Vitality Reset Welcome Packet & Resources

Welcome to the Healthy Connections’ 30 Day Vitality Reset Program! We are really excited to support you with Functional Medicine lifestyle tips and tools. You have taken a powerful step towards increasing your energy and nourishing your body in a wholesome, personalized fashion.

Below are some details to help you prepare for the Vitality Reset program. Then, at the bottom, you will find links to several resources to help get you started, including the actual eating plan/food list that you’ll be following. Feel free to download, save, or print these documents as they are yours to keep!

The Vitality Reset program is very similar to the Paleo diet and Whole30 diet. Depending on where you start with your own dietary routine, the Vitality Reset program may be a breeze, or may be really challenging. Don’t worry either way – we are here to support and individualize this program for you!

The main goal of the program is following the nutrition plan, but we cannot ignore the other pillars of health that accompany the program, which, when combined, confer whole-body benefits including:

Stress Management/Resilience
Sleep, Rest, and Relaxation
Movement, Exercise and Flexibility
Healthy Social Relationships

These are ALL important in the overall Vitality Equation! This program is more than a diet – it’s a chance to really check in with all our habits and commit to our long term energy and well being with focused, reasonable, sustainable, affordable and ENJOYABLE daily choices and lifestyle habits!

The Goals of This Program Provide:

A powerful re-set opportunity!
Support and encouragement via the welcome webinar (below), daily emails, access to our wellness coach/mindfulness teacher (Heather Nielsen) and an “outro” webinar after the program ends.
Education, via the various resources (below) and daily emails on how to make and sustain change
Loving connection with your body, acknowledging that no matter how much is wrong, there is much more “Right” with our body! Self compassion and an appreciation for our bodies is very important…

Attached Resources:

The Vitality Reset eating plan (this can be tweaked to suit you!)
Several handouts from the Institute for Functional Medicine that are all part of the “whole person/mental-emotional-spiritual” aspects of the program.
Guide to Eating Gluten Free – this includes hidden sources of gluten, gluten free substitutes, and tips for buying and storing gluten free foods.
Guide for “building a better smoothie” (this can be lifesaving for simple, nourishing meals in a pinch!)
Phytonutrient Spectrum Foods – a helpful checklist for expanding our intake of the rainbow of colors, micronutrients, and phytonutrients from fresh foods! (not all foods listed there are paleo approved but most are; it’s really a guide for inspiring variety!)

Steps To Prepare for your Reset:

Review the Vitality Reset nutrition program. Know what you can and cannot do, and personalize this program. Plan for success. Be realistic. We all like our own rules better than the rules set by someone else!! So – make this program YOURS. For example, if you know that you’d rather have more legumes and less meat, Go For It. Just plan it out. If you know that you cannot live without your favorite gluten free crackers, no big deal. Focus on the GREEN and YELLOW foods, and know that you are in charge of what “moderation” means for you.
Consider watching the recorded Welcome Webinar (link below) – led by me, the webinar covers the following topics: Expectations, Big Why/What You Need for Success, 7 Types of Hunger, Non-Physical Hungers’ Issues, How our Bodies Fall Apart, Food: the first pillar of health, Paleo overview and modifications, Grounding, Change can be hard, Smart Goals, Resources, Typical Day of Eating, Tips for Starting Strong, Curiosity and Compassion as your guides!
Survey your Kitchen. Remove foods from your home that will be problematic for you!! Setting up our physical environment for success is KEY. There will no doubt be moments when your mid-brain (reward center!) demands pleasure by way of some sweet, fat, salty, and/or processed food. If you have Oreos on hand, they will tempt you. Make it easier on yourself – really. NO foods in the house that you will have to use “willpower” to avoid. Willpower doesn’t work. Trust me 🙂
Stock Up on Paleo-friendly Foods. Use some of the resources provided, search the internet, etc. Set yourself up so the healthy choice is the EASY choice.
Consider getting (or borrowing) a Paleo cookbook. There are many! My favorites are all the Danielle Walker’s Against All Grain cookbooks. I’ve heard great things about the Whole 30 cookbooks. We will have recipes in almost every day of the reset emails but I sure enjoy a good cookbook where I can eat ANYTHING in the book.
Connect with your BIG WHY. What are your reasons for doing this?
- Maybe you’re trying to break a sugar addiction.
- Maybe you feel you’ve become sluggish and you’re looking to have structure and support to get some energy back.
- Maybe you have never stuck with a lifestyle program for very long, and NOW is the time.
- Maybe you have had gut trouble, headaches, brain fog, joint pain, or any cluster of common symptoms, and you are hoping food and lifestyle change can help.
- Whatever your reason – know it, be clear, and TRUST that YES, this reset can help you!
Identify your Support. This program offers a lot of support from someone who has had her share of health and energy issues over the past 27 years…and who has found incredible benefit following a Paleo lifestyle! But you may want to have support close-in from your family/friends/housemates etc. Let them know what you are doing and WHY. Ask for help. Sometimes, our closest loved ones can (consciously or unconsciously) sabotage our health efforts. Prevention is the best medicine – let them know what they can do to help you be successful. Help with child care so you can exercise. Help with house chores so you can go to bed at 9 pm. Walk with you at lunchtime. Try an online yoga or tai chi class with you. etc etc…. We are not meant to be in isolation, especially if this is rather new or uncomfortable for you.
Let me know what date you would like your 31 days of emails to start! We have a “Day Zero” which is the day BEFORE you start, email, then days 1-30. I will check in with you in the final week to invite you to schedule a 1:1 with me or Kirsten (our nutritionist) for the transition away from the Reset into whatever is next for you. This is quite a personalized process, so it’s nice to have a 1:1 so Kirsten or I can better guide you.