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Secondly, since this is your ideal meal that makes you feel 100%, we might as well make that happen, starting from now. That’s a lot more empowering than wait for X thing to happen and Y condition to fall into place. It’s food, and we have to eat every day, so we might as well start off with the best things we want to eat.

Some of you might not be able to adhere 100% to the ideal plan (e.g., an ingredient is needed which is not available in the supermarkets in your vicinity), and it’s okay! It’s about using your ideal plan as inspiration for everything you eat this week. Your ideal plan isn’t just 1 menu – there can be different iterations (for example, my ideal meal plan includes eating 3 fruits a day, 4-5 servings of vegetables either as salads or cooked vegetables). Within that model plate, you can come up with a large variety of different meal plans. Stick to the model of what you see as an ideal diet and follow that this week. Remember “see” the calorie guide for a list of food variety in different food groups.

Now, let’s get started!

Step 1: Stick to your ideal meal plan for this week!

For this week, stick to your ideal meal plan. If it involves visiting a different eatery for healthier food options, do that. If it involves preparing your meals the night before or on the morning itself, do that too. If it involves whipping up dishes different from what you usually prepare, do that too.

You should have purchased the items necessary for your ideal meal plans during your grocery shopping task yesterday. If not, see if you can use substitute items in the meantime, or make a quick trip to the supermarket to get the missing items. Improvise where necessarily. Remember it’s not about being precisely in line with your ideal meal plan as it’s about taking in your healthiest foods for your body.

Step 2: Review your ideal meal plan

After sticking to your ideal meals for breakfast/lunch/dinner/etc, review your meal plan. How do you feel consuming your ideal meals this week? Do you feel healthier? More energetic? More vitalized? Why? Separately, are there any adjustments needed for this plan? If so, what are they? How can you improve on your ideal meal plan?

Step 3: Identify steps to integrate your ideal meals into your daily life

Now that you have gone on a test drive with your ideal meal plans, and improvised on them, the next step is to make it a part of your everyday life.

Think about the key action steps you need to take to continue with this ideal plan tomorrow, the day after, and after, the week, every week after that, and so on. Write them down, and implement them from Week 7 on wards.

WEEK 6 of Your 21-WEEKS-HEALTH CHALLENGE

What are your tasks listed for this week? Please journal, think about the week and the 5 past weeks, what are the successes, what are the challenges, what can be improved. Be honest my friend. And get help if you do need help.