Thirteen days ago I signed up for the Thrive in 30 program, a 30 day program with Brendan Brazier that provides you with the tips and tools to achieve optimum health and vitality. The Thrive in 30 program teaches you:

• How to combat stress using whole, plant-based foods and high net-gain nutrition
• The whole food truth about protein, fats and carbs— and how balancing your diet will help you build a younger body
• How you can alkalize your body’s pH to combat disease, improve sleep and lose weight
• What superfoods to use to balance hormones, detoxify body or lower cholesterol
• How to identify common foods that cause unexplained, mystery illnesses
• How to use nutrition to strategically fuel your body so you’ll have greater endurance, maximize the return from your workouts and recover faster
• Why nutrition, exercise and sleep are the secret to empowered mental health
• Long-term strategies that will help you transform your health for life

The first task is to Examine your current diet (I did wrote this on July 18, 2011- my start date) and write a list of all the things you eat that you think might be taking away from your energy or aren’t supporting your health and fitness goals. Mine are as follows:

• Wheat/Gluten. I am a huge bread lover.  I could easily sit and eat a whole loaf by myself (don’t worry I don’t) but I also know I don’t feel great after I do. This is a challenge for me but I know if I was to reduce the amount of bread, crackers, pasta, ect. that I eat I would feel better.
• Soy.  I actually don’t eat nearly as much soy as I once did but lately I find it sneaking into our grocery cart more often.  As much as I love soy products and tofu my stomach doesn’t agree.
• Alcohol. I am a huge beer lover. I notice a big difference in my energy and body in the morning even after only having one beer.  I have been doing pretty well at staying at a two beer max, usually only having one beer, but still more per week than I’d like.  My goal here is to not drink at all on nights before runs because that is when I feel like it effects me the most so that would limit consumption down to 3-5 alcoholic drinks max per week.

In addition to breaking these habits/crowding them out of my diet. Thrive in 30 suggests the following five tools to make the most of this program (I’m not going to reveal everything so you’ll have to sign up yourself to find out more):

• Eat throughout the day
• Drink a nutritious smoothie each day
• Eat a big green salad every day
• Eat a raw energy bar every day
• Eat a substantial, balanced afternoon snack

As part of the Thrive in 30 you receive an email every few days with a lesson filled with important information, tips and tools on how to make achieve optimal health. I just received lesson 7 of 12 and so far I have found the lessons informative and helpful.

Each lesson has a specific topic that is covers and a short video clip featuring an informative video lesson by Brendan Brazier.  Below the video there is information regarding the topic followed by take-away points and finally how you can take action. Since starting this program I have:

• Lesson 1: Stress & Diet
• I have reduced my intake of processed and convenience foods by eating more fruit and vegetable snacks.
• I have reduced stimulants such as coffee by reducing the amount of coffee I drink to 3-5 cups per week.
• Lesson 2: High Net-Gain Nutrition
• I have added even more high net-gain foods (whole foods, raw foods, superfoods, alkaline forming foods) to my already highly nutritious diet by adding blueberries to my oatmeal, taking a chlorella supplement and adding sea vegetables to my salad.
• Lesson 3: Myth-Busting
• I didn’t get as much out of this lesson because I am vegan, I add flax to my oatmeal, I bake with natural sweeteners and whole wheat flours and I love to top by salad with hemp seeds and flax (all suggestions in lesson 3).
• Lesson 4: Alkaline v. Acid
• In this lesson you are to rate the amount of alkaline versus acidic foods that you are eating.  I found that I regularly eat 25 out of the 32 alkaline-forming foods listed and 3 (coffee, peanuts, chocolate) out of the 21 acid-forming foods. The other suggestion is to be more active which I feel that I can always be a little more but I am fairly active running on average 8-12 miles per week as well as doing cross training 2-3 times per week.
• Lesson 5: Digestion
• In this lesson it is suggested that you regularly eat high fiber foods, which as a vegan I eat tons high fiber foods such as leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes.  The other action that is suggested is to take a probiotic.  This I actually do not take a vegan-friendly probiotic supplement but I do often use brown rice miso (a whole food source probiotic) and Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer in my smoothies.
• Lesson 6: Superfoods
• I include a number of superfoods in my diet including maca, chlorella, hemp, flax, dark leafy greens, quinoa, sprouts and coconut.
• Lesson 7: Food Sensitivities
• I have reduced my soy, gluten and wheat intake after noticing the negative affects on my digestion. As a vegan I already don’t eat dairy so I can cross that allergen off my list.  I have not yet removed corn or yeast but besides nutritional yeast I do not eat much else.

Overall I think that this program is great for those who are looking to jump start a healthy lifestyle.  The tips and lessons are laid out in a way that is easy to follow.  The program is great for different learners as well because it has a visual element, written and then action to help implement the tips and tools suggested. As a vegan who tries to live a healthy lifestyle already I found that many of the actions where things that I already do, however there is always room for improvement.  As a health coach I found that most of the information is similar to what I discuss with my own clients and has provided me with some new ways of approaching various topics.  So far I am finding Thrive in 30 to be a great resource filled with great tips and tools to jump start a healthy lifestyle.

Interested in starting Thrive in 30? You can sign up free here: http://thrivein30.com/sign-up-now/