The What: Iris, the blogger of The Daily Dietribe and Fairy Angel has opened her blog up to be the space for the journey of 7 women, the challengers, looking to make their gluten free lives better in mind, body and soul. Each women is paired with a health coach of varying backgrounds, and for 6 months from June 1st through November 30th 2013 each challenger and coach will meet twice a month. Each challenger will also meet with Iris once a month.

Along the way, these women will share their experiences and thoughts about the challenge, and coaches will share recipes, on The Daily Dietribe. As you can see from the photo to the left, I am the coach of Team Strawberry and will be working with Shannon, who was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease after experiencing infertility complications. You can read her story here.

In addition, here are a few links with more information:

How the Challenge Works

Team Strawberry’s Personal Link

Meet all the Teams Participating

Now, How Can You Become Involved?: There are several options available which allow you to participate in the Challenge yourself (Including options in which you can work with one of the coaches and Iris yourself). It’s quite simple, and worth it if you are interested in improving your life and relationship to food. AND, you don’t have to be gluten free to join in the challenge!

To make it easier to understand, let’s outline it in Iris’ own words:

To begin, take the pledge. Find a quiet time to do this. Write the following down on a piece of paper or in a journal. Then say the words over and over to yourself until you feel you’ve made the agreement in your heart. Sign the pledge and keep it in a spot that you’ll see it often. 

“I will challenge myself to love and respect myself and my body. I will challenge myself to treat myself as I would a dear friend, with kindness and support. I will challenge myself to eat healthy because I love myself and because I want to take care of myself.”  

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Next, join the Facebook Group. This group is a place of support for healthy eating in body, mind, and spirit. You do not have to be gluten free to join the group, just interested in healthy eating. You do have to take the pledge first. All of the Gluten Free Health Challenge coaches are part of the Facebook Group, and are there to answer questions and offer support.  

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Finally, to get the full Gluten Free Health Challenge experience, invest in the Mind*Body*Spirit Monthly Health Pass. This pass entitles you to two sessions with the health coach of your choice (one 60 minute session with a 30 minute follow up), plus one 90 minute hypnotherapy or past life regression session with Iris Higgins. Your health coach and Iris will work together to integrate your goals in all three of these sessions. All three of your sessions will occur within 30 days of the purchase of your pass. Once you purchase your pass, you will be contacted by Iris to set up your appointments and you can let her know which coach you would like to work with.  

or 

Purchase the Mind*Body*Spirit Upgraded Monthly Health Pass. This pass entitles you to everything you get with the basic Mind*Body*Spirit Monthly Pass, plus one recipe developed specifically for you by Iris Higgins, author of The Essential Gluten Free Baking Guides. Your recipe will be made with your dietary restrictions and likes/dislikes in mind, will be named after you, and will be posted on The Daily Dietribe. You will receive your private sessions within 30 days of purchase. However, only one Mind*Body*Spirit recipe will be posted per month on the blog. Iris will let you know what month your recipe will be posted. If you have a specific month in mind (i.e. you want a birthday cake named after your daughter during her birthday month), please contact Iris in advance to make sure that month is available. iris@thedailydietribe.com

So, I hope you will follow along or join in whatever way you want. This is my first experience joining my gluten free lifestyle knowledge with my social work experience in a formal way, so I am a bit scared. I suppose in a way it’s my own challenge but ultimately, I am honored to be a part of this challenge, and look forward to working with Shannon, Iris, the other challengers and coaches, and perhaps even you!