12-Week Shape-Up: Pre-WLS Edition Intro

Are you ready to kickstart your health?! It's been a while since the last 12-Week Shape-Up (12WSU), and I'm looking forward to getting started. The dates for this round of the 12WSU are January 13th through April 7th.

Whether you are new to the 12-Week Shape-Up, or you participated before, some things are changing about how it works, so read on!

How It Works

• Prior to the start of the 12WSU, you get together a list of 12 goals you'd like to strive for each week. These goals should be flexible enough that if you need to, you can change them, but should stick to the guidelines below:
• Weeks One and Two Goals: A positive dietary change, one for each week.
• Week Three Goal: A positive cardio addition.
• Week Four Goal: A positive weight-training addition.
• Weeks Five through Twelve: Building upon the goals you've set.
• Note: You aren't building goals that you do for just that week. The week of the listed goal, you'll start it, and will continue it all throughout the 12WSU. So if Week One you put "Cut out all sugary drinks," you'd do that Week One, and Weeks Two through Twelve (and hopefully forever after).
• On Tuesday, January 13th (and every Tuesday up to and including April 7th), you will log your weight and review the upcoming week's goal. At this point, you can decide to tweak your goal, if necessary.
• Plan a reward for yourself for the end of Week Six and the end of Week 12.
• Enjoy your extra energy and health!

It's a pretty simple plan, but simple is often more successful than complicated.

During the 12WSU, I'll post what I hope are some motivational posts, some links to interesting challenges or recipes, and other nifty tidbits. So please follow along and offer your own feedback in the comments!

Now, how to track your progress? There are any number of ways, so pick what works for you. I will post my weekly results publicly, and you can post your own results in the comments if you're brave. For tracking my food, I use MyFitnessPal (Username: Skylara), and for my activity, I use MapMyFitness (Username: SkylaraS) linked to MyFitnessPal. Feel free to connect with me!

That's it, really. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions, and I look forward to going on this healthy journey with everyone!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Sample 12-Week Goal Plan
Week One: Cut out all soda.
Week Two: Add more fruits and veggies every day.
Week Three: Start walking 3x/week for 15 minutes minimum.
Week Four: Start kettlebell exercises 2x/week.
Week Five: Eat out no more than once a week.
Week Six: Increase walk to 5x/week for 15 minutes minimum.
Week Seven: Increase kettlebell exercises to 3x/week.
Week Eight: Increase walk to 5x/week for 20 minutes minimum.
Week Nine: Continue kettlebell exercises and and start lunges 3x/week.
Week Ten: Increase walk to 5x/week for 30 minutes minimum.
Week Eleven: Start yoga 2x/week.
Week Twelve: Increase yoga to 3x/week.

Check-In Format
Previous Weight: ### lbs.
Current Weight: ### lbs.
Weight Change: ## lbs.
Upcoming Weekly Goal:
Notes: (Enter thoughts on the week here.)