With your New Year's resolutions a distant memory and intrinsic motivation only carrying you so far, it may be time for something really different. Why not try a thirty-day challenge? With opportunities cropping up everywhere from your local yoga studio to the health-food store, fitness centres, and even online, there are many options to choose from. After your month is up you may just find yourself choosing a new lifestyle. Not sure where to start with your commitment to a thirty-day, health-related program? Here are some areas to explore:

Nutrition

Have you ever gone a day without putting sugar in your coffee or eating processed food? How about a month? It's everywhere you turn (maybe even in your cupboards), so can you avoid it for a month?

A thirty-day nutrition challenge, where you drink more water and cut down on refined sugars, can be tough. Nutrition is usually a weak area for most people-when it comes to making better choices, using willpower, and skipping "white food," picking the best option is not always easy.

This challenge is harder than others because you fly mostly solo, unless you sign up with an actual program.

Set specific goals and decide what you want to avoid or add, make a date to begin, and go for it. You can find support systems through Web sites like www.sparkpeople.com, or message boards for weight loss that deal specifically with thirty-day nutrition challenges.

Are you getting enough fruits and veggies in your diet? If you want to specifically target your intake of greens, why not try the Five a Day Challenge?

This is a great way to remember to eat at least five fruit and vegetable servings every day. With a helpful Web site chock full of articles and healthy recipes, you'll have no problem getting your dietary needs met.

What to Expect:
After thirty days of eating healthfully, your body will feel more energized. You may find yourself a little lighter, as well. By substituting healthier foods for cookies or chips, weight loss is inevitable.

Yoga

Seeing yoga mats being toted around by everyone from your five-year-old niece to your mother-in-law, it's obvious lots of people enjoy it. If you want to take your Warrior Pose to the next level, why not try a yoga challenge? There are thirty- and even forty-day challenges offered in both Greater Vancouver and in Calgary.

Moksha's Yoga in Calgary offers a thirty-day challenge that, according to its Web site, "... combines yoga with detoxifying therapies of naturopathic medicine."

In Vancouver, Semperviva Yoga offers a forty-day challenge, while Yogapod in North Vancouver offers both a thirty- and forty-day challenge, followed by a potluck dinner and prize draw.

What to Expect:
Yoga will help you become strong and centred while gaining muscle tone and stamina. Your flexibility and energy levels will improve, and as a bonus you can expect to notice some weight loss!

Some of the other benefits you will experience with the forty-day challenge include "[i]mproved focus, better body image, improved eating and sleep patterns as well as an opportunity to transform your life," says Gloria Latham of Semperviva Yoga.

Cleansing

You may have tried it or heard of someone who has; cleansing is not for everyone, and it really requires a commitment. It's recommended to start with a shorter cleanse if you're a novice, but if you and your doctor think you can survive for thirty days, then go for it!

A cleanse is meant to detoxify your body in a way that other things (nutrition or exercise) can't. Some claim that taking herbal supplements along with a strict diet causes the body to get rid of unnecessary toxins.

Some of the top rated thirty-day cleanses include the Renew Life Original Cleanse Smart, which contains herbs, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids meant to detoxify the liver, kidneys, colon, heart, lungs, and skin; and the Renew Life Total Kidney Cleanse, which helps detoxify the kidneys, bladder, and urinary tracts.

What to Expect:
With thirty days of eating a different diet than you're used to, combined with extra trips to the bathroom, you will most definitely see some pounds drop both during and after the cleanse. People may lose between five and fifteen pounds on a thirty-day cleanse.

Boot Camp

Boot camp classes are probably the best way to jump-start your fitness; they're usually a few days per week for four to eight weeks. By incorporating total body exercises including cardio and strength, these classes are perfect for losing weight and toning up. Being in a small group environment makes it easier to get the attention you need, while also enjoying the support of your fellow classmates.

In both Vancouver and Calgary, there are boot camps aplenty to choose from. One of the biggest is Survivor Bootcamp. Offering four-week programs two to five times per week, this class will kick your butt in no time.

What to Expect:
For the average person who puts in the commitment to exercise and eat right, the benefits can be impressive. Clinton Wasylishen, owner and operator of a Survivor Bootcamp franchise in Calgary, recalls a woman in his camp who was overweight at 150 pounds and "... went from zero activity to three days a week and lost about five inches from her midsection, which is fantastic, but it required some other lifestyle changes. She started eating clean, and also was more focused on being active throughout the rest of her days (walking once a day, taking the stairs in her condo, so on). These changes all added up to a significant body change for her."

The average one-hour boot camp class can have you burning up to five hundred calories; there are 3,500 calories in one pound, so you can safely expect to lose about one to two pounds per week on a three-day schedule, combined with a healthy diet.

Bike or Walk to Work

Do you own a bike? How about a pair of running shoes? Why not challenge your co-workers or friends to a thirty-day biking or walking challenge? Every day (even on weekends!) track your mileage on a handy site like www.mapmyrun.com, where you can post your runs and find routes to use around your area. Make sure to set a minimum, like ten minutes one way.

At the end of the month, tally up the time committed by each participant and have a party to celebrate your success. If you get your company involved, it may even reward top cyclists and walkers!

What to Expect:
Walking/jogging and biking burn calories and fat, leading to weight loss.

A 150-pound person who completes a ten-minute mile walking will burn about two hundred calories in half an hour. Try that every day, for thirty days, and you will burn six thousand calories in a month. Combine that with a caloric deficit of three hundred calories per day, and you have a healthy weight loss of about a pound per week.

For more intensity, try running an eight-minute mile; the same time invested will burn around 410 calories.

People who walk or run every day will not only see changes in their waistline but in their speed and endurance, as well. Walking or running every day for thirty days should allow you to tack on extra distance each day while decreasing the time it takes you to do it.

Cycling is a little more intense; for the same person and time invested, a fourteen- to sixteen-mile-per-hour ride will see you with a calorie deficit of about 330.

At Home

Do you want to try a challenge but can't afford to go to a studio or boot camp class? Grab a few friends around the neighbourhood and start your own local challenge. With a few rotating fitness DVDs and some healthy competition, creating your own personal thirty-day challenge is easier than you think.

With twelve months in the year, there's always time for a thirty-day challenge. Why not grab a friend and change your health and lifestyle today or in thirty days?

About the Author

Nicole Palacios, B.Sc., is a personal trainer and group fitness leader in Vancouver, British Columbia.