Week 1: Make the Commitment

• Hang your Body Challenge contract somewhere you can see it every day.
• You're busy with career and family. Learn to prioritize. Get in your cardio at least five days a week.
• Get your pedometer. Aim to add 500-1,000 steps a day until you reach your daily goal of 10,000 steps per day.
• Start replacing your processed foods with whole foods �?an apple for a store-bought muffin, for example.
• Make sure you're getting 3 ounces of lean protein at every meal.

Week 2: Customize Your Eating Plan

• You may have kids by now. It's easy to pick at their food. Watch out for the extra nibbles �?they all add up.
• Try to get to bed no later than 11 p.m. to feel fresh in the morning and ready for your early morning walk or exercise.
• Try not to eat after 8 p.m. As you get older, you wear it in the morning.
• Take one multivitamin a day.

Week 3: Learn How to Regroup

• You're juggling family, work and community obligations. Learn stress-management skills and start to practice them this week.
• In a journal, record how you were able to face off a life stressor without overeating.
• Begin to understand the powerful connection between the mind and body.

Week 4: Practice Consistency NOT Perfection

• You'll be challenged to stay on top of your self-care with all heck breaking out around you.
• Learn to be satisfied with doing your best. Avoid unrealistic expectations. This is one of the busiest times of your life. Cut yourself some slack.
• Consistently drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.

Week 5: Use Your Head

• You're at greatest risk for mindless eating when you're so busy with life. Make the mind-body connection. Learn how to be mindful about your eating and physical activity.
• Chew every bite carefully, experience the texture and flavor.
• Eat twice as long as you usually do, and you'll eat less. Keep a timer at the table and time yourself when you eat.
• When you exercise, pay attention to how your body feels.
• Try not to do 30 things while you're eating.
• Get the TV out of the kitchen, sit down and enjoy your meal. Learn "relaxation response" meditation and practice it at least once a day.

Week 6: Half Way Point Evaluation

• Remember, you don't have a 20-year-old body anymore. You have to make time to take care of yourself and try not to cram it all in at one time.
• After your evaluation, get a reality check and see if your expectations are realistic. We're looking for anywhere from a 1/2- to 2.5-pound weight loss per week.
• Work with your real life schedule and fit in the time to work out and eat well.

Week 7: Clean Up Your Living Spaces

• Everyone wants a piece of you. Create your own self-care space.
• Put a TV near the treadmill and watch what you want as you exercise. Same with music as you work out. Keep it neat �?a challenge for busy 30-year-olds.
• When you travel, don't accept the minibar key. Keep your eating clean and on target no matter where you are.

Week 8: Sleep it Off:

• Sleep is a gift at this age. You find you're constantly fighting for the right to get your sleep. People are tugging at you from all directions.
• Do your best to get in six to seven hours of sleep each night. Use soothing music, baths, a book, meditation �?anything you can find to help improve your sleep time and quality.

Week 9: Build Your Natural Medicine Cabinet

• Fruits, veggies and whole grains are your natural medicine cabinet. Eat five servings a day of fresh fruits and veggies. The deeper the fruit or veggie's color, the richer the antioxidants found in them.
• Eat two to three servings of whole grains (oats, multigrain, barley).
• Make it a habit to incorporate these foods into your diet this week.
• You may be preparing food for your family now. This is a great opportunity to assess the quality and quantity of healthy foods in your diet.
• When in doubt, cook and consume whole foods. This week find two new ways to prepare vegetables (roasted and served with tofu). Learn two new ways to serve fruit (a yogurt parfait?).

Week 10: Get Creative

• All right. You've learned the basic template for eating and exercise. How about thinking outside the box? Cross-train with different kinds of cardio activities and equipment. Challenge yourself!
• Go all the way and participate in a sports event. Try your first 5K walk or run. That goal will keep you focused and bring it all together.
• For eating, try ethnic food combinations. Go vegetarian for a week. Try a hybrid way of eating �?become a "fish-vegetarian."
• Try new seasonings and condiments this week. It's easier to stay on track when you make eating more interesting.
• Your creativity is all about staying on track while your duties and obligations are multiplying as you sit there. Break up your workouts into smaller time increments and add them up at the end of the busy day.
• Getting to the gym looking like mission impossible? Buy some baseline equipment for your home and work out there.
• Get a trainer to help you, especially if you're a woman.
• Find ways to combine activities �?take that walk while you push your baby in the stroller.

Week 11: Have Some Fun

• Take the whole family along for adventures. Share family activities that keep kids and parents moving and fit.
• Learn to integrate this kind of thinking into vacations and retreats.

Week 12: You Did It!

• The journey continues. Repeat your baseline assessment (see Week 6).
• Review your Body Challenge contract. How did you do? Make a list of your achievements over the last 12 weeks. How was your focus and motivation? What did you change in your eating and physical-activity behaviors that is sticking? Do you no longer skip breakfast? Do you get that cardio in 80 percent of the time?
• The key is to see that you have laid down a foundation for healthier living, which you can then refine for the rest of your life. The more you practice these habits, the easier it gets.
• Remember, this is a very busy time in your life. Be patient and realize you're doing the best you can. The key is to be as consistent as possible with how you give of your precious time.

Congratulations on a job well done!