Kick Off August Right With This Fitness and Food Plan

Summer is winding down, and TODAY just handed viewers a fresh reason to get off the couch before fall arrives. The show’s August fitness and food segment packages simple workouts with real meal guidance, aiming to help people reset after a season of vacations, barbecues, and lazy mornings.

Quick Take

TODAY aired a segment called “Start August Right With This Fitness and Food Plan,” pairing exercise tips with nutrition advice.
The segment fits a pattern TODAY has followed for years, with monthly challenges tied to its Start TODAY app.
Fitness contributor Stephanie Mansour has led similar month-based mobility and strength challenges on the show before.
The plan reflects a broader trend of combining workouts and food guidance into one simple package people can actually follow.

What The August Segment Actually Covers

TODAY built this segment around a simple idea. People don’t need complicated fitness plans. They need a clear month-long structure they can stick to. The show has used this format before, including an August 2025 “Tune Up” segment that gave viewers a 31-day mobility plan alongside food advice, including a “rule of addition” for meals and tips on staying hydrated through the last stretch of summer heat.

That earlier August segment featured Stephanie Mansour, TODAY’s regular fitness contributor, walking viewers through daily movement goals using a QR code linked to the Start TODAY app. The app then delivered the full 31-day calendar, step goals, and workout instructions. This approach lets TODAY keep the on-air segment short while giving people a deeper plan to follow at home, on their own time.

The Start TODAY App Does The Heavy Lifting

Behind almost every one of these segments sits the same tool: the Start TODAY app. It’s built to combine workout plans, meal plans, live coaching calls, and daily tracking in one place. That’s not a small detail. It explains why TODAY can run a two-minute TV segment and still promise viewers a full month of structured guidance without cramming it all into the broadcast.

This same format has powered other TODAY challenges throughout the year. A July fitness challenge paired strength training routines from Mansour with summer nutrition tips from TODAY’s nutrition expert, Joy Bauer, including advice on smart snacking during hot months. One TODAY producer even documented her own experience finishing a 28-day version of the challenge, describing hour-long daily workouts combined with strict eating rules and no alcohol for the full month.

Why This Simple Formula Keeps Working

TODAY’s health team has been clear about what actually works for most people. Their own reporting recommends a five-day weekly workout split: three days of strength training and two days of cardio, built around realistic goals rather than extreme routines. That’s the same backbone running through nearly every monthly challenge the show has aired, whether it’s built around heart health, summer strength, or an August reset.

There’s a common-sense lesson buried in all this. Nobody needs a government program or a fancy gadget to get back in shape. They need a clear plan, some accountability, and the discipline to follow through for thirty days. TODAY’s format works because it strips away the noise and hands people something they can actually do without a personal trainer or a expensive gym membership.

August has always been a natural reset point. Kids head back to school, vacations wind down, and routines start rebuilding themselves. TODAY’s decision to launch a fitness and food plan right now taps into that instinct. Whether viewers follow the exact 31-day calendar or just borrow the basic structure, the message is the same. Small, steady habits beat any quick fix, and nobody needs to wait until New Year’s to start over.