From middle school through collage I struggled with my weight. I followed fad diets several times and very quickly lost weight—but was disappointed each time I gained it all back.

Then in my mid-twenties, I decided to take a new approach. This time no special diets and I was not focused on a number. My goal was to make permanent changes to my eating and activity habits. Whatever weight I would loose AND maintain AND enjoy my life was good enough.

In a few months, I had dropt a full clothing size! After a year, several more sizes. Now, more than two decades later, my habits and my clothing size have remained pretty stable.

The Change 3 Challenge is very similar to how I started those many years ago. Here are my original goals:

1. Plan my lunch and dinner meals each week. Having food decisions made before I was hungry really helped me. I used my slow cooker several times a week so that dinner was ready when I got home from work which reduced my snacking impulse!
2. Develop an exercise habit. I promised myself I would walk after work each day for 10 minutes. Yes, just 10 minutes. Because it was the habit—the routine I wanted to develop and on those evenings when “gravity was heavy” I would remind myself that it was ONLY 10 MINUTES.
3. Spend time with friends. Meeting friends for volunteer activities after supper melted away my workday stress.

I have gradually increased the time I dedicate to exercise each day and developed some “tricks” that help me stay on my path. I’ll share those with you in this blog over the next several weeks.

Meanwhile, I hope you think about what activities will add value to your life in 2015 and make a plan to add them to your days! Whether your focus is on diet, exercise, or spending more quality time with your family, I wish you a healthy and fun 2015!