"We first make our habits, then our habits make us"

TASK 1 - Food Diary on 5 Days

Food diary foundation level. Simply keeping the diary will help you lose weight, as has been shown in many studies.

Within a few days, you'll have a really good idea of the foods, drinks and habits that are and aren't helpful.  

Aim to see the diary as a useful tool - not something you use to beat yourself up with. Be honest and embrace the truth. Knowledge is power!

To get your reward icon, log everything you eat and drink in your wlr food diary, for at least 5 days of the week. Your challenge progress will be updated automatically.

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TASK 2 - Drink a minimum 750 ml Water every day

Drinking water is probably the easiest thing you can do to help your weight loss along. Easy to do, but also easy to forget.

Increase your chances of success by scheduling your water for times when you would normally eat or drink. Drinking it before meals has additional weight loss benefits.

Log 3 glasses, (min 250ml each) in your food diary every day of the week to meet the challenge. Your progress will be updated automatically.

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TASK 3 - Weigh Yourself on at Least 3 Days

Studies show that weighing yourself frequently, leads to more weight loss and better weight control.

Succeeding in this challenge is simple: weigh yourself and update your weight in Goals and Results on at least three days of the week.

You can weigh yourself and update your weight every day if you want to, but you only need to Weigh-in on WLR 3 times a week to get your reward.

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TASK 4 - Exercise for at least 70 minutes in a week

Just go out the door and walk, so it feels brisk to you, for five minutes. Then walk back. It really can be that simple.

And it is enough to start building a habit that will not only help you lose weight and maintain the loss, but also give you a much better chance of living a long, mobile and healthy life.

To meet the challenge, you need to log 70 minutes in your wlr Exercise Diary over the course of the week. When you've got the award for this task for a week or two, move on to the Step Up the Exercise task.

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TASK 5 - Fruit bowl twice a week

Research has shown that keeping an attractive bowl of fruit in a highly visible and convenient location, (like the kitchen side) makes it much more likely that you’ll increase your fruit intake.

And snacking on fruit is much better for your figure than snacking on high calorie sweets and other junk.

To complete this task you need to refresh your fruit bowl twice a week. Then either post a picture of your bowl of fruit, or enter a brief description of it, on the wlr Fruit Bowl message board.

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TASK 6 - No Alcohol on at Least 5 Days Per Week

Having some alcohol free days will be good for your health, good for your belly, and good for your sense of self control.

In order to meet this challenge you must be alcohol free for five days, and enter every alcoholic drink that passes your lips into your food diary. (As with all the challenge tasks, honesty is essential!)

Your progress will be updated automatically the day after you have completed your food diary with no alcohol in it.

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TASK 7 - Get 7 hours sleep on 5 nights

Studies Show that a lack of adequate sleep can contribute to overeating and weight gain. Resolve to get 7 hours sleep time on at least 5 nights a week.

You'll need to input your 'went to sleep' and 'got up' times (on your challenge progress page) on at least five days of the week to qualify.

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TASK 8 - Get a Minimum 20g of fibre a day

Fibre is the weight loser's friend. It fills you up, and keeps everything moving along as it should. Foods high in fibre also tend to add bulk to your meals and snacks, helping you to feel more satisfied on fewer calories.

Most of us tend not to get enough fibre, so take it gently - aiming for 2og a day to start with, moving up to 25g a day after a few weeks.

To meet the challenge you need to have at least 20g of fibre in your food diary, for at least 5 days of the week.

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TASK 9 - Create One New Recipe

Dream up and input a new evening meal into your My Recipes section of WLR. This can be whatever you want, from a quick and tasty pasta dish to a gourmet dinner.

Inputting the recipe will enable you to get creative and play around with ingredients and quantities until you come up with the number of calories you want.

To get your reward simply input one new Recipe during the week.

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TASK 10 - Use Your Journal

This task is especially helpful if you often find you eat for reasons other than physical hunger. Make a note of what was happening/how you felt at the time, and the outcome in your food diary journal.

Look at your calories history report every few days (tick the show journal option). Over the period of a week or two you'll start to notice patterns and triggers.

Your amazing brain is far more likely to provide you with some useful ideas if you give it an opportunity to recognise and process problems.

Write something in your journal on at least five days of the week to meet this challenge.

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TASK 11 - Food Diary Every Day

There's no requirement to stay within your calorie allowance to meet this challenge task, just fill in your Food Diary every day.

Getting into the habit of logging every day is the absolute best thing you can do to get long term results. You could try making sure you stay below your maintenance calories, or experimenting with different rates of loss to see what level you think you can cope with.

When you're ready to choose a rate of loss that has a calorie allowance you can live with, move on to the Food Diary On Target task and start getting really great results.

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TASK 12 - Stay Within Your Calorie Quota

Log everything stay within calories, as wlr's more experienced members would say. Doing this consistently and accurately will result in weight loss at the rate you choose.

However, you don’t need to stay within calories every single day. You can balance your calories out over the period of a week and get the same results.

This means that you have some flexibility to use if, for example, you tend to eat (or drink) more at the weekends than you do during the week. It can also be useful to ‘save up’ for a night out or special occasion.

To meet the challenge you need to fill in your food diary and stay within your calorie quota, balanced out over the whole week.

For example, if your daily calorie quota is 1200, you have an allowance of 8400 for the week. You meet the challenge by eating no more than 8400 (1200 x 7) during the course of the week.

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TASK 13 - Exercise for at least 100 minutes in a week

You can keep it as simple as walking briskly out for 10 minutes, and walking briskly back. Maybe aim to go a little further each time.

Or you could try one of the workouts on WLR, or from a book or a fitness DVD. Any and all of the above will make weight loss easier and increase your fitness. As will any activity that gets you moving at more effort than normal. Get your headphones on and enjoy some music with your workout!

To meet the challenge you need to log 100 minutes over the course of the week. You can make your sessions as long or short as you like. For example, 20 minute sessions on 5 days of the week. Or 10 minute sessions on 5 days of the week plus 25 minute sessions on 2 days.

Log at least 100 minutes in your exercise diary to get your reward.

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TASK 14 - Exercise for at least 150 minutes in a week

If you're walking, your walk should feel like a workout. If you've not tried any other kinds of exercise, it would be good to try a couple of activities over the next few weeks. For example, a game of badminton, yoga class, a swim or cycle.

The most important thing is to try things that you like the sound of. Plus add a bit of variety to your workouts.

You're way more likely to stick at an activity you enjoy, and that holds your interest.

To meet the challenge you need to log 150 minutes of exercise in the week.

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TASK 15 - Don't Drink Any Alcohol in a Week

Going alcohol free for a week, or a month, will work wonders for your self control and your waist line.

In order to meet this challenge you must be alcohol free for the whole of your week, and enter every alcoholic drink that passes your lips into your food diary. (As with all the challenge tasks, honesty is essential!)

Your progress will be updated automatically the day after you have completed your food diary with no alcohol in it.

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