this "club" is just what i need to get my butt in gear!
consider me in the "january club"

im just going back to good ole counting calories on fitday and going to the gym.

I got a wicked knife set and alot of cooking stuff that i asked for on christmas, so im super excited to make healthy food for me and my family!!!

i'm in on joining the club.. i need some motivation in my weight loss goal.. i think this group will help. my goal is to lose 22 pounds.

Hey Amber!

Jay

I am definitely in. Last year my resolution was to lose weight..oddly I didn't start trying around the first of January like most people, but around the middle to the end of January. I think it is the first resolution I ever kept...to date I have lost 83 pounds. My resolution for the coming year is to finish what I started and lose all my excess weight, and become fit. I haven't done as well lately as I have recently but I will not give up.

Okay, so I started using one of my new Christmas gifts yesterday. "The Biggest Loser" workout video. It was hard and I could not do some of the moves and others I could not do very well. Let me tell you that today my body hurts like it hasn't in a long time. I have been an exerciser in the past and I really think it is key to helping me lose this burden of weight. So yesterday was a curcuit-cardio workout, today I am going to resistance-weight train. It's going to hurt.

I am really getting serious about this so I am planning what to go buy for groceries today and am determined not to fall into the old junk food habits. It is difficult when I have other family members who like certain things and I don't want to deprive them of their favs. They, fortunately, don't need to lose weight. Wish me luck.

Can I join up with you all?

I just joined here and want to get my rear into gear! I am terribly stressed out right now because my brother is getting married in about 3.5 weeks. I don't have anything to wear and shopping is pretty depressing. I keep looking at the clothes in my closet and despairing because they don't fit anymore.

Anyway, enough with the downers! I feel like I owe it to myself and my family to get healthy this year.

Everyone is welcome to join! We're all in this together. And I really do feel that this site is a valuable resource to those that are serious about losing weight. Having fustration? Share it here, and you're likely to find others going through the exact same thing and can sympathize. Have a question? You're sure to get good, sensible advice. Want some new more sensible recipes? Tons here, along with food reviews on the main site. And everyone so serious and wants to lose weight in a heathy way truly is welcome.

Mtiger, I'm glad that my site could inspire you. I've sure that after you are on you way to reaching your goal, you'll be an inspiration for others a well. Losing weight is its own reward, but that makes it seem even more like it was all worth it.

A few thoughts from me. "The Biggest Loser" type shows are fun to watch, and if they can inspire/help people to reach a healthier weight then so much the better. But I think that there is a danger in turning weight loss into a competition. I think it might set up a "only one" winner mentality. Really, someone who loses 20 pounds and keeps it off is more of a winner in my book than someone who loses 50 and regains in in a year. Anyone who gets closer to a healthy weight for them wins. I just hope that that fact doesn't get lost in the spirit of competition.

Also, beware of doing too much too soon. Yes, it's great that your so enthusiatic about reaching your goal. But if you hurt yourself, or make yourself very umcomfortable, your body will rebel. You concious mind may be resolute, but there is a part of your brain that is obliged to listen to signals from your body. This part, I believe, does have the ability to greatly influence your will power. Losing a fair amount of weight quickly can of course do wonders for one's spirits and lead to the desire for even more success, of course. But if you put yourself in actually pain for very long, you run the real risk of really hurting yourself, or of quickly reaching the point where you burn out.

I'm not you, so I don't know what is best for your psychology. But I am a firm believer that it is much better to lose weight in a way that is substainable. No one wants to regain! For me that meant taking several small steps that I could keep doing for the rest of my life. Taken in whole, my life is somewhat different than it used to be. But no one thing was a radical departure. And while I do exercise regularily, I don't feel pain from it. Some sorness sometimes, yes. Some times I feel tired. But nothing that I can't handle.

So, in a nutshell, consider just doing thing that you can really handle for the rest of your life. Or, for as long as you want the weight to stay off!

I will join the club too! My birthday is Jan. 25th and last year I said I was going to be at my goal weight. Well Lo and behold, I'm NOT. And I so want to be at that goal weight for next year's birthday which will be my 25th birthday. I've already made some changes in my lifestyle and one big one. The biggie is, I've already gotten started by changing jobs, I'm a sales associate now at a retail store and I am on my feet about 8 hours a day. I'm also stopping my bad habit of eating so much white and starchy stuff which will help my blood sugar. I just cooked up the last of the white rice I have. I have started bringing my food to work so I don't go and eat at the food court. Last of all I need to get started again working out which is the hardest since after being on my feet all day from 6-10 hours I am tired. So I need this club!

I would love to join this thread! I maintained an 80 pound weight loss for the better part of two years. I was as happy as I've ever been with my body and myself. Then, my youngest children started school and I got myself a part-time job that I love. The problem? I went from chasing three kids and having the luxury of exercising anytime I wanted to literally sitting in a chair from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm. On top of that, I did not make a big enough effort to plan my meals. I gradually regained 40 pounds and I realize that I will have to gradually lose them once more. That's fine, slow and steady wins the race. But....

We just got a call from my brother-in-law. He and his fiance have decided to get married in March and so, of course, I'm feeling a bit paniced. They live across the country and while my husband's family saw me at my lowest weight, they have not seen me since I've regained. I don't have a goal weight that I intend to reach before the wedding but I do want to show up feeling and looking as best I can. Most importantly, I want to be able to enjoy the celebration rather than spend the week feeling self conscious. I know that the number on the scale isn't going to determine how good a time I have with our family. Rather, the confidence I'll have knowing that I've worked my hardest to be healthy again and being in control will. And, so, those are my goals...confidence and control. When those two things go up, the scale ALWAYS goes down!

I'd love to join! 2007 hasn't been very good for me. In the beginning I was working at a retail store and on my feet 8-9 hours a day and I lost 30 pounds in under 4 months. After I quit that job to go back to school I slowly gained back the 30 plus 10 more. I've recently gotten a membership to 24 hour fitness and I got the 2 new Biggest Loser Workout DVD's for Christmas. No excuses anymore.

May I join? I lost about 45 pounds three years ago, and last year gained back about 35. I am doing well with exercise, usually going to the gym for 1 1/2 - 2 hours six days a week. I love to run but I am dealing with a stress fracture right now and I just can't do it.

I need to get my eating under control. I use calorie-count.com, and I try to stick to 1500 per day. I have trouble being consistent, sometimes compulsively overeating and even bingeing. I really want to get out of that cycle and lose some of this weight. I want to be able to wear my smaller clothes and get my confidence back.

I am looking forward to getting to know some of you better!

Hiya. I would like to a part of the January Club too.

I am turning thirty in July. I have put a lot of effort into mentally and emotionally becoming the person I want to be over the past seven years. Its now time to make the outside match the inside.

I have, in previous attempts to loose weight, made things too complicated. I am keeping it simple and doable in 08. I am going to run. I am going to count calories. I am going to do ab work. 3 things. I know what they are, I know how to do them. 3 things are much much better than the nothing I am currently doing.

I'm just starting...again. Mtiger and I are on a weight loss mission together. Because she's my support I know I can do it! Without her cheering me on I would let it slide. Thank you Mtiger!
Kelly530

Hello,

I just finished reading all the post and I'm proud to say that I'm going to be in the January Club here at 3FC. Why am I proud? Because, even though I have started over so many times...done really well...and then fell off the wagon to gain back EVERYTHING that I had lost, I'm not giving up and THIS YEAR...2008 is the year that I will do it. For the past 3 weeks I have really been looking into my resolve to get this weight off once and for all and to get on with maintence. I KNOW that for the rest of my life, I will have to work at my weightloss...after I lose it, I will have to work to maintain it. Yes, it will be a life style for me but I must work to stay in the new lifestyle that I will create for myself. It's all about forward moving from now on.

So, for the past 3 weeks, I've been journaling, I've been reading these boards, I've been preparing and I've been walking. I have a jump start. I have my journal, I have my workouts planned, I have a local group support ready to roll...and NOW I have a place at 3FC.

My goal is to be below 200 on 12/31/08. If it's 199.75, so be it, it will be below 200. The lowest weight that I have been in a LONG time was 2 years ago, I was at 239 and then I lost my focus...I looked back..I let other things become more important and here I am 282. That's where I am now...I've been heavier..I know I was 3 weeks ago...but I didn't dare weigh myself when I was putting that fudge in my mouth EVERYDAY.

I'm looking forward to this journey with all of you..getting to know you....celebrating our weightlosses.

If you haven't read Robins story..go do it. I think it's something I will read weekly. Robin..how inspiring.....I know I can do it. You laid it all out how to get there. There isn't any shortcuts and it just doesn't happen. It takes all that you talked about and it gives back all that you wrote about. THANK you for all that detail. What a roadmap for me to use!!!

I can't wait to put up my after picture!

I'm looking forward to posting here with you all.

As you being a successful weight loss veteran, I appreciate your words of wisdom and encouragement. I do know that for me I need to jump right in with both barrels. I need to exercise everyday or I will tend to let it go longer and longer. A few sore muscles tells me that I have worked some areas that have been severely neglected. My best friend Kelly 530 and I work together and we are doing the "biggest loser" thing at work. It is really her and I in this together and we don't care if we win any competition, we just want to get our lives back. We are there for each other but we still have a lot of questions and need some extra support.

Does anyone know how to figure out how much a person should eat to lose weight? Is there a site or a formula anyone knows about? I have been an avid walker/jogger in the past without much weight loss. I'm sure it boils down to food intake. This is where I need some help.

Thanks for the encouragement!!