Did you start off with a New Year's Resolution?
 

Just curious if any of our biggest losers actually started their journey with a New Year's resolution. I love the concept of a "clean slate." I know. It's only another day in our life, but still.....maybe this time.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I make a resolution every morning to continue on my journey of healthy eating/living; and yes, I will make a resolution to continue to grow and learn and do even better for this coming new year ... and by the grace of GOD, I will succeed too ... :D

I started WW in October 08 but didn't "get serious" until May 09. But I'm sure the New Year's Resolution can be done. We're all starting with a resolution, just at different times!

8 years ago I lost 100+ pounds, all becuase of my New Year's resolution. I made the resolution and started january 1. I lost it all... and gained it all back. Now, every New Year's I try to start off on the right foot- I get up early and go for a hike, a walk, etc.

I'm already on a diet/exercise plan, so New Year's won't change that, but this year I plan on getting up and running 3 miles at the beach and then taking some time to visualize who I want to be this time next year.

I totally see the first day of the new year as a clean slate and try to behave accordingly. :D

GirlyGirlSebas, I basically started with a New Year's resolution, but one reason I had a feeling it was going to "take" this time was that I actually started on December 29, 2008. In the past, I would have used those three days as an excuse to eat everything in sight. This time, I was jazzed to get started, so I started a little early.

New Year's is actually my favorite holiday--something about the idea of closure and renewal, and starting a shiny new year in which we're all perfect, at least initially. :) Best wishes to you in 2011!

Nope, why wait! Started my Journey in a June. Saying and doing are always two seperate things.

I started at Lent this year although I'd been working up to it (making healthier choices, actually trying to think about what I was stuffing in to my mouth, hanging out at 3FC) for a couple years before getting serious.

Pretty much every New Years I plan on "losing weight" and "managing my money better" but not much ever comes of it. But Lent, New Years, your birthday, a cute guy - whatever motivates you and gets you going is good as far as I'm concerned.

No I started November 1 ,2008 4 months after having my 6th baby. I was at my heaviest (non pregnant) and I was miserable and had no energy. I kept it a secret from most people for 6 months of being on plan till they started to notice and ask. I didn't want to proclaim I was dieting and then fail.

I love this!

Nope, I did not start at New Year's. I started in November 2009 because my cousin came to dinner having lost 90 pounds. I was jealous. :p

I think it CAN be done at New Year's though! I wonder what percentage of New Year's Newbies succeed. Honestly, it's probably not much different than those who start at other times of the years. We simply have more starts on this holiday than any other day of the year.

I think "clean slate" thinking hurt me more than helped me over the years. Whenever I slipped, I felt I needed a clean slate, which of course couldn't start until tomorrow morning - or if it was past Wednesday then until Monday morning - unless it was past the 20th of the month and then it would be the first of the month (or the first Monday of the month), and of course if it was past November, then it would be the first of the year (or the first Monday of the year).

And of course, while I was waiting for my clean slate, I might as well "get it out of my system" and eat everything I wouldn't be eating after my slate was clean.

This is the first time I decided that there was to be no clean slate. That there never is a clean slate. Starting fresh is more myth than reality. There's no need to start fresh, and in many ways it's not even possible. Every choice you make, affects every future choice. "Clean-slate" thinking made it seem reasonable to binge before starting fresh. If I'm going to "start fresh" tomorrow morning, then it doesn't matter what I eat tonight. In fact, I shoud eat everything I can think of, because "starting fresh" means I won't get the opportunity again.

I think it's no coincidence that my only lasting success has come after vowing not to fall into the starting fresh trap. Every choice is in some way a new-beginning, all of it's own. It doesn't have to be a fresh choice, to be a good one. And picking yourself up immediately after a slip makes a whole lot more sense than waiting for the opportunity to start fresh.

Clean slate thinking tends to imply that only perfection counts for anything, and I've found that progress makes a whole lot more sense than perfection. In the past, I tended to be like a mountain climber who after losing 10 feet of ground in a backslide, decides to jump off the cliff, just to have a fresh start.

I firmly believe that fresh starts are highly over-rated.

I've tried the New Year's route before, it seemed like a good time but it generally didn't work for me...maybe too much pressure with everyone asking what my resolution is...I don't really like to talk about how I eat outside of 3FC. I don't know what it was about June, but it was the magic moment for me to get my head completely into this and I haven't looked back.

Not a biggest loser yet, but I started the week before Thanksgiving. There's no time like the present, and no chance to have a going away party for your food.

Nope not me. Have made too many New Year's Resolutions that I never managed to carry through with and just made me feel more of a failure. Started my journey on 27th July 2009 not really believing I could do it and not really having any motivation, and here I am 136.5lbs down, go figure!

No I usually don't have luck with new years resolutions. Whenever I make a big deal out of a particular date being the start of a new behavior it tends to not last very long. Every major lifestyle change I have had success with, whether it was quitting smoking, quitting partying, or starting my weight loss plan has happened in sort of a spur of the moment, no time like the present fashion. I think it has to do with not expecting everything to be neat and clean and perfect and also just doing it instead of overthinking it and building it up.