Q: What is Nourish Kickstart? 

A: Nourish Kickstart is a 2-week program to help get you off to a great start living a Nourish lifestyle.  Nourish is the health and wellness coaching pillar of Alkalign. The goal of Nourish is to help you reach your health goals and everything we do is viewed through the lens of long-term health vs. short-term only gains. We focus on 3 major areas, Nutrition, Movement and Mindset and give you the tools you need to make sustainable changes that will leave you feeling better now and for years to come. 

Q: What is included in Nourish Kickstart?

Nourish Kickstart helps give you a boost to achieve positive changes to your health. Your coach, Erin, will guide you to help you get on the right path to fighting inflammation, balancing blood sugar and restoring your gut health. 

January 13-14: Two days of prep

January 15-27: Two weeks of inflammation reduction

During Jan 13-14, you will prepare your pantry, refrigerator, kitchen and mindset to start eliminating these common inflammatory foods for 2 weeks:

• gluten
• dairy
• soy
• corn
• sugar
• alcohol
• caffeine

What you get:

• Goal sheet
• Food & movement tracker
• Shopping list
• Playbook
• Recipe book
• Access to Nourish Kickstart Facebook Group
• Access to health coach Erin Paruszewski 
• Daily email inspiration and guidance

Q: Is Nourish a diet?

A: No. It’s a lifestyle. Diet, at least the way it’s been defined in the media and engrained in our brains, indicates some sort of short-term, quick-fix to right the wrongs of your food decisions. 

At Alkalign, we don't like the word “diet”. Not only does it contain the word die, and honestly that’s the way I felt when I tried every diet under the sun, from cabbage soup to keto, but it comes loaded with all sorts of preconceived notions. I like to think of Nourish as a lifestyle. I have had a lot of gut issues throughout my life and have tried everything. The short-term, quick fixes have never worked longer-term. The only thing that has healed my gut and improved both my physical and mental health is shifting my mindset from the “here and now” to a more sustainable and forward-looking way of life. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of getting super excited about the promise of some quick fix, only to be disappointed when it doesn’t work. Nourish teaches you what your body (and brain) truly needs, as well as provides an actual plan for how to live better without the extreme whiplash of being on and off the wellness wagon. It also gives you the knowledge and confidence to manage future issues that come up, as the body is dynamic and is always changing. What worked for you yesterday may not be working for you today and the ability to adapt is important. And by “adapt”, we don’t mean run full speed towards the most recent trend you saw on TikTok. 

Q: How long is Nourish Kickstart? 

Nourish Kickstart is 2-weeks plus 2 days for prep.  

Q: Is Nourish over at the end of 2 weeks?

It doesn't have to be! Following the 2-week Nourish Kickstart, you will have the opportunity to unlock 4 more weeks of Nourish with Nourish Plus. After that, if you love your progress and want to go deeper into your health and longevity, we offer Nourish Personalized that is 1:1 health coaching. 

Q: Will I lose weight on Nourish?

The goal of Nourish is to help heal your body from the inside out. We will start by reducing systemic inflammation and fueling your body in a nutrient-dense way. We also prescribe strength training 2-3x per week to build lean muscle. Your body composition will change. You may lose weight, but weight isn’t the only measure of success. Many people “diet” and lose weight because they are losing muscle. We are going to keep you well-fed and strong so that you get to keep what you want (muscle) and shed what you don’t (fat) in a healthy way. 

Q: Wow, this sounds like a lot. I already have a super busy life. Will this be too much to handle?

A: The hardest part of Nourish is the mindfulness component. Nourish Kickstart is only 2 weeks and presented in an easily digestible way (pun intended). Most of us live life on auto-pilot so being intentional and thoughtful about things we typically take for granted (sleep, movement, food, etc.) is a change. The second hardest part is making time to prep. A little prep goes a long way toward setting you up for success the rest of the week. Establishing this habit during Nourish Kickstart will help you carry these practices with you beyond the 2-week program. Remember, this program is designed to set you up for better lifestyle habits and is not intended to be a “one-and-done” crash course to help you melt off the summer/holiday pounds.

Nourish Kickstart does require a commitment to yourself. It’s an investment in both your current and future health. It’s really up to you to decide if it’s worth it to make the time today so you can avoid or delay the costly and time-consuming doctors appointments, medications, and treatments of tomorrow. Nourish Kickstart is only 2 weeks. You can do anything for 2 weeks. 

Q: If it’s not a diet, why is it so restricted? 

A: While we hate the idea of “taking away” anything, we have found the best way to reset your body is to wipe the slate clean. You could do this slowly over a looooong period of time, but we only have limited time. In 2 weeks you will remove the top culprits of inflammation (gluten, dairy, corn, soy and refined sugar) in the body. We also highly recommend you discontinue alcohol and reduce or eliminate caffeine. It's not forever. Often at the end of a cleanse or “diet”, people just go right back to their prior habits and then are disappointed when any positive outcomes they experience fade away. We hope that you take the education, inspiration, motivation and way you feel and keep going forward incorporating healthy and mindful habits. If you need more support, we have 2 additional tiers of Nourish to help you on your way to a long and healthy life. 

You cannot make short-term changes and expect them to last forever. That’s not how the body works and that’s why this is lifestyle and mindset coaching as much as it is nutrition and movement-focused. 

Q: I want to sign up for Nourish but I live with other people and there is no way they will be on board. I can’t prepare or plan different meals to accommodate everyone’s needs. What should I do? 

A: It is challenging when friends, family, and colleagues are not supportive of your health goals. Remember that often people project their fear and insecurities on you. They may even be jealous because they too want to make a change but can’t quite take the first step. 

The first recommendation we have is to never apologize or position this as a “healthy diet.” It doesn’t matter if you are serving cookies and cake, if you tell your family it’s “healthy” or have an apologetic tone, they will automatically be skeptical. 

The second recommendation is to invite your family into the process. “Hey Sally/Sal/Steven…I am committed to my health and having more energy in the coming year so I can be a better partner/parent/friend and am excited about it. I’d appreciate your support.

You might find yourself eating more frequently than you may be used to and some of those initial meals will be easy to prep for just yourself, like a smoothie. However, Nourish food is real food and it tastes good. You can leverage the recipe book as an opportunity for your family to try some new things. You can also adapt your existing family favorites to make them more Nourish-friendly with some simple substitutions or eliminations. 

Q: If I can’t live without gluten or dairy, should I still do Nourish? 

A: As my coach Mary would say, “Do you know that to be true?”.  Behavior follows belief, so if you think you can’t, you can’t. 

Remember, this program is not forever and you can live without some of your “non-negotiables” for some time. You can do anything, especially if the idea of feeling better is motivating enough. The definition of “better” differs from person to person. For me, “better”  used to mean getting rid of debilitating abdominal pains. Now that that acute issue is behind me, I am focused on more subtle things like brain fog, blood sugar, energy levels, mood, and sleep. If your “why” is important enough, it’s worth taking the time to explore it. 

Q: What about alcohol? Can I drink while Nourishing?

A: You can, but I honestly wouldn't recommend it. Remember, it's only 2 weeks! The more you allow your body to truly detox during this time, the better you will feel. If you're worried about pushback from your social circle, you can always say you are doing "Dry January." If you still receive pushback, it may be time to find new friends.