If December is the worst month to attempt a healthy lifestyle, then January must be the best month! It is a New Year, and we are invigorated with the promise of new beginnings. Turn on the television, or open the newspaper, and there are numerous offers of weight loss plans and discounted gym memberships. With all this external support, it becomes easy to make heartfelt resolutions for change in the upcoming year!

That may be where 'easy' ends, as, we all know, that making a resolution and achieving it are two entirely different matters. In order to achieve success in life-altering resolutions, we must have:

FOCUS - We must concentrate on each resolution and develop a detailed plan of action.

ACCOUNTABILITY - And I, for one, am so thankful to have this group of chickies, offering support and encouragement and celebrating each other's successes!

PERSISTANCE - No resolution will be achieved without hard work and total consistency. Every day, we must commit to specific actions....and every day, we must review our actions, their cause and effect.

So, this is where it starts.....commit to a goal, define your action plan, and know that it is all possible!

Together, we can do anything!

HI! I have a goal already but I figured I would start out here for the new year. LIke you said Jan must be the BEST month to do this so here goes!

MY LONG TERM GOAL- BY APRIL 1ST -30 LBS LIGHTER- I WILL REACH MY 30 LB GOAL!

MY SHORT TERM GOAL- TO LOSE 10 LBS EACH MONTH! ALSO TO EXERCISE AND WORK OUT 3X A WEEK AND DRINK AT LEAST 64 OZ OF WATER A DAY!

I will start writing down everything i eat and drink in my journal starting tomorrow. Mabye this will maye me realize what I am doing. I know that my problem is eating out. I eat out almost every meal of the day. How awful! I know this cannot be healthy. I more than anything want to be healthy so when I get pregnant my baby will be healthy! That is it!

Good luck to all!

OK chickies...MsRD already set up the challenge the moment I had posted my last post to the group! Aren't we just thinking on the same wave length/frequency/level????? LOL!!!

So, I PM'd her and asked if I could add some things and she so graciously agreed that whatever I wanted to add was ok with her! She has already touched on the 3 areas that that most of us fail...Focus, Accountability and Persistance!

So....here goes!!! How do YOU want to stay focused, remain accountable and be persistant or CONsistent???

FOCUS - Pick one area to start with. Diet, exercise, meditation, routine, nutrition...you get the idea. Just pick one area and really focus on that.

For me, it's routine. I need to develop a routine of planning my meals, preparing my meals and time for exercise.

ACCOUNTABILITY - This is where many of us lack (me included)! It's nice that we are all here and can post whenever we want or whenever we are doing well. But how does that make us accountable? Accountability is checking in even (especially) when we are at our worst...when we just ate that last 1/2 pan of brownies that we had been trying to find the will power to keep saying "no" to! It's when we have just had a horrible day (mentally/emotionally) and all we want to do is comfort ourselves with comfort food. It's when we GAINED those two pounds that we worked hard all week to take off and felt we deserved to lose! It's taking 20 minutes for ourself to get in touch with someone else who understands how we feel and can say the right thing to get us back on track!!!

I am challenging each of us to find someone or a few someones that we feel comfortable with and really get to know that person. I know this isn't for everyone, and that's ok, but here are some suggestions:

* Set up an IM account and IM each other several times a week for that accountability.
*Join in our weekly CHAT here on 3FC (more to come on that...)
*E-mail someone when you are having a really down day or just come and post here.

I already have my MSN IM set up and will add anyone to my account if you want to IM me! Just PM me if you have questions.

PERSISTANCE - No resolution will be achieved without hard work and total consistency. Every day, we must commit to specific actions....and every day, we must review our actions, their cause and effect.
MsRD said it best, but I would like to elaborate on that.
I challenge each of you to sit down and write out your goals (be specific) and how you will attain those goals (be even more specific). If you want help, there are plenty of us here who can help you with setting goals. I've been doing for a looooong time, now!!! Then, post your goals...maybe even put them in your signature!

I am going to do that with mine

Go on line and find a good website with resources to help you. 3FC has many links right here. Also Discovery Health.com has wonderful articles and resources. If you type in health, nutrition, exercise, diet or any of those kinds of words on your search engine, you will find a plethora of sites!

Alright chickies...the challenge is on! It's time for a New Year...a New YOU!!!

Let's get it started TODAY!

Hi Christian4HIM...I just saw this article on eating out and thought of you. Check it out!
http://health.discovery.com/centers/...eatingout.html

If that doesn't work, go to discoveryhealth.com and type in "eating out"

Good morning!

Julie......Awesome job! It's true! Great minds do think alike......ROFL!

Christian4Him.....Welcome! This is a wonderful group of chickies and I know that we are going to have a successful year!

got folks coming for dinner......gotta scoot, but will be back later!

Hello, everyone!

I'm not home from vacation yet, but opportunity presented itself for a quick post.

Focus: Julie, I'm with you. I'm not going to be able to achieve anything unless I get my routines in order. Both household and healthwise.

Accountability: I have a Yahoo Messenger account with no contacts, so I'm more than willing to add people! Only thing is that I'm not quite sure how since I never have. I'll tinker around the help pages when I'm back home.

Persistance: I'm going to have to think about my goals before I post them. I've never been very specific about them in the past. Maybe that's part of my problem...

Ok, back to the fam. I hope to be back again tonight if there's time!

You know I'm in!

Focus: I think I really need to focus on both eating and exercise at the moment, but the exercise part comes easier (when I actually make myself do it), so my main focus, at least for January, is going to be getting my eating habits back on track. I've been so far away from healthy eating that I'm actually starting to crave salads and water! I have to pay attention to what goes into my mouth, and start saying no once again to the things I know better than to indulge in.

Accountability: I love chatting and emailing, and you all know I usually post here fairly often, but I'm always up for more accountability. I have just about all the IM accounts a girl needs.
AIM: QueenofSemantics
Yahoo: dragyngrrl
MSN: miss_elisha at hotmail dot com
Please, anyone feel free to IM me or email me at any time, or simply PM me through 3FC.

Persistence: Yes, persistence is definitely my problem, and it is definitely the key. I do well for a few days, then blow it all in the next few days. But no more. This time I've got to do well until it's done, and long after. I've already got an entire folder made up with goals, tracking sheets and charts, and if I think of anything else that could help me, I'll stick it in there too. I intend to add helpful articles whenever I find them.

My goals this year are:
1. Lose 50 pounds
Or more, if I so decide once I reach that point. 50 pounds will get me in the healthy range, and I'll see where I want to go from there.
2. Tone muscle
This means EXERCISE! Not only do I want to be slim in that wedding dress, I want to be BUFF! And toning those muscles will help me lose weight and look great.
3. Adopt a healthy diet.
I know perfectly well that I can never completely give up pizza or cheesecake and eat like a dietary saint, and I don't intend to. What I want is to eat primarily to maintain and promote health.

I've got one more dinner ahead of me today--pork and sauerkraut and mashed potatoes and gravy, but there will also be healthy veggies and salads, so there are vitamins involved. Tomorrow, the real work begins.

So, let's get to it, chicks!
~Elisha

Hi guys!

hikein2005-Thanks for the info I will be researching it! My down fall is also Starbucks. I always get the Non Fat white chocolate Mocha with whip! So i have started getting the smaller size and now i will be going to no whip. I am only going to get this 1x a week and work my way to none at all. The caffeine is not good also especially since I am trying to get pregnant.

Focus: I am going to focus on Exercising and what i eat. I use to be so good about monitoring what i eat. Some how when life is great this disappears for some reason.

Accountability- My yahoo name is Christian_4him but i havent set up Instant Messanger just yet will do though. I will also be setting up an AIM account. I will let you know when i do that. I love being on the internet and talking i just dont have a whole lot of time but please feel free to talk to me anytime i am on. I need all the people i can get to help me!

Persistance- This is my down fall but I WILL DO BETTER starting today. I am also going to make a journal on here so i can actually see what i am eating and doing everyday! I havent done the journal yet so i am not sure how it works but hopefully everyone can check in on me.

Again my goals are as follows:

1. LONG TERM- to lose 30 lbs by 4-1-06.
2. SHORT TERM- to lose 10 1bs a month
3. DRINK 64 OZ OF WATER A DAY
4. STARBUCKS ONLY 1X WEEK WITH THE LIMITS I SET ABOVE
5. EXERCISE 3X A WEEK
6. START A JOURNAL
7. DO MY BEST!!!!!!!

Just an FYI today i had a starbucks. That is all i have had and i am not eating until later around 4 for dinner. Then i will eat a small salad.

What plan is everyone doing just low fat? i am going to try and do low fat low carb. but we will see...i know the carb thing dont work forever and i dont want to lose it fast and then gain it all right back .i want to do it the right way and healty way for me!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE....LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN!!!!!!

YIPPy!

\Monrin' everyone.

Thanks to MsRD and Julie for setting up the new challenge.

Is this challenge for the entire year?

By the end of the year:
I want to be consistent in a paln that I can do for the rest of my life. I want to have met my weight loss goal.

Focus: Consistently eating the right amount of food.

Accountability: Counting calories and jounraling food. I haven't lost weight since I stopped journaling.

Persistence: Time to go back to the green/yellow/red days. I'm going to set up a new-clohing account. I'll give myself $2 for every green day, $1 for every yellow day, and subtract $1 for every red day.

I'll go shopping at 149, 144, and 135.

I'll probably join some other shorter challenges, just cuz I want to get to 149 so badly...

But I'm not "cheating" on all of you! I'll still be here.

Christian4HIM

MY FOCUS IS TO BE "FOOD FREE" AFTER 8PM. I think that this is key to my sucess in creating a healthy lifestyle, my ultimate long term goal. In order to focus on that habit there are a number of things I need to identify. The Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of the solution.

WHO is ME, when I'm alone after DH goes to bed especially.
How - I will go to bed earlier, or going upstairs to read (I never eat upstairs) if I want some "alone" time.

WHAT is NOT EATING AFTER 8pm.
How - When I eat after 8pm it is rarely a "healthy, well-thought out choice", because I'm tired, alone, not accountable (already posted and journalled). I'm going to put a sticker on my calendar for each day I succeed to track my success - I'm aiming for 100%, but I'm not perfect so 80% (including weekends) will be a habit. So I need to see 25-31 STARS.


WHEN is FROM NOW ON, EVERYDAY, FOR LIFE.
How - I need to pick a day to start, that will be today. I know that I need to be flexible because of our changing life styles and weekends may not see us eating dinner until after 8pm if we're working outside, sometimes things are out of control, such as out with other people or entertaining etc. but I don't want this to be a crutch or an excuse to forget all the work I'm doing, but at the same time I want to definately have it as a "LIFE" focus. My FIL refuses to eat after dinner and he's 87 and playing tennis. As far as the posting and journaling which is "accountability for me" I wanted to mention in this section that I have to make the journal the last thing I do before heading to bed in order to renew my plan for the next day and look at the positive and negative for what I did that day.

WHERE is in the LIVINGROOM & OFFICE and sometimes over the KITCHEN SINK.
How - I need to go back to the "eating at the diningroom or kitchen table only". Incorporating food free zones in the office and in the livingroom. Don't know how to deal with the "kitchen sink thing".

WHY is BOREDOM, HABIT, BEING TIRED
How - I KNOW that I am tired when I start to graze at night, so I need to plan on getting to bed by 9-10pm on work days. Nothing on TV is more important than getting my rest, I need to get a VCR so I can tape and watch whatever it is later so I don't feel like I'm missing something. They are so cheap right now - maybe that will be my reward for meeting my 80% of goal. I also eat out of habit, so I need to set up some peramiters for eating such as the "food free zones" I identified in the "where".

I think I am guilty of most of the above... Most of the time I don't post if I'm off plan which, I KNOW, is non-productive. You are all so supportive and I need to open up and not be a "fair-weather friend". I think that in order to keep my computer time down and get to bed earlier, I will limit comments to ALL for weekends and post "ME" stuff during the week and PM or IM (if I can figure out how to do it and if my "old" computer is capable - Windows 95) for my buddy(s). I'd love to chat, I hope that we can set up a time where I can be available (I'm in the Pacific Time zone - about 3-4 hours behind the rest of you).

I have established my "stars" on the calendar for tracking my success as a visual I look at everyday. Gotta add buy stars to my TODO List. I think that I'll have red stars for not eating after 8pm and then next month I'll have a different colour for my next focus - probably either staying OP or Exercising daily.... I'll be thinking forward during the month ... OH and ahem, of course, my ultimate long term goal "To be size 10 by Elisha's Wedding."

Okay, 'nuff about me ......
I'm off to change my signature now....

TBJ...DiscoveryHealth has the body challenge that I am also doing, so I don't feel like you "cheating" on us! We gotta do what works for us! And I am soooo ready to shed these pounds!

Thanks for the note about Diamond Head. I actually hiked that a couple of times when I lived in Hawaii. It was fun! Of course, I was probably in the best physical shape of my life at that time. Did you do the cave/tunnell?

Have you found my old apartment yet? I'm stillholding out for those pictures! HA!

Hi!
Back again, and ready to commit to the rest of my life!

FOCUS - My focus has got to be diet and exercise EVERYDAY NO EXCUSES!

ACCOUNTABILITY- what a great idea to keep in touch with each other other than here in the forum. No more 'unexcused absences' just because we are having a bad day! Anyone can PM me here at 3FC......and I can give you my email addy there if need be - I just don't want to post it here for the entire world to see (maybe I should be working on the paranoia too LOL)

PERSISTENCE - Consistency (or the lack thereof) is the reason for my failures in the past. I know that. This is going to be the key to my whole program.

Betani.....HOpe you are having a wonderful vacation! And I am really glad you have signed on for this challenge!

Elisha.....Whoa! Looking buff in a wedding dress has got to be the happiest inspiration! Have you set the date?

Christian4Him....You have already started incorporating your goals into this challenge and are doing great! Maybe when you get this Starbucks thing down to once weekly, you can make it a reward when you have been very very good!

TBJ.....I really didn't mean for this challenge to be for an entire year, mostly because I need that little kickstart at the beginning of each month. Setting an annual goal is still a good idea though....with smaller goals for this month. A clothing allowance! As we all melt away, new clothes are going to be a necessity!

Joy.....Ok, I am with you on the no eating after 8pm! This is going to shave a lot of calories out of my day!

In the past, I have never been good at setting goals and following thru......but this year, I would like to lose 40 pounds by years end. And that is little more than 4 pounds a month! That sounds sooooo doable!

focus is going to be on my diet. I overeat so easily and that's not good!

Accountablity - Well im happy to join the weekly chat when you have it.

Persitance ... I'm determined to succeed and not lose interest after 2 weeks like I usually do!

Hi ! It's me..an old friend dropping in to see if I can join in the challenge. I've not done too well over the holidays. I am sure I am up at least 10 pounds, but I think more. I am going to do an official weigh in tomorrow.

I really look forward to meeting everybody. I sure need some support here..I'm drifting back into some really bad habits. I was so impressed to read everyone's goals and thoughts. This sounds like a terrific group .

My goal is to lose 15 pounds. I really want to focus on eating healthy, with lots less red meat and sugars. I am going to follow the WW plan primarily. I have already started some exercise this week- exercise is another goal for me, in addition to upping my water intake. Also, I would love to chat with you guys- that would be terrific. I hope I can be an encouragement for somebody!

I'm really excited about the challenge!!

p.s. The weight ticker below is wrong..I think I weigh around 155 now..I'll update it tomorrow when I weigh in!

Lisagirl-Hi. It looks as if we are close in current weight. i would love to have a new buddy..Interested?

I did well today! I had a salad and blackeyed peas and rice for dinner. i only had 16 oz of water though..but it is a work in progress...