(This edition of the newsletter is the second part of the answer to the question below. The first part can be found here.)

Q: I want to get my family into much better health in 2007, but I'm overwhelmed at how unhealthy our lifestyle is. I don't know where to begin. How do I start?

A: Last week I talked about mindsets. Today we'll cover three specific strategies for improvement, each inspired by a movie about the New Year's holiday.

1. Let Harry Meet Sally

In "When Harry Met Sally," Meg Ryan inspires an onlooker in a restaurant to change her order based on how, well, happy Sally seems at the moment.

As you know if you've read the FitFam Action Guide (get it here, if you haven't), any and all improvements start with yourself. Don't try to drag your kids or your partner along with you. Get there first, and send postcards. Let them see how vibrant and healthy you become, how much energy and enthusiasm you possess, how clear your skin and lean your physique. No missionary work – just be such a shining example that everyone will want what you've got.

Be like Sally, so that everyone you spend time with (including your family) will be moved to say, "I'll have what she's having."

2. Pull a Charlie Brown's New Year

Charlie Brown is despairing that he'll make it to Peppermint Patty's New Years' Eve Gala because he's not done reading the book for which he owes a book report: War and Peace.

Going from ill health and overweight to radiant and lean health can feel like War and Peace, perhaps even in the Russian original. If you're not where you want to be – if you're eating poorly, rarely exercising, and finding few opportunities for meditative contemplation – then the very act of examining your life can feel like War and Peace.

Instead of trying to cram a thousand page novel, do what Charlie Brown considers: write the report based on the text on the dust jacket.

You don't need to be perfect immediately. Instead, choose one part of your life that meets the following two criteria:

• Easy to change
• Changing it will lead to significant benefit

For example, adding one fruit and veggie smoothie to your day will in all likelihood triple your live nutrient intake. Don't try to change anything else – just prepare your fridge and your blender for a daily nutrient blast. Make sure it's tasty – if you're not used to smoothies with veggies, start with all fruit.

The dust jacket is a fine place to start reading and changing – the folks who make money by publishing books write the jacket material to sell the book. Trust the first positive step to begin to build momentum for you.

3. Keep Bridget Jones' Diary

When you want to make changes to your life, there's nothing more powerful than keeping a journal. Now, the problem here is that keeping a journal is itself a major shift in your life. So what are you going to do – keep a journal about keeping a journal?

Don't think of a journal as an English paper you have to write every night before nodding off. Instead, choose one aspect of your life you'd like to improve, and make occasional notes about the opportunities and challenges, achievements and setbacks you encounter.

Aim to write about 10 minutes a week. You can blog, if you don't mind strangers stumbling across your writing. The point of the journal is that it automatically increases your accountability. As the business gurus teach us, you can't perfect what you don't inspect (or something like that). Also, journaling focuses your mind on the aspect of life you're journaling about, and preps you to see opportunities you wouldn't have seen otherwise.

It's like when your refrigerator starts making noises like a moose in heat, and leaves you huge puddles on the floor, you start noticing how many appliance sales are advertised in the newspaper.

To begin journaling, choose the one Charlie Brown improvement you commit to. Write a future-pased statement about what your behavior around this improvement will look like in 30 days. For example:

"In 30 days, I'm consuming one fruit and veggie smoothie a day, as my breakfast. I have my favorite frozen fruits (cherries, strawberries and blueberries) in abundance in my freezer, and I make sure I buy bananas regularly. I use rice milk as my base, and sweeten the smoothie with 2 pitted medjool dates, which I buy online and store in the fridge, just in front of that jar of Hunan basting sauce that I bought three years ago and used once. I'm experimenting with adding fresh greens to the smoothie – some mild lettuce like Bibb or Boston, or baby greens – and gradually coming to love the taste."

Now, journal about your journey (hey, a little etymological clue?) as you prepare your smoothie de jour (hmmm…). Which smoothies were especially delicious? Did you get overexcited and add half a pound of parsley one day, to your disgust? Did you have to make a second blender-full because your kid decided to share? Did you forget to restock your supply of berries and end up with a lettuce and ice shake one morning?

Each time you write a sentence about your intention and your actions, you reinforce your direction and your increasing competence.

Happy New Year!

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