The SWITCH CHALLENGE aims to mobilise humanity towards personal agency to improve the health & wellbeing of people around the world.
BASIC PRINCIPLES:
Genetic factors have very little influence on chronic diseases (about 5-10% only). IMPROVING YOUR HEALTH IS IN YOUR HANDS
Start with a mindset of SELF-COMPASSION. Adopting a healthy lifestyle is your opportunity to care for yourself.
Health is a JOURNEY of learning and gradual behaviour change with ups and downs and obstacles to overcome. Take it one step at a time, forgive yourself for any setbacks, learn from them and keep going.
Health encompasses PHYSICAL, MENTAL, SOCIAL and SPIRITUAL well-being. It’s essential to attend to all four domains to improve your health.
“The part can never be well unless the whole is well”- Socrates
Improving your health is SIMPLE. It’s about going back to basics
NATURE. BALANCE. CONNECTION
Do you want to:
🔲 lose weight?
🔲 be strong to keep up with your kids or grandchildren?
🔲 be healthy and reverse chronic conditions?
🔲 feel happy and have zest for life again?
Improve your health and wellbeing with these simple steps:
STEP #1: Consider some lifestyle SWITCHES
=>SWITCH_NOURISH, =>SWITCH_TOXFREE, =>SWITCH_ACTIVE, =>SWITCH_INNERPEACE
STEP #2: Find purpose & meaning in your life and clarify your values
STEP #3: Build your health tribe– your social support network
STEP #1: CONSIDER SOME LIFESTYLE SWITCHES
Find easy SWITCH ideas in this pdf document. Choose which ones you want to implement and how often. The more you switch, the better you will feel. Small changes every day make a big difference.
⇒SWITCH_NOURISH
The key principle to reducing metabolic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, cancer) is to regulate blood sugar levels. Every time you eat carbs (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, starchy vegetables, legumes, sweets, sugars, syrups, honey and even fruits), your blood sugar spikes leading to a spike in insulin to remove the sugar from the blood and into the cells. Following the insulin spike, blood sugar drops leading to a crash or feeling of sluggishness and hunger– a cue to eat again as the body is attempting to regulate blood sugar. As you eat more carbs, another spike is caused leading to a blood sugar roller coaster ride. This process is very harmful to the body leading to inflammation and preventable chronic diseases.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
The solution is to eat less meals and to eat food that doesn’t spike your blood sugar. The key to a successful nutrition plan is to feel satiated and not deprived.
Eat food cooked with WHOLESOME ingredients. Ask yourself “Does this food nourish me?”
Get your daily requirement of PROTEINS from animal sources (1 g of protein per ideal body weight)
Eat as much as you’d like rainbow-coloured non-starchy VEGETABLES to get a wide range of phytonutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals
Have some good FATS to meet your daily energy requirement but not exceed it
Limit CARBS and sweets as much as possible. Keep good carbs to ¼ of your plate, preferably once a day or less.
Limit FRUITS to about 2 pieces per day, right after a meal to prevent a sugar spike
HYDRATE 1.5-2 L/day (water and herbal teas)
SAMPLE SWITCH IDEAS FROM THE ABOVE PDF:
⇒ SWITCH_TOXFREE
Reduce your toxic load (pesticides, processed food, alcohol, smoking, recreational drugs, self-care/home cleaning products)
⇒ SWITCH_ACTIVE
Our bodies were created to move and be active. Our sedentary lifestyle is damaging our health and wellbeing.
The Benefits of regular exercise include: increased strength, mobility and coordination, weight loss, enhanced immunity, blood sugar regulation, improved mood, reduced anxiety, better sleep and better sex.
Consider activities from the following three categories based on your needs and goals:
Exercise for mobility and flexibility: pilates, yoga, stretching– at least 30 minutes, 2-3 times/week
Exercise for strength: weight training– at least 30 minutes 2-3 times/week
Exercise for cardio function and coordination: walking, running, swimming, cycling, aerobic classes, dance, tennis, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)– at least 30 min 6 times/week
Ten Tips to Get & Stay Motivated To Exercise:
Find out what you value most. Why do you want to get fit? (e.g, to keep up with your kids, to remain independent in old age…?) Make a list of what motivates you.
Imagine anything is possible, what would your ideal physique look like? Set SMART fitness goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound for mobility, strength and cardio fitness. e.g., “I will walk 15 min every day for one week then increase by 5 min every week until I reach 30 min/day by end of the month)
Stay within your zone of proximal development (a little bit challenging but not overwhelming). Exercise that is too challenging increases your blood cortisol (stress hormone) and leads to exercise aversion. Start small (maybe walking 15 min and stretching 15 min) and build your strength, stamina and mobility slowly and gradually
Make a public commitment to your goal. Tell your friends, colleagues, and family about your new lifestyle. Maybe ask them to support you or nudge you when needed
Be regular. Put it in your schedule. It takes 30 days to form a new habit.
Turn it into a fun social event. Exercise with your friends or your partner. Include some dancing parties! Everything counts.
Mix it up to access the full range of benefits
Track your progress and enjoy the rewarding feeling of small achievements (tick your workout session or note the weight you are lifting or do a graph with the number of minutes you are walking…)
Visualise yourself in a year or two-years time (healthier, more flexible, fitter, stronger…). What does it feel like? (This will boost your dopamine and help you stay on target.)
Cut out the reward for procrastinating. When you skip your workout out of laziness, do the dishes instead of choosing an enjoyable activity like watching a movie
⇒ SWITCH_INNERPEACE
Your physical health and general wellbeing are very much dependent on your mental and emotional wellbeing. We all need to do some introspection, some deep soul searching and some personal healing to set ourselves on an upward spiral of self-improvement and self-actualization.
Regulate your nervous system (Part I, II, Grounding Skills)
Learn How to Process Your Emotions (33 videos), Five Steps To Process Emotions, 1-Page guide (Part VI)
Build Healthy Relationship Skills (20 videos)
If applicable, learn how to manage anxiety (27 videos)
If you are dealing with mental illness or trauma, consider professional help: US, UK, Australia, Online
If you are interested to learn more, see PAID courses by Therapy In A Nutshell
STEP #2: FIND PURPOSE AND MEANING IN YOUR LIFE
1. LIFE CRAFTING EXERCISE
Life crafting is “a process in which people actively reflect on their present and future life, set goals for important areas of life—social, career, and leisure time—and, if required, make concrete plans and undertake actions to change these areas in a way that is more congruent with their values and wishes.” (Schippers and Ziegler, 2019).
This exercise boosts the sense of self-determination and has been shown to produce the following benefits: Higher academic achievement/lower school dropout, higher career achievement, emotional wellbeing, meaning and purpose in life, better health outcomes, longevity.
Download the life Crafting exercise PDF
2. CLARIFY YOUR VALUES
A life inspired by what you value is a life worth living. Find out what you value most in life: Who do you want to be? What kind of life do you want to lead? Then decide on the small steps you will take in that direction. Your sense of integrity will flourish once your actions are inline with your values.
Watch this video by Therapy in a Nutshell and download the Clarify Your Values Workbook.
STEP #3": BUILD YOUR TRIBE
“TELL ME WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE, I TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE”
Discuss your values and actions with a friend/partner. This will help you commit to them
Recruit 2-5 friends/family members to join you on your health journey. Improving your health is much easier with the support of friends and family. Share health information with each other, cook healthy meals together, go to healthy restaurants together, get active together…
Build an online health community by sharing the SWITCH CHALLENGE on social media. Create a positive ripple effect around you
If you have a group of 10 people and would like to follow this program for 8 weeks with daily bite-sized content and mini-homework (except on the weekend) and a weekly 1-hour zoom call with me, please let me know by Direct Message on Substack. (Fees apply following a one-hour exploratory session)
DISCLAIMER: All information provided by Abir Ballan is solely intended for educational purposes and is not a substitute for expert advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.
About the author
Abir Ballan has a Masters in Public Health, a graduate degree in special needs education and a BA in psychology. She is a children’s author with 27 published books.
Thank you Abir - health is wealth. I am responsible for my physical, mental, emotional & Spiritual well-being with the assistance of a Higher Power + holistic/Naturopathic Physicians I've been guided to. My insides will take care of my outside - SELF-Care vs health care ...
I love this! Seeing the Switch Challenge in the downloads makes it easier (for me, anyway) to come up with some switches to make right now. I'm going to print everything out for daily reminders. Thank you!