The LoneStart Wellness Initiative was created for those of us who feel overwhelmed and frustrated in our efforts to regain our personal health and wellness. It’s not that we don’t know what we should do — or that we don’t care enough to do it. We’ve just become frustrated, negative and passive after years of false starts, fad gimmicks and yo-yo diets. And many of us are now beginning to pay a high personal price for our years of inactivity and poor dietary choices.

Heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, musculoskeletal conditions, some cancers and other serious chronic conditions all are associated with overweight and inactivity. These two conditions are closing in on tobacco use as the leading preventable causes of death in the United States.

Despite numerous private, corporate and governmental initiatives, the costs in both dollars and personal suffering continue to increase.

This initiative was started as a grassroot movement by people who believe:
	Our health care delivery system is severely strained, and financial projections into the future are not good. We've created the problem, and we can fix it. Each of us can make a difference in the quality of our own lives and the viability of our health care delivery system by taking personal responsibility for our own health and wellness. The LoneStart initiative is an opportunity to make this happen.
	The growth in healthcare costs is tied to more patients with chronic illness and the fact that they’re more expensive to treat.
	The only viable, long-term solution to the epidemic of overweight and inactivity is to get people to make better dietary choices and increase their physical activity.
	As individuals and as a society, we have become Still and Ill and we need to be On the Move to Improve – and we need to do it now.
	To be successful in this effort, participants must establish their own realistic goals, identify their motivational “triggers” and assume personal responsibility for the success of their efforts.
	When we are given the opportunity to achieve, we begin to believe in our abilities.
	Most people are willing to challenge themselves to explore health and wellness choices for a period of 21 days.
	There are no barriers to participation. This initiative does not require supplements, memberships, equipment, or special food plans.