, that if you do something for 30 days, it becomes a habit. That might work for say, getting up an hour earlier every day.
But what actually happens when you “cut out” something that you truly love? The thirty days of restriction can lead to bingeing when those 30 days are up, or sooner if you accidentally “cheat” (another word I hate). And just admit it Rachel—when you are restricting something or have a food rule like “no bread for 30 days” that IS in fact a diet. Don’t call it anything else. And friends, if you have a food allergy or intolerance and literally cannot eat a certain food or foods, obviously I am not talking about you here.
Studies have actually shown how ineffective it is to “outlaw” a particular food or food group. It just sets you up for overeating.
Come ON ladies. Why is diet advice even on this list? Why is Rachel giving diet advice? So many questions…..
I understand that when you are taking care of yourself and intentionally paying attention to your nutrition and your health, that can affect other areas of your life. It’s pretty much what I preach too.
But when you are in such a prominent position of influence, I believe that you have a responsibility to stick to what you know. There are enough people in this world proclaiming the benefits of harmful fad diets right now.
You could better serve people by encouraging them to make peace with food and their bodies. It is notably probably a lot harder than cutting out a food or food category for 30 days, but it actually has a LASTING effect. And that’s what I want for people.
Side Note
I’m not even going to dive into what she left out that should be at the very very top of the list—spending time in prayer or in the Word with God. Without God, none of the other things matter anyway. But for real, that is a whole other post.
So for now, please think about the advice that you take in.
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