Spring Into Summer Challenge - Week 1

Summer is just around the corner, are you ready for it?
Follow this four week program and we will make sure you are.

With just a few short weeks until Memorial Day the season of reawakening is upon us. As we spring back to life we realize that the season of short sleeves and bathing suits is fast approaching. This year we challenge you to step outside your comfort zone, clean out the winter sludge from your veins and set some serious goals.
Four weeks may not sound like a long time, but with focus and determination, you can make a dramatic difference in both how you look and feel just in time for summer.
In the following four weeks our aim will be to help you focus your efforts on weight loss and physical rejuvenation. We will urge you to take on more than you think you are capable of in an effort to find out just what you can actually achieve in this precious window of time. We will be asking you to battle the inner voice saying that you can't make a change, thus defying the excuses that cripple your progress. Summertime, social events, outdoor living, sun dresses and an active life are just around the corner. This year we will make sure you are ready to face them head on!
For each of the next four weeks, the challenge will urge you to set four goals, representing the four cornerstones that lead to successful long term health and fitness:

1. eating right
2. moving more
3. changing behavior
4. finding support

We will provide guidance, but are asking that you push yourself. Don't just try, succeed. Set your goals just beyond where you think you might be able to reach. Then set aside time each week dedicated to meeting those goals.

Week 1: NO EXCUSES!

1. Eating smarter: Eating smarter requires some planning. Planning leads to better choices, learning about your hunger signals and controlling cravings. This week commit to making a commitment to stay on a healthy eating plan, NO EXCUSES! Plan your meals for the entire week and don't stray from it. Write down this meal plan and then journal what you are eating to match against it. This is the perfect time of year to consume more whole and filling foods such as fresh fruits and springtime vegetables, then go easy on the salad dressings. Another point to consider is that it's the little changes in your food intake that reap the big results. For example a typical 12 ounce sugared beverage is about 140 calories and water (even favored ones) are zero calories. Replacing just one sugar beverage a day with a water can trim 50,000 calories a year from your diet. That alone is 14 pounds a year!

2. Move more: The prescription for fitness is to complete a minimum of 30 minutes of activity a day. Research proves that 90% of people who have kept weight off over time have a regular schedule of activity in their lives. If you want lasting weight loss, you are going to have to find a way to make fitness a part of your everyday life, NO EXCUSES! So this week we challenge you to join us in a class that you don't normally attend. Go to our class schedule page at http://www.241fitness.vpweb.com/ClassSchedule.html - pick a class and then write that down as an appointment on your calendar. For those of you that have been exercising with us for awhile, it's time to turn it up a notch. The more fit a person becomes through a healthy lifestyle and exercise the more intense that exercise program needs to become to get results. So lace up those shoes and lets leave it all on the dance floor.

3. Changing behavior: Changing your behavior is all about building awareness. Awareness of the foods that keep you fuller longer, awareness of your hunger signals, awareness of how much better you fell when you are moving daily. This week we challenge you to be aware of every bite you take. If you are anything like me you eat most of your food over the kitchen sink and then have food amnesia, so you have to journal everything you put in your mouth or else you totally forget about it. Plan to eat your meals away from the kitchen sink and distractions such as the television or your computer. Yes, we are challenging you to actually step away from the kitchen sink, sit down and enjoy your meals or snacks, turning off all other distractions so that you can focus on your feelings of fullness and hunger. Furthermore, we challenge you to measure out a serving size and place it on a small plate as opposed to eating straight from the package or pot. NO EXCUSES!

4. Finding support: Reach out to a close friend, family member or someone in class who can become your ally in this "spring into summer" challenge. Ask them to join you in this process, have them help you set up your weekly goals or do so as a team and then hold each other accountable throughout this process. If you tell us your taking our challenge or coming to a class, we will hold you to it and call you on it! NO EXCUSES!

The four challenges set for you this week are fundamental basic principles to a lifetime of health and fitness. It is up to you to take the time to work these new goals into your life. Believe us when we say your time will be well spent. As a reward for completing the whole challenge we recommend that you decide upon a fabulous splurge that you have been wanting. Need a new cut and color? Pedicure for the start of summer? Dinner at that new restaurant? Take a minute and write down just how you plan to reward yourself at the end of this challenge on Memorial Day weekend, as we don't plan on being easy on you!
This challenge is all about pushing yourself into the next level and making real progress. Happy Spring!

National Weight Control Registry, Long Term Weight Loss Maintenance and Clinical Nutrition