The Health Benefits of Taking on a Monthly Challenge Thursday, 16 January 2025

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You may have seen an influx of people signing up for challenges like Veganuary and Dry January to kick start the new year, but what’s all the hype about and what are the benefits of taking part?

Regular exercise is important for keeping healthy and happy and at I Am Me we are fully supportive of this which is why we offer our range of high quality and sustainable gym wear. However, there are other diet and lifestyle changes you can make to compliment your exercise regime.

Challenges like the ones mentioned above are a good opportunity to try something new whether that be a one off or pledging to undertake this yearly as a fresh start to the new year. Trialling lifestyle changes however big or small, for a month can feel more achievable than committing to a full time change from day one and allows time to see if incorporating these changes full time would be viable.

After or during the trial month you may also decide that it’s not for you and that’s okay too, the important thing is pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and trying something new.

Although Veganuary and Dry January are specifically aimed to be done in January, these can be done any month of the year.

Ways to stay motivated and on track throughout the month

Use a calendar or planner where you can cross off your completed days.
Share your progress online, whether that might be posting on your social media with friends and family or starting a blog or YouTube channel to share with a wider audience.
If you find it hard to think about the month as a whole take it week by week or day by day to make it feel more manageable.
Treat yourself at the end, think of something you’d really like and hold off on buying it until you complete your challenge.
Embark on the challenge with a friend, family member or colleague and cheer each other on throughout.

What is Veganuary and what are the health benefits?

Veganuary is adopting a vegan diet throughout the month of January and is organised by a non-profit organisation. Their aim is to encourage more people to try veganism and to make it more accessible by getting more vegan products in shops and vegan items on menus in restaurants.

Health benefits

Aids weight loss – If you’ve already started your weight loss journey or looking to start, trying a vegan diet could be a good starting point. The vegan diet helps with weight loss as it contains less calories and saturated fats along with more fibre. This change can also improve your overall gut health.
Healthy skin – The types of foods that are included in a vegan diet like fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants which are really good for your skin.
More energy – When eating-plant based you may feel an increase in your energy levels this is a combination of eating less processed foods which helps with decreasing sugar spikes and crashes. Along with plant-based foods being easier to digest and containing elements that convert food into energy.

You don’t have to make huge sacrifices to make the switch to veganism and it might not be as hard as you think to make this change, there are lots of items that you might already have in your cupboards at home or you find yourself adding to your shopping trolley every week that are surprisingly vegan. A couple of the stand out ones are bread, pasta and rice, Doritos, Oreos and Fruit Pastilles. If you tend to reach for snacks during the day there are still lots of options for you for example an apple with nut butter or flat bread with hummus.

Try a vegan recipe – Biscoff Fudge

This vegan Biscoff fudge recipe from Vitalite is super quick and easy to make and only requires 5 ingredients.

Ingredients

120g Vitalite
1 can of vegan condensed milk
350g of caster sugar
120g Biscoff spread
6 Biscoff biscuits

Method

Mix the Vitalite and sugar in a bowl and microwave for 12 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes.
Add in the Biscoff spread to the bowl and mix well. Microwave again for 1 minute.
Pour the mixture into a lined tray. Crush the biscoff biscuits and sprinkle on top.
Let the fudge cool for an hour before cutting into pieces.
Add some extra melted biscoff for decoration and enjoy!

What is Dry January and what are the health benefits?

Dry January entails cutting out alcohol throughout January. This can be seen as a hard challenge to take on due to the social element of drinking as well as leaning on an alcohol drink to relax after a long day. However, you can still enjoy a night in the pub with friends or family drinking mocktails or a soft drink and a sleepy tea can be just as good as a glass of wine to help you wind down at the end of the day.

Health benefits

Better Sleep – Improved sleep is one of the first benefits you’ll notice when cutting out alcohol. Having alcohol in your system disrupts the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of sleep which is really important to feeling well rested.
Improved mental health – Drinking alcohol and experiencing mental health problems such as anxiety and depression can go hand in hand. Removing alcohol from your lifestyle can improve existing symptoms or reduce your chances of developing them altogether.
Boosted immune system – Alcohol decreases how well your immune system works so after cutting this out you may notice you’re getting ill less frequently with things like coughs and colds.

Try a mocktail recipe - Healthy Immune Boost Mocktail

Winter is a time where coughs and colds are more common and spread easily. Try out this mocktail recipe by The Mindful Cocktail, to keep the germs at bay, it’s tasty and non-alcoholic too!