What Do You Want? Dare To Dream!!!

What is the one thing you really want at the end of this 90 days?
You can have more than one, but list at least one thing you hope to get out of this.

Examples:  

I want to be down three sizes.

I want to run a 5k.

I want to play with my kids all afternoon and not be tired!
Dream Big 

This is your end goal! We will set and achieve smaller goals along the way that will help you get to this one!

Post them here and give yourself a point! Use this to encourage each other!!

Also if you haven't sent me your starting weight, and if you want pictures and measurements-Go for it!! I am here to help and encourage you! When you email me each week please title it weigh in week 1 etc so I can keep track each week. Also if you send me your food journal you can do that once a week as well! Thanks Team!!

Welcome! You made the first step!!!!

You have already completed your first challenge of the 90 Day Transformation…you STARTED! Comment below to say you are HERE and you get your first point.  Taking the first step to focusing on your health is really the most important step. If you were already on the 5&1 plan, you just added a layer of support to your journey. If you are starting a plan, day 1 is the most exciting..and maybe the scariest.  No worries, because tomorrow is day 2!! You got this. We are all here to support each other. So, today, rejoice in the fact that you are on the right track. Say hello below and get your first point. 

WELCOME!

Tara

90 Days / It's All About The Habits

Habits are to life as rails are to a train." -Charlotte Mason

This is the very foundation of these 90 Days

What is 10 + 10 + 5?  Chance are--you got the right answer! 

It's Hard Work to Get Good At Something
I remember when my daughter was seven and struggled with her math homework. She was pretty good at adding and subtracting, but as soon as we put multiple columns and stack more than two numbers together, her brain freezes.  She knew10 + 10 and she knew 20+5, but when you put 10+10+5 in front of her, she would  get noticeably anxious.  It looked big and scary to her. 

Should it  have scared her?  No.  It's simple, right? 

But she hadn't mastered the simplicity of it yet.  Something hadn't clicked in her brain.  And in order for it to click, she needed to practice those kinds of problems over and over again.  

Lexi struggled to do math.  But with proper guidance and practice, one day she looked at 10+10+5 and, without even needing to think, knows the answer is 25.  

It's All About Habits
I think sometimes we look at healthy people and say, "They're just naturally healthy."  Or we see our own abilities and say, "That comes naturally to me, so I don't need to spend time on that."

Habits don't come "naturally"--even if people say they're a "natural" at something.  Everything requires practice.

How Can We Adopt Habits of Health?
A habit is a propensity to respond to a given situation in a certain way.  The more deeply ingrained a habit, the more consistent the response.  Because an action or thinking pattern is habitual, we don't need to think about the response.  It happens automatically, because a neuromuscular habit has been formed in my brain.



For 20 years, I had some really terrible habits of health. 
  
       

• I overate constantly

• I ate a lot of junk food and developed a love for it.
• I ate in secrecy, in darkness
• I hid wrappers so no one would know how much I ate (I lied)
• I finished every meal with a dessert
• I sat in front of the TV and stuffed my face
• I ate in the car--cramming cheeseburgers and french fries down the hatch in 5 minutes flat
• I didn't do any activity and spent my days sitting
• I got very little sleep, staying up as late as I could for "me time" and hitting the snooze for an hour every dreaded morning
• I didn't manage my stress and habitually had panic attacks

Did you know that when a habit is formed it actually changes the gray matter in your brain?

The more you repeat an activity, the network of brain cells (neurons) that work together to perform that activity fire more frequently and easily the next time.  Hebb's law.  Brain cells that fire together are wired together.  So, the more often I repeat an activity, the easier that activity becomes.  If I do something once (eat ice cream OR walk away from the dessert table), the neutrons want to do it a second time.  If I do it again, then it's easier to do it the third time.  We are in the process of getting a new brain every time we learn something.

Huh.  I didn't know that. I learned that through the educator Charlotte Mason and Bill & Maryellen St. Cyr with Ambleside Schools International.

So, is it normal to think that we will gravitate toward  familiar habits over the next 90 days?  Yes.

In the past, I would have called this FAILURE. 

But what IS failure?

We're Here to Practice Habits
As we start this 90 days together, let's be certain of one thing.  We are here to begin PRACTICING the habits we want in our life.  The more we practice them, the easier they become.

As Bill St. Cyr points out in the video I've included today, "If I frame the poor behavior as a habit, then there is something I can do about it.  But if I frame is as a medical diagnosis or a disorder, then I am stuck.  I become a victim of my neurobiology.  We may have a brain that isn’t well-tooled for healthy habits, but if we practice habits…we can retrain our brain."

So today, we are practicing habits that we are learning one at a time.  

Today, we will either enjoy or struggle through the day with the support of all of us here on this blog, the people who love us and those who can encourage me to keep going.  

We will not speak poorly of ourselves and tell ourselves that we are stupid (or made-to-be-fat)--because we am not.

We will practice!

Today's Challenge:

TO PRACTICE...

• Eating 6 small, healthy meals a day
• Drinking water
• Getting activity into this day
• Going to bed in time to get 8 hours of sleep
• Saying "no" so I am not overwhelmed and overly stressed
• Breathing
• Love

For me, when I look at it this way, it doesn't matter how long it takes me to make these habits stick...I know I can keep practicing them and valuing their importance in my life.

Let us know where you've succeed today and where you see that you will need much more practice!  Check back to the blog comments often, because we'll all be chattering away today, I hope!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90a6KfwEgkQ&feature=player_embedded

Don't Stress

Hey, I just wanted to pop on here and say...don't worry about tomorrow, Friends!  YOU CAN DO THIS.  We take everything one day, one step at a time.  We make small changes that lead to bigger things as we keep walking together...

Remember, the points are for FUN!  Don't stress over them.  Each one is designed to help you start a good habit.  You don't have to tackle them all tomorrow.  I'm going to do my best but I want you guys to help me track your points, because NEVER in a MILLION years did I imagine that we'd have this many people participating in this transformation!  But I sure am glad every one of you is here...

Sending Your Weigh In/Journals/Etc...

A great question was asked about how and when you should send your weigh-ins, journals and any other items you would like me  to review.  Here are a few pointers below.  If you're like me, you might not be in love with details, so I've tried to keep it simple for you, but there are a few things you can do to help me:

• Send things to me weekly, preferably on Thursdays, since we're starting on January 2
• Please name your subject line: Week #____ Report
• I will track your weights, and your points but you should track your points as well
• If you want me to respond or help you personally, please let me know in your email or you can always post on the Facebook page I made.

Stop-Challenge-Choose

Totally awesome! You guys want an extra layer of support AND the ability to qualify for amazing prizes? This is open to ANYONE and serves as a fabulous additional layer of support while we are working together on creating new habits in the first 90 days of 2014. Check out the info below, and if you decide to join just make sure you put Tara Weitzel in as the person who you know and want to be your health coach! Once you're registered, you'll get to hear directly from Dr. A each day for 12 weeks. (If you want to know more about who he is, check out the FAQsection)

STOP. CHALLENGE. CHOOSE.

On your mark! Get set! Stop. Challenge. Choose. Take Shape For Life’s 12-Week Health Transformation.

Anyone is invited to participate in our Stop. Challenge. Choose. 12-Week Health Transformation, with enrollment starting now through March 1, 2014. 

All you need to do is be willing to work with a Take Shape For Life Health Coach (you're already doing that with me right now!. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY, and winners will celebrate at one of the top spa and wellness resorts in the U.S. 

The trip will include:
Round-trip airfare and ground transportation
Four-night resort accommodations
Luxurious spa treatments
Private healthy cooking demos
Exciting customized activities to help you continue your journey toward Optimal Health.

To get started, go to www.stopchallengechoose.com and fill out the entry form. When enrolling, click the I have/know a health coach, and please fill in my name Tara Weitzel it will bring up Lancaster Pa, thats me!!  

Toast the New Year in with Some H2O

How much water should you be drinking?

Dr. A. recommends drinking half your body weight in ounces. (So, if you weigh 240 pounds, you will drink 120 oz. of water).  You will find, after the first week or two, that drinking that much really isn't too hard and you'll spend less time in the bathroom, even though you're still drinking a lot.  The volume of water will also help you battle hunger during the first few days.