The Resolution Challenge 2015 officially starts on Monday, and I'm so excited to do this Challenge with so many of you this year! There's a lot of activity going on in the private Facebook group in regards to prepping and getting the right items for the Challenge.

For those of you who aren't on FB, who are already overwhelmed, or who just want to hear from someone who's been through this before, I wanted to share some of my own experiences and offer up some tips to make this a successful Challenge for you.

If you're not doing this Challenge - these tips might be good for any resolutions you might be tackling!

Read & absorb.

Read the guide.

Read the emails.

Read the page you signed up on.

Read (or at least skim through) the Facebook community posts.

There's a lot to read, but I promise you it's worth it. Most questions can be answered and frayed nerves calmed down just by doing this. Thoroughly. Make time for it. Put it on your calendar. Read through things again if you can.

Pick two to stick to.

Sure, you can't be eatin' pizza on this detox, but we get an incredible list of foods we can eat and along with that, quite a few recipe suggestions. You can always riff off the ingredient list and make your own, but I've found it's best for my wallet, my grocery list and my mind to pick one or two dishes for each meal, then stick to those for a full week. Over time, you'll find you have some favorites that you'll love coming back to again and again - long after the Challenge is over!

Ask your community.

This is the fifth Resolution Challenge and many women in the Facebook community have been through at least one before. Know that our community is a safe place for you to ask questions and share your struggles & triumphs. Girl, I didn't know what tahini, groats or kombucha were either when I did my first Challenge ;)

Get an accountability buddy.

This can be another person taking the Challenge, or a good friend, significant other. Anyone who'd be open to checking in with you every day to see how you're doing, and vice versa. Someone who can be your cheerleader, or your sounding board if you're struggling. Remember, you've also got the community! I like to also put in little affirmations in my alarms and will put in checkpoints on my calendars to be my own accountability buddy.

Say no!

This one's really important. You're not only putting your body through a lot during this Challenge, but your mind and spirit too. There's a high likelihood you won't be able to go full steam ahead on everything else in your life, because you have to make time and space to allow your body to go through this. This is where saying 'no' is crucial. 'No' not just to beer and pizza, but maybe even to your normal social outings. I will typically have a couple of after-work blog-related events to go to in any given week, but during the Resolution Challenge I decline most of these events. My boyfriend will also be cutting weight for his next professional MMA bout, so we won't be eating out. I'll go to sleep early some days because I'm so tired just from working out, work and the detox. Your body will tell you wassup, so listen to it! Take it easy, be gentle and nice to yourself, and your skin will glow before you know it.

No one ever said this would be easy, but the greatest things in life often come with hard work and some serious personal trials. This is a Challenge, after all. What you put into it, you'll get out of it!

Happy Resolution Challenge ladies! Let me know if you'd like to see any specific topics here as I write through the next six weeks of our Challenge. I write about what I'm going through, but if I can help you work through things in any way, I'd love to!