I like to watch the show “Biggest Loser”. It’s inspiring! But I have always had a problem with the name. To me, anyone who can go on National Television and bare their souls and body at the weight that some of them weigh…is NOT a loser! I think all of those people are winners! And so are we! Each of us is a winner in so many ways in our lives. We win every day by just getting out of bed and making the decision to try again to lose this weight!
This challenge is about winning and the ways we win every day! This challenge will be a little different that some we have participated in.
You will need to think about what is preventing you from losing weight. This will be your “hurdle”. There could be more than one hurdle. This is an area that so many of us overlook, but is most important in our weight loss journey! For example, lack of motivation, lack of support from spouse, not finding (or making) time are all “hurdles” for me!
Next, you will need a “goal” (or goals) of course. This is the area that we all focus on when we are trying to lose weight. Just list the goal or goals that will take you to the next challenge (a month is good for me). It’s not just about the number of pounds we want to lose, either. This can be about how we want to feel, other areas we want to see changed in our lives, etc.
Then comes our “approach” or how will we achieve these goals. This is the nitty gritty of our program. The day-to-day things we do (or don’t do) that will get us the desired goal we want. They need to be specific and broken down into small tasks. For example, I need to make out a menu each Sunday so I know what I will be cooking each day. I also need to follow my work out schedule each day, no matter what.
Here is the part of our challenge that is different from past challenges.
Each day, you will post about how you were a WINNER that day. It doesn’t have to be something huge, but it can be! How did you make an impact on your journey to becoming the “you” that you so desire? For most of us, we overlook those things that make us wonderful human beings…and truly, those are the things that matter most! How did YOU win today?
I wish the best of everything to all of you in 2007, so let's get moving and start remembering how important we are! We are all winners!
Awesome idea, Julie! It's about time we celebrated the things we do right!
I'll think about my goals and hurdles while I'm working here on the computer- I'm going through 2 years worth of Allrecipes emails to narrow down what I can fix & make figure-friendly, and what just needs to go. Long overdue, but it is helping me focus on what I SHOULD be eating, instead of what I AM eating. Baby steps on the approach, right?
Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year's Eve and Day...and here's to everyone being a big winner in 2007!
Um.......could I jump in here? I'm looking for a group to start 2007 with as the "Year I Make It Happen". Giving some thought to the Hurdles & Goals to post later....
Just to make it official, I did get on the scale this morning......and it was not as bad as I thought. I did put on a couple of pounds over Christmas.....but I had a net loss of 2 pounds from Thanksgiving to New years!!! Not exactly earth-shaking, but a vast improvement over the 10-15 pound GAIN that I usually have over the holidays!
Julie....Thank you for setting up this challenge...great concept! We could all use a little positive affirmation in our lives.
Elisha....Glad to see you aboard on this one too! We are all going to be winners in 2007!
Ipa.....Welcome! The beginning of a new year is a great place to start with life changes.....a time for soul-searching and resolutions. I know you will do great!
Jennifer....Glad to see you back, chickie....hope you had a wonderful holiday! Good idea to go thru old recipes......always nice to try new tastes, especially if they are 'figure friendly'.
As you may have noted, I have successfully skated around the reason we are here......hurdles, goals, approaches.....this is going to take a bit more thought, so will check in later with my plan.
Okay a New Year, a new attitude.
I'd like to jump on here too.
My goals for the new year are not to obsess about my weight but to take a sensible approach to it.
I plan to not eat after 7.30 pm at night, and to up my water intake.
Hurdles for me that would be the scales, I weigh everyday and this year I'm only going to weigh once a week. Well that's the plan anyway.
Im on board too. Goal: To loose 2 sizes. And to not obsess about weight because its just a number but rather to focus on my size, and how i feel. Hurdles: Being to obsessed about the number. Im trying really hard to only weigh myself every other day. Who knew it would be this hard to not know what i weigh every morning. Another hurdle for me, snacking. You know, 1 handful of this, just a little peice of that, it adds sooo many cals to my diet. This year i am going to stop grazing in between meals.
Good luck everyone! Happy New Year!
(Jennifer, you're probably the only one who even remembers me!)
I've been out of the loop for about 2 years now mostly due to insanity at work, but I AM BACK!! I forgot my old username tho, so I'm now the JKitty.
Unfortunately, due to some medical probs on my end, I've gained about 20 lbs back and gone up 2 sizes. YECH. But I'm finally back on track and healthy again, albeit with a limited diet and whatnot.
So... my goal: To lose 10 lbs by the end of January.
(Well first goal...)
Hurdles... I can't eat veggies (except potato, carrot, radish & other root-style veggies with no dietary fiber whatsoever), and the excessive fatigue I face every day of my life.
However, I relied on this awesome group of chicks for quite some time, and MAN did that make things easier! I know this works, and I'm excited to get back into the swing of things starting TODAY!
Now I have to find those kewl graphics that everybody's got to show the slidey scale thingey. And probably buy a scale for myself so I can tell what I lose
to Ipa, Chaarli, and 100%me. Welcome Back, to Lucy!
Julie, thank you again for the great idea for the new year.
It's official. It's 2007. And after having my first good meal in the new year, I'm ready to get back to work on my health, and lose this weight. I threw in the towel back when the new house issues started, and things became more chaotic than I could handle on my own. Then, with hubby's job situation, and taking on more hours when they were available this past year, I didn't do myself any favors. It's a new year, and a new starting point. I'm not happy with the weight I've put back on, and I've beaten myself up about it long enough. So, I'm embracing this opportunity to make the changes.
I've done a lot of thinking about my hurdles, goals, and approaches. Deconstructing my hurdles- each one is easily jumped by itself. And when I look at it as one hurdle at a time, instead of trying to jump 3 or 4 EVERY time, it is more manageable. My two biggest hurdles, and the ones I am going to beat this year are:
* Not making the time to take care of myself.
* New schedule and commute makes mornings rushed- my biggest excuse this last year for sitting back and NOT doing what I need to do.
Goals: I needed to make these quantifiable, so that every day, every week, there's something to aspire to. Something I can check off each day as an accomplishment, and then set additional goals as I see progress. My curent goals are to:
* Lose 1.5 to 2 pounds per week
* Drink 4 18oz glasses of water while at work each day
* Exercise 4 days a week, minimum, for 20 minutes, minimum
Once I get moving, and start building my cardio back up, I can increase the exercise. Right now, WATP leaves me panting, so I have a lot of lost ground to recover, and then work up from.
My approach:
*Plan for meals in advance, and prepare in advance, whenever possible
*Pre-measure and pre-baggie items for breakfast, and for lunch, to make it possible to meet weekday goals
*Prepare everything the night before, for easy assembly in the morning
*Schedule Exercise Dates with myself
*Take advantage of 15 minute intervals of "wasted" time for resistance bands or the 1 mile WATP
Sounds doable, right? I can't do it without the support of all the chickies here- I'm only successful when I have the accountability of checking in and reporting what I did. A big Thank YOU! and lots of s to everyone here, because we can all do this.
I'm forcing myself to update every day or I end up forgetting and then I just forget everything...
SO! I had coffee, a lemon poppyseed muffin and a mt dew for breakfast today. (I wasn't feeling great so the mt dew slipped in... calms the tummy).
I did my 1/2 hr of weights and elliptical last night, and it was awesome. Going to try for another 1/2 hr today on the elliptical, plus we're going out to wander in the coolest furnitire maze ever (giant store) so I'll get some good walking in.
I think dinner will be some shrimp and pasta with veggies & garlic. That sounds good!
Okay, here it is January 1 and it is time to get serious about making some changes for the better.
HURDLES - my biggest hurdle in the past has been relying on willpower to lose weight. Obviously, this works only until the first chocolate chip cookie crosses my path.....or 23 minutes, whichever comes first. So, I am chucking the willpower and emotions and going to developing a more concrete plan.
GOAL - a new healthier me! I am not going to set any poundage goals, as I can't handle the feelings of failure when they are not met. And, while I am at it, there is a lot of organizing to be done around the old homestead.....closets are out of control, and my desk looks like somebody bombed it.
APPROACH - I have to start planning menus ahead.....breakfast and lunches are no problem, but dinnertime needs attention. I come home tired and in no mood for cooking.....and DH doesn't help with the 'not hungry right now, so why don't we have a sandwich later' approach. Exercise has to be kicked up a notch... the 1-mile WATP is wiping me out now, but I have to make an appointment each day with Leslie. And the organizing.....I will start with a list, then prioritize each area/chore and then attack each in turn.
Sheesh! That sounds like I am going to be busy!
Chaarlie.....Welcome aboard! It sounds like you are starting out with such a positive attitude! I think I will join you on the 'no eating after 7:30pm'......sounds like a perfect time to guzzle a little extra water instead!
100% - I hear you on the snacking.....seems everytime I wander thru the kitchen, I am picking up something to eat. I have gotten rid of all the holiday goodies, and am starting 2007 with a bowl of oranges and apples on the serving counter.
Lucy....Welcome back! Sorry to hear of all your medical problems, but it sounds like you are tackling them head on! It certainly does complicate things, but you know we are here for you!
Jennifer.....Plan, plan, plan.....what a positive idea! It takes a little time, but the structure it gives us almost guarantees success! I am with you on this one!
this post is long enough (or maybe too long.....sorry!)..... I have lists to make and laundry to do.
OK...I've been away for a few days since I posted this challenge, but I'm back. I really have been thinking about my hurdles, goals and approaches, but it sounds like some of you have also been doing some deep thinking!
So here goes:
My Hurdles:
1. Procrastination
2. Not planning in advance (ie not being organized, MsRD, I can relate)
3. Lack of spousal support
4. Finding excuse after excuse!
(I could list more, but these are the major ones)
My Goals
1. Eat 3 healthy meals a day with 2 healthy snacks
2. Exercise for at least 20 minutes 4-5 times weekly
(I'll start with those 2, but I will add or modify as I see these goals have been reached)
Approach
1. Communicate how I feel either here to to DH when what I'd rather do is eat.
2. Plan out meals (and include the family with this event) & exercise a week at a time I will do this on Wednesdays so I can have groceries by the weekend and start my week on Monday.
3. Journal my food every day. At least for the first week or two without calorie count or other count just so I get back in the habit of it daily!
4. Exercise in the morning before DD gets up which means I have to start setting my alarm for 6am!
5. Just DO IT!!! (instead of thinking about doing it!)
I will also be posting some links from time to time...to some websites which I find helpful with motivation and maybe we can all learn something valuable from them.
Welcome to everyone who has joined...and LUCY, I remember you!!! Don't you remember me? This is a great inspiring group and I am looking forward to counting on all of you for accountability! Jennifer and I have been doing this together (aside from the last year of havoc she has had) for quite some time and have found that it helps to have a "team approach" even if it's just two or three of us here! We really do NEED each other!
Thank you all for being so motivated to start this challenge. If you know others who are struggling, invite them to join us. I say the more the better! We all are winners! Remember that!
Last edited by hikein2005; 01-01-2007 at 05:46 PM.
Checking in before I make something for a light dinner, and prepare my breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. And I've really been letting the thoughts swirl around, and the planning come together. Discussed a few things with hubby, who is on board, believe it or not, since he could lose about 20-25 pounds, and is also feeling run down and crappy.
Tomorrow morning, when I get in to work, I plan on printing out all 60+ pages of recipes that I just put together. If anyone wants a copy, PM me with your email address, and I'll send them your way. Publix's current sale paper is good through Wednesday, so tomorrow I'll review a few recipes that sound good, and we'll prepare a more complete shopping list, which will get us set for the next 2 weeks or so. Sunday's shopping was enough to make sure we could get through this week without bad foods.
Wednesday, on my way home, we'll hit Publix, stock up, and then on Saturday, I'll be prepping pre-measured cereal baggies, and doing taco meat rollups and possibly chili. We'll make a few new recipes, have those for dinner this coming weekend, and any leftovers will be packed for my lunches for the week.
Lucy- hope your stomach is better. Have fun in the furniture maze, and hopefully you'll be blazing a trail on that elliptical, and kicking our tushes with your crunches.
MsRD- ditto what you dais about your hubby & dinners. Mine works from his home office here, and doesn't think twice about a big lunch at 2:30 or 3pm, and then when I get home at 5-5:15, he's not hungry. By 7, I'm starving, and that's when I go nuts with the bad stuff.
Julie- what is it with husbands? LOL. I don't say it often enough, but the encouragement here, and support was such a big part of my motivation in the past...and our successes. If I made a commitment to WATP, or to IM, I knew I had to do it, or come back and post for all to see. And just when you think that you can't do it, or won't, you can turn around and inspire someone else, and re-kindle your own fire for success.
Here's to an incredibly successful, fulfilling 2007, ladies!
Morning everyone!
Got my 1 mile WATP in this morning. Made up my menu last night and even made a pot of chili, which really is more like really hearty veggie soup, but it's good and even my DD will eat it (without the beans)!
My only stressor (aside from work) is trying to get a ride to work this morning. I think I may have a ride, but it's my babysitter's sister and she's still sleeping and I won't know til Tif comes over this morning. No school for DD this morning!
OK...hope all you chickies are have a great day! I'll be weighing in today for an official New Year's weight! Let's keep our fingers crossed!
Morning everyone! Wow, it's been a busy couple of days!
to everyone new! I'm afraid I don't have time for individual comments at the moment, but I promise I will at some point this week!
OK, let's see.
Hurdles
1. Procrastination. I am the Queen of Delay, and I need to be dethroned.
2. Time/convenience. Fast food is just SO much easier.
3. Lack of support. Steve rejects any attempt to make him eat healthy, and usually exercise.
Goals
1. Lose 70-75 pounds.
2. Drink at least 64 oz. of water every single day. I feel so much better when I do, and it makes everything so much easier.
3. Incorporate exercise into my life and become more fit.
Approach
1. Cardio 4-5 times per week.
2. Strength train 3 times per week.
3. Track my intake every single day.
4. Drink lots of water every single day.
***The 2007 Biggest Winner Challenge***
Giving some thought to the Hurdles & Goals to post later....
Another hurdle for me, snacking. You know, 1 handful of this, just a little peice of that, it adds sooo many cals to my diet. This year i am going to stop grazing in between meals.
to Ipa, Chaarli, and 100%me. Welcome Back, to Lucy! 
s to everyone here, because we can all do this. 
to everyone new! I'm afraid I don't have time for individual comments at the moment, but I promise I will at some point this week! 
