For months now, I’ve been itching to do another nutrition challenge. It’s been ages since I last did one! But I’ve been holding it off because I wanted to get emotional eating under control (I think that’s a good enough challenge in and of itself). Thanks to Geneen Roth, I’ve been able to handle the emotional eating, but unfortunately it also came with the price of weight gain. Boo. Now that I’m emotionally very healthy, it’s time to work on the physical health.

I’d like to have some fun with food again, so I figured, why not do an entire year of nutrition challenges? Every month a new challenge will begin! The challenge starts in January – that way, I have some time to do research for the first challenge. Conducting a new healthy nutrition challenge each month will help my physical self get really healthy to match my emotional self again. I’m excited.

Each month in addition to my regular general health blogging, I’ll write a couple posts about what I’m learning with the challenge and what my research has turned up. And of course, everyone is welcome to join in the nutrition challenge if they are interested!

Here’s my rough plan for my Ultimate Nutrition Challenge for the next year – I might change it as the year goes on:

January – Detox. This will be focused on lower-calorie, whole foods, such as smoothies, salads, oatmeal and soup. Low in added sugar and sodium. Right after the holidays seems a good time to conduct such a challenge.

February – Whole foods. Nothing processed! Just delicious real food.

March – Mediterranean diet. This will emphasize seafood, red wine, dark chocolate and EVOO. I loved the way my host family ate when I lived in Spain for a summer, so I’m quite looking forward to this.

April – Vegetarian.

May – Vegan.

June – Raw. I think it’ll be easier to go raw at this time of year 😉

July – Low fat.

August – Local. Best month to eat local in Winnipeg!

September – Gluten-free.

October – GI diet (stabilizes blood sugar levels).

November – Paleo. Haven’t ever done this one before – it’ll be a really fascinating challenge!

December – Something from one of my nutrition books… there’s all kinds of interesting health plans (17 Day Diet, French Women Don’t Get Fat, etc.), but I’ve never actually followed them, so I think it will be fun.

To ensure that all goes smoothly, I’m also planning on having a couple of “freebie” meals each month, to accommodate for dinner parties (Mr. Science and I host/attend a decent amount of these) and other social events. However, these will be meals, not entire days, so they shouldn’t take away from the point of the nutrition challenge. Which is to have fun, eat healthy, and learn new things!

I’m also going to have a health goal for each month, which I’ll decide at the beginning of each month – something related to nutrition, mental health, fitness, or something similar. This past year has been a Year of Indulgence – so I’m making 2012 my healthiest year yet 🙂

Will you take part in the Ultimate Nutrition Challenge with me (or even a month or two)? Got any advice for any of the above challenges? Suggestions for different nutrition challenges to include? Share in the comments section below!