Hi everyone, it’s Pat here. I have some exciting information for you today. I was doing some reading on the weekend and I wanted to share some of what I read because the statistics were rather shocking. This is just way too important for any of you to miss.

For those of you who have been following me, you know that last January I decided that for this year, 2017, I was going to focus on three things. As an entrepreneur, as a business owner, as a maturing individual, I wanted to focus on three things this year: health, wealth, and happiness. So the year has progressed very well, and I’ve made great progress in all of those areas.

What I know for sure and what I was reading about on the weekend is the fact that, as of this past weekend, there were only 99 days left in 2017 – 99 days. Time goes so quickly.

I made a decision on the weekend that I want these last 99 days to be amazing. I want to feel amazing. I want to spend my time in a really great way, so I made a decision that these 99 days are going to be power-packed and I am going to zero in on my focus. The focus for me now is going to be primarily on health and wellness, and here’s why. In part of my reading, here’s what I learned: 43% of women report having overeaten or eaten unhealthy foods in the past month due to stress – 43%. That’s incredible.

The second statistic that I read is that North Americans, in general, gain 5-20 pounds in the period between Thanksgiving—now for those of us in Canada, that’s October, but in these next 99 days, the majority of North Americans gain between 5-20 pounds. Oh my goodness. Now, that goes back to the first statistic in that 43% of women report having overeaten or eaten unhealthy foods in the past month.

I don’t know about you, but for me, and I know for many of my friends—I pay attention to what people are talking about—that period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, yes it can be stressful and, in many cases, it’s self-imposed stress. Why does it happen? From my observations of what I know for sure, it’s because we’re not as organized as we would like to be, as we think we are, and therefore the results, the outcomes are that extra weight-gain.  Especially as entrepreneurs and business owners, that does not serve us well.

When we do not treat ourselves well, we cannot possibly be of best service to our customers because we know that being in business, being an entrepreneur takes a lot of energy to reach your goals. I made a decision that I was not going to be one of those statistics, and I don’t want you to be one of those statistics either.

The solution for me, that I wanted to share with you, is simply this. I started a Facebook group on Monday, because isn’t that when diet’s start? That’s mindset.

On Monday, I started a Facebook group called The 99 Day Health and Wellness Adventure. I have been running a private group for the past year with my coaching clients around health, wealth and happiness, and we’ve been in there together focusing on those three areas, getting tips and solutions, and having accountability, and it has been very successful. I said to my clients, “I want to move that over to the public.” I want to focus on health and wellness, which leads to happiness, and so I’ve started this group. The 99 Day Health and Wellness Adventure.

I didn’t call it a challenge. To me, the word “challenge” already implies stress and a have-to, and that’s not what this is about. What I want to do is to lead the pack here for 99 days. Now I think we’re at 95 days, since it’s Wednesday when I’m doing this.

I want to lead the pack here, so this Facebook group, I invite you to join me. It’s not a closed group, it’s not a private group, but it is only for those of you who are serious about not becoming one of those statistics. In that group that I’m going to lead for the next 90-some days, what we’re going to focus on is lifestyle, health and wellness, and happiness, and there’s going to be a lot of information I will share on menu planning.

I have learned, in coaching my clients, that people aren’t planning and, therefore, you just grab while you’re on the run. I worked for Weight Watchers International for eight years. I know something about menu planning, so I’m going to be sharing my best tips and advice on that. Those of you who follow me know that I travel a lot, and so how do I manage this on the road? Which I do because I don’t want to be a statistic. We’re going to talk about menu planning in this Facebook group. We’re going to talk about exercise. We’re going to talk about mindset. That’s my specialty. And it’s all mindset.

For those of you who make a decision to join me in the The 99 Day Health and Wellness Adventure group, once you make the decision, then it’s about getting information and implementing that information.

I’m going to give you some great content in there. We’re going to talk about accountability because, again, as a coach and a former Weight Watchers employee, I also know that group support and accountability are the keys to success. So we’ll be talking about accountability, you will get support, you will get cheered on, you will get a shoulder where it sometimes may be tough, because what I also know about Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays is the stress that family can create there. Not only the self-imposed stress, but what family can create for us, and everyone needs a safe place to go. This Facebook group will be the safe place to go.

We’re going to talk about goal setting because I know, again, many people don’t know how to set goals, and I do. It’s one of my areas of expertise, so we’ll talk about goal setting, we’ll talk about consistency. That’s a success habit. I want to make it an adventure. I’m doing this for me, people, because I love group support. It works for me too, so I’m putting it out there that for the next 90+ days, I am going to be fully accountable, fully committed to health and wellness – mental, physical, emotional, and so-on – because I do not want to be one of those statistics.

I invite you to join me. You know that entrepreneurs and business owners need a lot of energy to reach their goals, and when you don’t have that you become tired, mean, ugly and miserable, and we don’t want that. Join me. My belief is that together we’re stronger and together we have more fun. Let’s make these 90+ days fun, let’s keep healthy, let’s stay in the game and be accountable. If you want to join me, just do a search in Facebook for the 99 Day Health and Wellness Adventure, and come and join me and some of my clients who are already in there. Watch the video I put in there.

Accountability is so important. Let’s have some fun together. Let’s stay healthy. Let’s see who’s doing what and what can we learn from that, and stay healthy through to year-end. Another key concept is you want to goal-set through year-end, not to year end. Interesting mindset stats on that, which I’ll share more about in the group.

There you go. Watch that statistic. Don’t become a statistic. Come and join us in the group and let’s have some fun and stay healthy together. Thanks for joining me today. Please hit share and share this.

We know that a lot of people are concerned about the upcoming months because there are just so many fast food options out there and they can be healthy, but when you’re feeling stressed, you just grab the first thing. I don’t want you to be that statistic. You don’t need another 5-20 pounds hanging around on you. It doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t look good.

All right. Let’s have some fun together. Go on over to the group, ask to join, I’ll be moderating over the lunch hour, and I’ll be happy to have you included. Only for those of you who are serious. Don’t come and be a creeper, don’t come and just watch. That’s not the purpose and that’s not the intent. Start with baby steps, start small. Come on in. We welcome you. Let’s do it together.

Thanks for being here. I’m going for a walk. Bye everyone.