Have you managed to efficiently sustain weight through the holidays, or perhaps even lost several pounds? If so, congratulations! If you have gotten off track over another month or two, now could be the time to be back on course by putting your health and wellness first.

Here’s steps to make: Keep only health- promoting foods. Clean your cupboards and pantry of each item which have been not recommended choices for the Take Shape For Life Plan or(for those successful maintainers) that provide empty calories. Dispose of all the extra baked goods, excessive calorie finger foods, etc that can be leftover from holiday parties. Store your fridge and pantry with only health- promoting items—lean meats, fresh/frozen or canned vegetables as recommended for use on the 5 & 1 Take Shape for Life Plan
; add fresh/frozen fruits, whole grain products, and low- fat dairy products to your to-do list and cupboard for those currently following the transition/maintenance phases.

Planning your environment for success will be key to staying with your goals. Here’s to a fresh re- commitment of all your health objectives!

If you’ve neglected your workouts over the holidays, don’t expect to resume them at full force. Unfortunately, it takes much less time to lose aerobic capacity or strength than it does to gain it. Exercise physiologists call this loss of fitness “detraining. ” How rapidly you detrain depends largely on genetics and on your level of fitness; interestingly, the fitter you are, the faster you may well detrain.

Using Medifast and following the 5 & 1 Take Shape for Life BeSlim Plan you can expect to lose 2-5 pounds a week. Each Medifast suppliment contains only 100 calories.

Generally, you can expect to lose 5 percent of your aerobic capacity after one week of inactivity, 15 percent after 2 weeks, and up to 25 percent after three weeks. If you’ve managed to get in at least one workout per week, chances are you’ve maintained your previous fitness level. Start off slowly, because haven’t worked out for over a month. And don’t worry- you’ll be back in shape right away!

Now’s the time when you start thinking ahead to the New Year. So what will you modify? How will you adjust? What will you start? If you’re thinking about making real changes toward a healthy lifestyle, begin by evaluating your goals. Are they realistic? Are they doable? Are you able to put them in a time frame? It’s wonderful to start the New Year with new challenges ahead. Just make sure that your goals are achievable, to help you see real success.