ProjectGET HEALTHY

[Recap]

What?

A 28-day challenge to create healthy habits that will last a lifetime

Who?

300+ participants from all over the world;

organized by DJ Waldow

How?

Announced via a blog post & spread through email,

Facebook, & Twitter

Content

‣Daily blog post by Paula Ryan, MS, RD of Healthiest Regards

‣Daily email by DJ Waldow of Social Butterfly Guy

Community

Closed Facebook

Group

Some Survey Results

Overall, what did youthink of this challenge?

96%“LOVED IT”

or “Pretty Cool”

Do you feel like this challengewill help you in the long run?

84%YES

Would you consider doing achallenge like this again in the future?

98%YES

How will this challengehelp you in the long run?

“It proved to me I could meet those goals on a daily basis.”

“It was a group of regular people. Not just fitness people who seem superhuman.

This group had people like me who are not perfect, and who occasionally sweat

cabernet from the night before.”

“I love the sharing of recipes, the water one was awesome, again it comes to having support

and working with like minded individuals.”

“I took a lot from other peoples’ journeys. Seeing successes and

struggles reminds me that I am not alone and no one is perfect when it

comes to creating new, healthy habits.”

“Doing something for 28 days is the perfect amount of time to start to form habits. I sort

of expected that I would go back to my old habits as soon as the challenge was over, but found myself repeating behaviors that I reinforced

throughout the challenge.”

“I have made life-altering changes...especially ‘de-stressing’

my mind and body.”

“I realize that I am able to stick with my goals way beyond the challenge and that

the challenge was only a beginning of a lifetime of being healthy.”

What is the ONE THING that you'll take away from this challenge?

“The ability of a support group to increase adherence to goals and inspire change....loved having a

community of people all sharing their own successes and struggles.”

“Support!!! And mindful eating.”

“Your body is your temple -- and no one will take care of it for you.”

“Trying everyday. Not just during a challenge. It’s ok to enjoy food and

vino once in a while when you spend most of the week trying to eat healthy.”

“Reading food labels, just because the package states it is healthy does NOT mean that it

is ;-) Sugar is BAD!!!

“Support is key. Knowledge is power.”

“LOVED the recipe gathering.”

“I felt that what I learned was that it doesn’t matter if you have a bad day you just have to start again

the next day and get on with it and chip away a little-by-little.”

“Portion control, portion control, portion control.”

“Accountability and attention matter in this area as much as any other.”

“Always strive to improve yourself, even if its just a small improvement...you’ll be

better for it in the long run.”

“If you don’t leave yourself enough time to eat, then you’re

just going to eat junk.”

“Navigating the day to day is easier with a group.”

“Having a support system (whether on the ground or virtual) is critical for me. Even if I’m not actively contributing content to the

community everyday, knowing that I need to feel accountable and checking in with the group when updates are posted keeps me

focused and motivated.”

“That the problem with meeting my goals isn’t the program, it’s the person

(ME). I need to work on becoming more mindful in my life.”

“Mindful eating and viewing food as fuel and not end all be all.”

“I’ll remember the quote ‘Your not a dog. Don’t reward

yourself with food.’”

“When I read the first blog from Paula...I thought, ‘Me time? Who has time for me time?!?’ I expected to FAIL MISERABLY with this aspect of the challenge. But as I thought about it...I realized it was the ONE part of the challenge that I needed the most. I am a very busy, high-stress, multi-tasker. And so I focused on this one thing the most. I am happy to say that I am a totally different person today!!! Even my daughter, who also did the challenge, noticed a HUGE difference in me. I am going to continue this important part for life. I have realized that if I don’t take care of myself... and give myself some much-needed ‘down-time’ ...I won’t be here to take care of anyone else. THANK YOU FOR CHANGING MY LIFE!!! Oh...and I have decided to continue the healthy, mindful eating...and to pick up the pace on my exercising. I am doing better with both of those things these days.”

“I learned that after a few days, healthy can easily become habit!”

“That this shouldn’t be a 28 day thing. My goal is to do this just about every day. Lifelong health!”

“I was reminded about the dangers of sugar and have seriously reduced sugar in my diet and

the sugar I make available to my grandchildren.”

“The biggest thing I took away from the challenge was the reminder that it’s not perfection, grandiose gestures or rigid programs that make an impact. It’s the

accumulation of multiple small ‘right’ choices made that really creates change.”

“You need consistent support to create new, healthy habits. Having

people to fall back on and/or reach out to is ESSENTIAL.”

“It’s so much easier to do this with a group or a support system.I will

definitely keep at it! I look forward to another challenge!”

“As hard as it is to fall off the exercise wagon, it is also easy to get back on it. Now that I am

biking and walking every day I spend a lot of time thinking about other exercises I can do. And I am excited about it. This is better than

feeling like crap about myself.”

[more]SOUNDBITES!

“I have a huge fear of letting people down. I’d set the same goals for myself earlier this year that I set for this challenge, but the only person I was letting down by not meeting the goals was myself. Entering this challenge meant I was accountable to other people. That made a huge difference to me! And now that I’ve completed the challenge, I’ve proven to myself that I CAN do it and there’s no reason for me NOT to keep it going!”

“After ‘going it alone’ for 5 months and losing 60 pounds, the Get Healthy Challenge provided an excellent community of support and sharing to help get me that much closer to my final goals, and opened my eyes to the power of being part of a community of people who are all trying to make lifelong changes and live a healthy lifestyle.”

“This was such an inspirational journey! I’m so happy to have accepted this challenge!”

“28 days is just a start - and it is a great start. Take the time for yourself to look at what is working and what is not. These 28 days put me in touch with others pursuing similar goals and made me feel not so alone.”

“This was a great challenge!! Healthy, nutrition advice with tips for everyday living! Real people- realistic goals- and a supportive online environment!”

“It was awesome the dedication that everyone showed in this challenge and especially our promoter, DJ, who kept us on track and going with his daily emails and upbeat attitude.”

“I love DJ’s enthusiasm! His ability to knit a large group of strangers into a team all working towards our individual goals by using social media as a common focal point. Having participated in MANY of DJ’s challenges, I think the concept is fantastic and I have totally stolen it to use in my business to challenge my students.”

“For me, a big part of success is just staying mindful of the challenge. This group did that for me, even if I wasn’t posting and commenting all the time.”

“The support I got from normal, down-to-earth people was priceless. These aren’t fitness/diet crazy individuals - these are regular Joe’s living day-to-day life and trying to make it a better one. You don’t find that just anywhere.”

“DJ brought together an epic combination of fitness and nutrition education, inspiration and (best yet), community. What could be more fun than that?”

“I changed my view of food so that it is no longer my enemy, and is now my way to health!”

“I feel SO much better than I did when I started! THANK YOU for challenging and changing me!”

“Thanks to Project GET HEALTHY, healthy became habit.”

“I think what I love is that I know I can do ANYTHING for 28 days, and it kinda becomes habit. Love that!”

“There is nothing like a group effort to support each participant in our journey to improved health. I will do this again and highly recommend it to others. I invited all my FB friends!”

“Great Challenge. DJ provided great support and a lot of enthusiasm!!!!”

“It’s been wonderful having the support and inspiration of so many others to help keep me on track.”

“The 28 day challenge can change your life in a positive way! It enabled me to set my own goals and with a supportive community, gave me the tools and inspiration to stick with them. I was only accountable to myself but knowing everyone else was succeeding made me stick with it. This challenge is not a start and finish but a new beginning!”

“DJ’s Project GET HEALTHY changed my life! Thanks to the inspiration, tools and support provided, I made modest lifestyle changes for the long term that are having a very noticeable impact. I look better! I feel better! Only my baggy jeans are sad.”

“Great tips to keep you motivated. Small steps each day can make a difference in the long haul.”

“DJ Waldow delivers. His challenges are fun, interactive and informative. It was almost impossible not to get caught in the collective energy and excitement that this 28 day challenge created. I can’t wait for the next one.”

“I loved this challenge and being involved with people with similar interests and goals, who aren’t afraid or ashamed to speak up and tell the world that they are ‘eating clean’ or ‘on a diet’. Why should they be? Society’s ‘norms’ make it hard for people when you are trying to be healthy or healthier, and you need a good support network to help you stay on track.”

“Doing a 30 day challenge made me more mindful of progress on my goals. And with DJ and the group, I had a cheerleading posse to keep me going.”

ProjectGET HEALTHY

Thank you for all who joined this 28-day challenge.

Keep up your healthy habits!

Learn about the next challenge on Social Butterfly Guy