Winter 2023 Focus Month Now Enrolling
Winter 2023 Focus Month Now Enrolling
4 Weeks of connected goal setting with expert Bariatric Dietitian and positive online community
If you prefer listening, below is the audio recording of the blog!
One specific goal for one month to get focused
For the past 5 years I have offered a Focus Month three times a year.
Why? Because in this month together we name something that matters to us. If it matters to you that you cook more at home, we get to make a specific goal around that and support you.
It’s positive. It’s rewarding. It’s fun!
Members LOVE when a Focus Month comes around and the Winter Focus is the most popular of all (hmmm, possibly the cold dark nights stuck inside?)
Each Focus Month has a theme.
Our Winter 2023 Theme is Firm Foundation: Building up Bariatric Pillars.
The Bariatric Pillars include:
Hydration
Meal Planning and Quality
Movement
Sleep
Each week our live calls will focus on a pillar. Our community chat will encourage and support you in building up these pillars. But above all, you’ll stay focused on your one specific goal.
Enrollment Information
Current Members: You can click right here and ‘checkout’ for $0 to enroll in the challenge. It’s included in your member benefits!
You can also go to “Winter Focus” in the top menu when signed in and the link to enroll is at the top.
Not a current member: The challenge is reserved for our Premier Access members. Click here to become a member and the link to enroll in the challenge will come in your first Welcome email!
That means ALL the website resources and ALL the challenge access is just $14!
We think you’ll want to stay but just know, that you can cancel membership at anytime.
Focus Challenge Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to do to sign up?
The Focus Challenge is for members to Bariatric Food Coach. It is not an additional charge but is not available outside of membership. Become a member and the welcome email will include the link to then ‘checkout’ for the challenge at $0.
Do I need to be on Facebook?
No, Facebook is not a requirement!
We do have a closed Facebook group for members but all challenge communication arrives via email and materials are posted on the website.
You can choose to engage with other members in a small group inside the GroupMe app. Groups have a leader and are categorized by surgery and time since surgery.
All live calls take place in Zoom and not on Facebook. Calls will be recorded and available on the website after the call.
COMING SOON: We will soon be moving our community away form GroupMe, Facebook and Zoom and onto THIS website. Yes, a one stop shop for all the resources and community! This project is underway and we hope to launch it during the challenge month.
How do the Live Calls work?
The Live Calls take place on Zoom. 10 minutes prior to the call members can chat but once we start everyone will be muted and use the chat box to engage. Your video is on unless you want to turn the camera off. No one will be visible in the replay video.
The replay of the live call will be made available next day.
What is the challenge exactly? Who is it for?
To keep it simple – the challenge is picking ONE goal that helps build a habit in your life that you wan to see.
You will download and/or print the goal tracker, pick ① food related goal and ① exercise related goal. (You can choose to buy the printed Workbook on Amazon or the PDF version here.)
The Goal Setting Workshop is held the Thursday prior to the first day. You can read more about the Workshop here.
The challenge is for bariatric surgery patients. The majority of members are post-op patients but pre-op patients have joined us before and are most welcome!! Habit changes is for everyone and what better way to prepare for surgery!
What does the ‘theme’ of the challenge mean?
Every challenge has a theme to help us consider bigger picture things outside of the healthy habit goal you’re focusing on.
The theme for the Winter Focus Challenge is “Firm Foundation: Building up Bariatric Pillars.” We’ll focus on hydration, meal planning and quality, movement and sleep.
Should I do a ‘reset’ before the challenge?
Some members choose to do a reset style of diet before the challenge or in the first week of the challenge. It is not necessary. There is nothing special about the resets and you can get back on track without one. (That being said, some will chose to do a reset style of eating plan for a few days to feel more mentally focused.)
There are different styles of ‘reset’ diets and this blog shares more.
The challenge itself is to pick ONE goal so if you do a reset style of a diet to get focused, you still have one overarching goal beyond a “reset”
Live Calls and Other Resources
Below is the schedule for the Fall live calls!
There is a ‘challenge page’ on the website for logged in members. This is the hub for all things challenge. Recorded calls and other FAQ videos will be on this page. Meal plans will be on the meal plans page.
Goal Setting Workshop Info: Thursday February 2nd at 7:30pm CST *Event was recorded!
The workshop is a live call on Zoom but unlike a “coaching call” it has more time and space for you to work through what habit you want to focus in on during the four weeks of the Focus Challenge.
I go over the Goal Tracker in detail to help everyone understand how it might be used.
The Goal Tracker can be printed off or is available inside the Focus Challenge Workbook available for purchase on Amazon.
You can also purchase the workbook in PDF form here.
In the workshop you will start to name the habits you want to see grow in your life.
Perhaps you want to get better at cooking at home (restaurant prices are crazy!) or it could be that water is something you know you need to get better at but it never seems to be the priority in your day.
During the workshop, you’ll write down all the habits you want to focus on, circle the one that feel most important and begin to draft how to make that into a specific, measurable and attainable goal.
We want to create a more clear path to help you build up the habit you want in your life.
I will share several examples to get your wheels turning.
Then you “sit on it” over the weekend. The Goal Setting Workshop takes place the Thursday before we start a challenge on a Monday. This allows you to have time over the weekend to think through your goal, decide if that is the one you are going to do and then make your preparations to start on Monday!
Goals are not weight related, they are habit related
A common point of confusion is where to put in your goal weight of how much to lose during the challenge.
For the purpose of this challenge, we will focus first on the actions (habits) and then celebrate results (weight loss, stamina, energy, clothing changes, mood improvement and so on).
This is not a challenge to lose weight per se but instead to help you get back to basics and build healthy habits that help you feel your best. Results come alongside that in many ways, and we hope the scale is included :)
How to join the challenge and the Goal Setting Workshop
The Goal Setting Workshop will be at 7:30 pm Central on Thursday, February 2nd.
If you are a current member to Bariatric Food Coach and you have already enrolled in the challenge, look for the link to join our workshop on the afternoon of the February 2nd. You can also find the link on our closed Facebook group.
If you are a current member to Bariatric Food Coach and need to complete the enrollment process, click here.
If you are not a current member to Bariatric Food Coach and interested in joining the Focus Challenge, click here to join! The welcome email after becoming a member will include the link to enroll in the challenge.
The Winter Focus Month officially starts Monday, February 6th and ends Sunday, March 5th!