Challenge Week 1

WELCOME
Weight control is all about creating a lean lifestyle that you can live with forever. I am looking forward to creating such a plan for myself and sharing my journey with you all over the next 12 weeks. Check your mailbox every week for ideas on small changes that can add up to big calorie savings and healthy weight loss.

FOOD/NUTRITION
If you haven't selected your own diet plan, I'll share some hints and tips in this section every week. As we start out, it is important that we stay hydrated. Your goal this week should be to drink at least 8 glasses of water every day! Your first dietary change should be to look at healthier snacking options, pack healthful snacks for the times of day that you know you are typically hungry and can easily stray from your eating plan.

HEALTH/FITNESS
SSA's Office of the Medical Director recommends at least 150-300 minutes of moderate activity (brisk walking, slow biking, ballroom dancing, lawn mowing, etc) or 75-150 minutes of vigorous activity (running, swimming, power walking, aerobics, etc) per week for optimum health benefits.

Each week, I'll give you links to interesting and helpful sites to guide us on our journey! I love New Year's resolutions. I know they don't always stick around, but they give us a chance to re-invent a little piece of ourselves every year.  Check out this great link from Active.com:  10 New Year's Resolutions for Your Body, Mind and Heart

WEEKLY CHALLENGE
Take a Hike - literally! I'm getting out before the snow hits us! This Saturday, I will be at Patapsco State Park (Hollofield Area) around 10am to hike the Old Ranger Trail. It is about 1.5 miles and I will be attempting to loop it twice - join me for all, or just part, of the walk! On Monday, be sure to go to the WLW site and comment on your hike!

APPS/BOOKS
These two apps are for the Droid, but I'm sure the iPhone has equivalents!
Introducing Noom: The All-In-One Weight Loss, Exercise and Food Tracking App
Drinking Water - water reminder app!

ADVICE
I asked my friend Joey, who runs a Christian-based Recovery Coaching Group, to help us with the problems of getting and staying motivated. He responded to me with a wonderful list of quotes and a blog link. I particularly liked this quote:

To put food and weight behind you, you will need to choose life. Choosing life means showing up with your full presence in the world. Permanent weight loss is the work of opening your heart to all that is good in you and in the world. It means living a life of gratitude. When you feel better, you eat better.

To get started on your journey, he suggest checking out this great blog found at eurofitllc.blogspot.com/search/label/Lifestyle

You can visit Joey at www.Trans4mationCoaching.com