Before I even crossed the halfway mark with my current 30-day challenge (the no-rice for 30 day challenge, that is) , I found a new challenge I want to take on for the next 30 days: Cheshire Que’s My Spa Diet.

Before I explain that, let me give you a quick background of my 30-day challenges. It all started with my Lenten sacrifice this year, where I decided to give up mobile internet for the entire Lenten season. I managed to survive all 40 days of Lent!!! After that, I decided to take on a 30-day yoga challenge. And I survived that too! What I learned from those two challenges was that it can really cause change in your behavior, as a friend of mine once said, it takes 28 days to break a habit. And so I took it upon myself to make myself a better person by challenging my habits 30 days at a time, therefore allowing me to alter my behaviors.

As I said, my current challenge is to change the way I consume rice. You see, I LOOOOVE rice. I’ve written about this love affair with rice several times in this blog, in fact. So my goal in these 30 days is to lessen that attachment to rice and hopefully, after the challenge, I won’t be so “controlled” by the desire for rice.

Now going back to the point of this post…teeheeheee…

A few weeks ago I got an invitation to attend a health and wellness blogger event and although I no longer go to too many blogger events, when I saw who the resource person was, I immediately signed up and said I wanted to go. The event was to introduce the My Spa Diet by Cheshire Que, a registered dietitian and nurse in both the Philippines and the US. It wasn’t just her credentials that got me interested in going, but the fact that Che (as I called her then!) was my classmate in college. Yes, back when I looked like this…

Eeeeeew....right? Hehe. That was me at my almost heaviest. Yes, believe me I when I say I still put on about 15-20 pounds from that picture

I am so glad I decided to go to the event, not just to see Che, but also because it inspired my next 30 day challenge. What exactly is the My Spa Diet to begin with?

The My Spa Diet is the first ever online weight management program in the Philippines. It is the brain child of Cheshire Que and what it offers users is not just a typical diet regimen but it actually approaches weight management in a holistic manner. In a way, it marries the psychology of nutrition and the social realities of today’s lifestyle in manages one’s weight management program.

During the briefing, Che explained that her diet is generally non-restrictive, meaning, you do not have to completely drop one food group (like carbs!) to be able to lose weight. It does come in 4 phases though

An added feature of the diet plan is that it offers simple, accessible and affordable options for meals. Further, Cheshire emphasizes the value of hydration and fiber intake in one’s diet. Essentially, what she wants people to know about weight management is that it isn’t only limited to dropping the pounds but to actually modifying behaviors and incorporating these changes into the long-term, even after losing the desired number of pounds.

Part of the program also includes (or at least one of the options that you can use in the site) a food journal. I remember that as a child, when I was seeing a nutritionist/dietitian to help me with my weight problem, one of the things I was told to do was to record everything I ate. Of course I cheated my lists a lot (haha) but the purpose is really for us to keep track of what we consume because often times, we eat mindlessly. Further, by keeping a record, we can see what we can modify even further.

Subscription to the My Spa Diet program at www.myspadiet.com goes for $11.99 or Php 500.00 monthly. The subscription entitles you to a four week program that includes meal planning, portion recommendations and consultations with the My Spa Diet team. You also gain full access to the other features of the site, which includes an online grocery list which offers you selections for ingredient replacement and the like.

I am looking forward to trying out my program really soon and I promise to keep you updated about it Maybe when I start it I can even muster up enough courage to post the findings of my inner body scan hehe….let’s see Will also review the site in more detail then, so do keep reading