Category: Foundational Weeks

Goals: Try a Plant Diversity Challenge competition as a family. Have the kids create healthier breakfast and snack ideas they’re actually excited about.

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In Week 4, our focus shifted to another cornerstone of well-being: nutrition. What does healthy eating mean? I was recently reading Super Agers by Eric Topol and he defined a research-based healthy diet with the following: “We know it includes fruits and vegetables; legumes, such as lentils and garbanzo beans; whole grains; nuts and seeds; healthy fats, such as olive oil and avocados; and fatty fish, such as salmon and tuna, rich in omega-3 fatty acids.” The exact foods we choose may eventually be driven by personalized recommendations, but for now, I think that’s a reasonable definition. By most modern standards we already eat pretty well—I enjoy cooking, we lean vegetarian, and vegetables show up in nearly every meal. The kids are generally adventurous eaters (with a few quirks—J won’t touch eggplant, and C avoids raw tomatoes). Still, with two teenagers in the house, packaged snacks, soda, and juice have started to creep in more than I would like. This week was all about sparking conversations on how eating well supports our health in the long run.

Nutrition science is notoriously complicated. Ideally, we’d all eat “perfectly clean,” but that can quickly drift toward rigidity, or worse, disordered eating. And honestly, what’s life without the occasional chocolatey dessert? I prefer to focus on positive nutrition—adding more good foods—rather than banning foods outright. So our challenge this week was twofold: Have a friendly competition to see who could eat the most different plant-based foods (vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, herbs, and spices). Encourage the kids to design healthier breakfasts and snacks that actually appealed to them.

The Plant Diversity Challenge is rooted in gut health research showing that eating 30–40 different plants each week fosters a healthier microbiome. My kids are competitive, so this seemed like the perfect way to sneak in more variety. We quickly noticed a few things: leftovers for lunch made it harder to rack up new plants, while nuts and spices turned out to be easy wins.

So, how did we do?

No surprise that this veggie-loving mom came out on top—and also no surprise that my oldest teenager, who refuses to let me pack his lunch (apparently lunchboxes aren’t “cool”), landed last.

To tackle our weaker spots—breakfasts and snacks—I asked the kids to brainstorm better options:

For me, eating well is about both health and joy. Our big Sunday dinners are a ritual: healthy, homemade dishes plus a delicious dessert to share. This week it was filets (a rare red meat choice for us), baked potatoes, broccoli, and homemade crusty bread—finished with a homemade apple tart. There’s nothing like sharing a delicious meal outdoors on a beautiful fall day to remind us we’re living our best life. My vision board was full of moments like this—shared meals, cozy twinkle lights, and simple joys. I love food and family!

I love Michael Pollan’s simple philosophy: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” That’s the spirit we’re aiming for as we build habits that help us live our best life.

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Key Takeaways: Eating is mostly habit. But with small tweaks, it’s not hard to fit in more plant-based variety. Kids are excited to eat healthy foods when they help shape the choices (this is seriously backed by science, but I sometimes just forget to ask them what healthy foods they want!).

Goals: Schedule workouts on the calendar and try a new family activity together

My graduate work focused on the effects of cardiovascular disease risk factors on age-related memory decline. Spoiler alert: it’s not good! I often summarize six years of research with the phrase, “What’s bad for your heart is also bad for your brain.” So I’ve long understood the importance of exercise—though, as more of a bookworm than an athlete, I’m not always consistent with my own workouts. That’s why this week of Our Best Life Project focused on building the foundation of exercise. Movement fuels our best life by boosting mood, sharpening focus, strengthening the body, improving sleep, protecting long-term health, and much more. It’s truly one of the most powerful things we can do for ourselves.

My husband and I have been part of an international workout program called My Peak Challenge (MPC) for many years. Founded by actor Sam Heughan, MPC blends workouts, nutrition, charitable giving, and community. We love it! The program’s workouts are CrossFit-style, and we follow along using printed worksheets with our dumbbells at home, along with yoga videos. Over the years, our consistency has varied, but for this week we got intentional: we sat down with a calendar and committed to three HIIT workouts and at least one yoga session each week. Yoga is my happy place, and my husband enjoys it now too. We wrote them down to make them non-negotiable. For cardio, we’re racking up steps as part of “Step-tember” with MPC—once that ends, we’ll choose our next challenge.

Our oldest teen has been mountain biking and lifting weights, though his strength sessions were inconsistent. This week, he set a dedicated time each day to build more structure. The younger two get plenty of activity through recess and organized sports, so we didn’t add extra workouts for them.

Another goal for exercise week was to try a new family activity. We picked up a spikeball set and headed to the park one Saturday. Our oldest, who’d played in PE, taught us the rules, and we had a blast chasing the tiny ball and spiking it onto the trampoline net. The set broke after the first use (RIP spikeball), but it was so much fun that I immediately picked up some pickleball paddles for our next family game day.

Key Takeaways: When we treat exercise like a true priority, it finds a place in our schedule. Movement is non-negotiable for a healthy life, and trying something new together reminds us that exercise isn’t just good for us—it’s fun.

Goals: Strengthen sleep hygiene (especially optimizing the sleep environment), lengthen sleep opportunities for everyone, and stick to a consistent wake-up time each day.

Whenever I teach a course, I end by asking students to share one thing they learned that changed their behavior or perspective. In Intro Psych, the most common answer is almost always sleep. We just don’t talk enough about the incredible power of getting a good night’s rest. The truth is, sleep deficit undermines every aspect of health—from mood and memory to immunity and long-term disease risk.

That’s why, when I mapped out the first weeks of Our Best Life Project, I knew we needed to start with foundational pillars of wellbeing—and sleep rose right to the top. These aren’t one-week habits; they’re long-term practices we’ll keep checking in on throughout the project.

Matthew Walker sums up the importance of sleep brilliantly in Why We Sleep:

“AMAZING BREAKTHROUGH! Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off colds and the flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and stroke, not to mention diabetes. You’ll even feel happier, less depressed, and less anxious. Are you interested?”

If you haven’t guessed, that “treatment” is simply getting enough sleep. Yet modern life makes it harder than ever—thanks to electric lighting, nonstop work demands, and (of course) the joys of parenting. Sleep needs also change across the lifespan: newborns require up to 17 hours, school-aged kids 9–11, teens 8–10, and most adults thrive with 7–9. Are you getting that much?

Our Family’s Sleep Experiments This Week

1. Optimizing the sleep environment.
   We checked out each bedroom for light, screens, temperature, and noise. Blinds were closed more tightly and glowing electronics were unplugged. Teen phones were already charging downstairs each night, but this week we got more consistent about enforcing a set time for it to happen. Ideally, the temperature in the room should be around 65 degrees (hard in a hot climate!) so we talked about wearing light pajamas and using a light blanket. White noise was set up for better consistency. S loves falling asleep to audiobooks, but since that kept his brother awake and likely woke him lightly after he was asleep, we swapped in a regular book instead—not his favorite change, but his roommate was grateful! We also talked about sleep hygiene—like when to have caffeine, workouts, screens, and (for the adults) alcohol. Give your brain a clear signal it’s time to sleep—wind down with calm, healthy habits, not late-night chaos!
   
2. Lengthening sleep opportunities.
   We realized none of us were giving ourselves enough time in bed. Eddie and I pushed our weekday bedtime earlier and let ourselves wake 30 minutes later, without a snooze. We also helped the kids set new bedtime goals. The key has been tackling homework, showers, and chores before the late evening, so no one is starting a big project at 10 p.m.
   
3. Consistency.
   To protect circadian rhythms, we’re aiming to keep wake-up times steady—even on weekends. Right now we’re trying out a one-hour shift instead of the much larger weekend swings we used to have.
   

The kids pushed back at first (as kids do), with plenty of reasons why they couldn’t possibly get more sleep. Meanwhile, I couldn’t help reminiscing about the glory days of 7:30 p.m. bedtimes—teens really are a whole new animal! But once we got into the rhythm, everyone was happily getting in bed by their more concrete bedtime—and honestly, who can complain about a little extra cozy time under the covers on a crisp fall night?

Key Takeaways: Sleep is not optional in our best life; it is foundational to everything. We all needed more shut-eye than we were getting. With a little planning and intentionality, even a busy family can carve out enough rest.