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September is a month of new beginnings in our home. In the summer months our routine is not keeping one at all! My girls and I take day trips wherever we please, have special treats (ice cream!) or enjoy fun days at home soaking up the sun outside. September is our reset button to get back on a routine and the Purina ONE® 28 day challenge came just in time to help us ease into a healthy groove alongside our pup.
Despite our 7 year old yorkie mix dog’s small size, he is a huge part of our family with a big personality. He loves to run and play games with my 3 daughters, take walks at the park, go on road trips, or just snuggle up at the end of a long day. Wherever our family is, our pup can be found right beside us enjoying the fun too. Feeding him high quality nutritious food is priority for his health maintenance so he can be happy and healthy each and every day. The Purina ONE® challenge offers the opportunity to switch out your dog’s normal food with Purina ONE® for 28 days and see the difference it can make. During the 28 days, we fed our pup Purina ONE® SmartBlend Chicken & Rice Adult Dry Dog Food and mixed it up every few days with a little Purina ONE® Classic Ground Beef & Brown Rice Entree Wet Dog Food. Every ingredient has a purpose with Purina ONE® and all components of their food work together to provide balanced and optimal nutrition for your pet. Real meat is the #1 ingredient in Purina ONE® and fillers or artificial flavors are never added in their foods. With Purina ONE, ingredients are carefully selected and the food is created to meticulous quality and safety standards in the company’s own USA facility.
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For the month of September, I came up with 4 health and fitness goals to help reset my family’s routine over 28 days. I created a countdown calendar that incorporated each goal and made it fun and exciting for my girls to participate. Because we required a few essentials before we started the challenge, we headed to our favorite one stop shop – Target! We first headed to the arts & craft section to choose bright and colorful markers and a dry erase calendar. Next we stopped by the produce department to stock up on a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables for our healthy meal plan and snacks.
Last but not least we stopped by the pet care section. I love shopping Target’s pet section because everything is always organized, clean, and in stock. I can always find exactly what I need at a great price. Target also always has special promotions going on with various products and right now that product is Purina ONE®! Now, through 10/6, save $10 when you spend $40 on Purina ONE® Dry Dog and Cat Food and other Purina pet care at Target. You can also score a FREE $5 Target $5 Target GiftCard™ with a Purina pet food, litter, and/or treats purchase of $25 or more! After our trip we were excited and ready to being the challenge!
Create a Healthy Meal Plan
The first step to get my family back on track after summer vacation was to create a healthy meal plan for each week during the month long challenge. Meal planning and shopping for everything I need to make wholesome meals each day of the week ensures my family is consuming nutritious foods and minimizes any eating out. Meal planning can also be a fun family activity. I like to let my little ones flip through my cookbooks and pick out meals they want to help prepare or select items from our garden to use as ingredients in our weekly meals. Meal planning is essential for our busy family because we always know what’s for dinner, even on the busiest weeknights. This is also a great way to be extra efficient because many meals can be prepared on the weekend and pulled out during those extra busy nights.
Our pup’s meals were switched for 28 days to Purina ONE® for the challenge. We observed several positive changes in him over the course of the month. Our dog’s meals prior to the challenge were not something he seemed too excited about. He typically would leave leftovers of his food in the bowl or eat about half of the food and then drop the excess around the house. From the very first day with Purina ONE®, he couldn’t wait for me to pour the food into his bowl and consume the entire bowl! The food has both crunchy bites and tender meaty morsels that my dog loves. On day 7, his energy level was noticeably increased. He was ready to play more often and I noticed he was napping less overall. The SmartBlend® nutrition in every bag of Purina ONE® helps support healthy energy which means more fun and playtime! By day 14, I noticed our dog was having regular digestive habits which didn’t always occur with his previous food. Purina ONE® formulas* are easy to digest and promote high nutrient absorption, so more nutrition goes to work inside your dog. At day 21, our dog’s skin and coat was shiny and healthy looking thanks to omega-6 fatty acids, vitamins & minerals in Purina ONE®. We saw several amazing changes over 28 days and look forward to maintaining our dog’s health beyond the challenge with Purina ONE®.
Keep Grab & Go Snacks On Hand
With school back in session, busy work schedules, and activities throughout the week, healthy snacks are a must-have for wherever our days takes us. Instead of purchasing prepackaged snacks, I prepared nutritious protein-packed convenient snacks in portable containers for the challenge. Fresh vegetables and dressing, chopped fruit and greek yogurt, and trail mix were our go-to snacks that I kept on hand for my girl’s to grab whenever they pleased. For the 28 day challenge I planned these snacks with our meal plans and prepared them ahead of of each week.
30 Minutes of Activity Each Day
Another family goal during our 28 day challenge was to commit to 30 minutes of daily activity. We incorporated our pup into this goal and came up with fun activities the 6 of us all could participate in. Some examples of activities we planned were backyard games, obstacle courses, family dance parties, sprinkler/water play, and going to a local dog park.
Track Progress with a Countdown Calendar
A fun way to get everyone involved in the 28 day challenge is with a countdown calendar. We created a countdown with each of our names listed on the side. All of our names also had a specific color and symbol. Every day we completed of the challenge, we marked with our symbol. To make the challenge more exciting for my kids, I added pink sticky paper to certain dates with an activity hidden underneath. On those special days, whichever family member’s symbol was on the pink sticky paper could lift up the paper and be the leader of the surprise activity.
My family and pup had so much fun getting back on a regular health and fitness routine during our 28 day challenge. There were so many changes in my pup over the 28 days that I couldn’t wait to share how you can also have your dog or cat could participate in the challenge! Sign up now to get a $3 off coupon and a personalized food recommendation for your pet! Also get 5% off + free shipping when you subscribe to Purina ONE® at Target!
*excluding Healthy Weight Formula
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