# 7-Day Reset in January: The Weekly Protocol

> Five rules, seven days, zero exceptions: sleep, water, protein, movement, no alcohol. The weekly protocol with a daily plan for your January reset.

January is full of programmes that last 30 days and end on day twelve. This reset lasts seven days. It is not a detox in the sense of juices and deprivation, but a protocol with five rules you follow for one week without exception. After that, you decide what stays.

## The five rules

Every rule has a number. Numbers can be ticked off, intentions cannot.

1. **Sleep: seven to eight hours, fixed bedtime.** You set the time on Sunday, for example 10.30 pm, and keep it for seven days. Friday included.
2. **Water: 30 millilitres per kilogram of body weight.** At 75 kilograms that is around 2.2 litres a day. Coffee and tea do not count. Alcohol certainly does not.
3. **Protein: 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight, spread over three meals.** At 75 kilograms that is about 110 grams, so 35 to 40 grams per meal.
4. **Movement: 30 minutes daily, three of them strength sessions.** Walking counts. Stairs count. A bodyweight strength workout at home counts.
5. **No alcohol. Seven days, zero exceptions.** Not the glass of wine with dinner, not the beer after training.

Why these five? Because they carry each other. If you sleep, you crave less sugar. If you eat protein, you stay full longer. If you move, you sleep better. If you skip alcohol, you sleep deeper and drink more water. After seven days you feel the difference without needing a scale.

## How to prepare on Sunday

The reset does not start on Monday. It starts on Sunday at 4 pm.

- Shop for the week: eggs, quark, skyr, legumes, chicken or fish, tofu, oats, vegetables in large quantities, nuts, lemons.
- Move alcohol out of sight. Do not pour it away, put it away.
- Prepare a one-litre water bottle. Two refills a day plus one glass in the morning make up your quota.
- Block three strength sessions in your calendar: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 30 minutes each.
- Set your bedtime as an alarm on your phone. The alarm does not ring to get you up, it rings to get you to bed.

## The daily plan

Here is an example for 75 kilograms of body weight. Adjust the amounts to your own weight.

**6.30 am, wake up.** A large glass of water, 400 millilitres, before anything else. Ten minutes of daylight at the window or outside to set your internal clock.

**7.00 am, breakfast.** Three eggs with vegetables or 250 grams of skyr with oats and berries. Target: 35 grams of protein. Coffee is allowed, but only after the water.

**9.30 am.** First bottle half empty. If you work at a desk, the bottle stands on the desk, not in your bag.

**12.15 pm, lunch.** 150 grams of chicken, fish or tofu, with a large plate of vegetables and a portion of legumes or wholegrain rice. Target: 40 grams of protein. Then ten minutes of walking, even in the rain.

**3.00 pm.** First bottle empty, second one filled. A handful of nuts if hunger shows up.

**5.30 pm, movement.** On strength days: 30 minutes of squats, push-ups, lunges, band rows and planks, four rounds each. On the other days: 30 minutes of brisk walking or cycling.

**7.00 pm, dinner.** 200 grams of low-fat quark with vegetables or a piece of fish with roasted vegetables. Target: 35 grams of protein. No wine, no beer. Sparkling water with lemon replaces the ritual.

**9.30 pm.** Second bottle empty. Screens off, lights dimmed, room at 18 degrees. Five minutes of notes: what worked today, what did not.

**10.30 pm, lights out.** The bedtime alarm rang an hour ago. Now you are lying down.

## The seven days at a glance

- **Monday:** Everything new, everything unfamiliar. Stick stubbornly to the numbers. Strength training.
- **Tuesday:** Your head may feel foggy without sugar and alcohol. Drink water, walk, go to bed early.
- **Wednesday:** Strength training. The first night of deeper sleep usually arrives now.
- **Thursday:** Halfway. The hardest day, because the novelty is gone and the result is not there yet. This is exactly where the protocol counts.
- **Friday:** Strength training. The evening without a glass is the real test. Plan something that does not happen at a table: sauna, cinema, a walk.
- **Saturday:** Long walk, 60 minutes. Big shop for the coming week.
- **Sunday:** Review. Seven days, five rules, 35 ticks. Which three do you take into February?

## What you can expect after seven days

No miracles, but clarity. Most people report calmer sleep after a week, fewer afternoon cravings and a clearer head in the morning. The scale often shows one to two kilos less, which is mostly water and less volume in the digestive tract, not fat. That is fine. The reset is not a weight-loss programme but a status check: this is how your body feels when you give it what it needs for one week.

The most important part comes afterwards. Take the two or three rules that came easiest and keep them. For most people, the fixed bedtime and the morning water are the simplest. The rest may return, but deliberately: a glass of wine on Saturday is a decision, not a habit.

## Frequently asked questions

**Can I do the reset with coffee?**
Yes. Coffee is allowed, ideally until 2 pm so it does not disturb your sleep. It does not count towards your water quota. A glass of water before the first coffee is the rule.

**What if I break a rule on one day?**
Then the day is not lost, only one rule is. Tick off the other four and continue the next morning. The reset counts ticks, not mistakes. Only alcohol has no tolerance: one glass means starting the week again.

**Is the reset suitable for beginners?**
Yes, as long as you are healthy. The amounts are moderate and the training needs no equipment. If you take medication or have pre-existing conditions, discuss the protein amount and the training with your doctor first.