New Year, New Goals

Sloth_Jog

Let's get this 'New Year, New Goal' jazz out of the way...
What are YOU focusing on in 2012?

Here's my list:
1-Run a Half Marathon - to finish, no goal time.
2-More activity in general: more walking, hiking, jogging.
3-Eat less processed food.
4-Drink less alcohol.
5-DON'T QUIT MFP :laugh:

littlelinnie

My goal is to commit to loosing weight by setting small, realistic goals. I'll loose 5 lbs by the end of January. Thanks for starting this new group!

dlee1234

i started off really well then fell off the wagon big time over christmas and put on the 4lbs i had lost!, really want to get back on track booking my holiday soon so i have 6 months to get rid of the flabby mum tum and bum!:happy:

Sloth_Jog

Thanks for joining, littlelinnie and n8leagr8!

Small, reasonable steps sound like a good plan, littlelinnie!
As I'm sure you will agree, it is much easier to add good habits onto good habits slowly than it is to change a whole bunch of habits overnight and to stick with it! Setting realistic goals will ensure that you don't quit from feeling overwhelmed.

My drop-out story: I kept exercising after I left the site, but did not really 'intuitively' know as much as I thought after logging food here for about a year. Clearly I still have a lot to learn about the food / nutrition side of things. :ohwell:

And yes, it is possible to eat too much even when you are eating 'healthy' food most of the time! :embarassed:

Here's to success in 2012! :drinker:

Sloth_Jog

i started off really well then fell off the wagon big time over christmas and put on the 4lbs i had lost!, really want to get back on track booking my holiday soon so i have 6 months to get rid of the flabby mum tum and bum!:happy:

welcome dlee1234!
I know all about falling off the wagon - you can pretty much see the wagon wheel marks on me!
Sounds like you have a goal and a set amount of time - let's get it!

taylorbrown1792

XD funny thing is I joined last year on the 1st of january and here i am again. Oh deja vu lol. I WONT QUIT THIS TIME!!!

allysonvb

Hey All! I'm so glad we have this group, it fits me well. I have several resolutions for this year:

1. Train for half marathon
2. Lose as much weight as I can with my busy life- I'm more interested in fitness, figure the weight will go with it.
3. Eat out less
4. Not let stress distract me; and don't let my job allow me to lose focus
5. I have some other resolutions, too- but these are the pertinent ones to MFP

I'm in Kentucky- I am excited to be 'back'!

crazybusymara

I am glad to find this group - it sooo describes me!
My goals for 2012:
Exercise more -
Really push myself in Convict Conditioning
Loose 20 pounds by my birthday in June
Be more active with my boys.
Continue to work on internal healing.

crazybusymara

I think that is a great goal - one I am shooting for as well.

mommahix

I was on MFP a while ago but stopped using it when I got pregnant. Now my babies are a year old and it is time for me to lose my tummy!!! My goals are to feel better about myself and to just feel better in general:happy:

yellowrose5321

Can you join if your a drop-out from other programs?? I'm new to MFP, but I've started and stopped several other programs -- some more than once. I had been fairly successful on one in particular, but this past year has had many stresses, and I'm an emotional eater, so now I find myself back at square one.

Just want to set 3 short-term goals to start with:
1) Lose the 30 pounds I put back on since this summer
2) Get back into the habit of exercising regularly
3) Vary my exercise more -- I can walk forever, but my body's become accustomed to it and it doesn't have much effect anymore.

paintergreene

Here we go again!
Lost 14 pounds this summer... and here I am with that 14 pounds plus 8 more.
Ugh!
No more fad dieting. Fewer calories, more exercising.
Love MFP for the accountability it provides.

Sloth_Jog

Welcome to all of you that just joined the group! :flowerforyou:

@yellowrose - of course you can join - this group is not meant to be exclusionary, but rather non-judgemental towards anyone that has either joined before and quit or anyone that has 'fallen off the wagon'. As long as you are okay with some of us falling in that category, of course you can join!

A lot of the other groups are very specific - for Aquarius folks from Denmark that are 9'-0" tall and have 90# to lose - I take no issue with those groups, but I have been concentrating on fitness, not weight loss goals and do not necessarily find it necessary to interact only with people on here that are exactly like myself. :laugh:

Okay former drop-outs, it's Monday, let's steamroll ahead!

yellowrose5321

OK. Started the day 100% ready to go -- finished the day 50-50.

On the good side, I did level 1 of Jillian's 30-day Shred; didn't complete all the reps of some of the exercises, but kept moving (and sweating!) thru the entire workout. Burned about 250 calories.

On the "could-stand-improvement" side, went out to lunch with my daughter. Daily calorie total wasn't horrible, and considerably better than what it's been for the past couple of months, but I did go over the calorie goal I had set for myself.

All in all, since both were an improvement over what I had been doing, I feel good about today. Tomorrow will be an improvement over today -- if I just keep improving everyday, success will come!

Hope all of you had a wonderful, active day!

Sloth_Jog

All in all, since both were an improvement over what I had been doing, I feel good about today. Tomorrow will be an improvement over today -- if I just keep improving everyday, success will come!

^EXACTLY. great job, yellowrose532.

I didn't join any challenges the last time I was on MFP, so I'm partaking in the 'X miles in a Month' Challenge this month.
Though I have to admit that after I quit MFP, I kept exercising. THAT wasn't the problem.
I definitely have room for improvement in the logging department.

yellowrose5321

Logging has always been a problem for me too. I'm on the go a lot and if I just rely on my memory at the end of the day, I tend to "forget" the things I had that weren't on my plan.

I got the phone app for MFP, so now I have no excuse in that department!

paintergreene

I"m good about logging... but horrible with exercising! I hate it... I tell myself just go for a walk... but then find so many excuses not to. I need to get my butt off the couch- literally!

Sloth_Jog

I"m good about logging... but horrible with exercising! I hate it...

Sounds like we have the opposite problem! I am not a fan of exercise but had to find something that I like to do. Who would've known that I don't like to jog unless I can do it outside! :laugh: Maybe not today - it's 17 degrees (F) outside right now. :sick:

allysonvb

I have two questions for everyone here-
First, do you eat your exercise calories? When I was on MFP before, I never did and I was fine. HOwever, now I haven't been and I am HUNGRY- some others I know said I am supposed to eat those calories back for 'fuel'. Thoughts?

Second, I am a person that does not believe that the number on the scale equals wellnes or fitness, so I search for other indicators or progress. Are any of you like that where you don't weigh yourself on a regular basis?

Thanks, group!!!

Sloth_Jog

I always eat back my exercise calories but that because I love eating.
But seriously, I find my daily allotment on the low side (I'm short, but I'm also at a normal BMI.) (I'm on the site again because I'm currently working on some fitness goals.)

My understanding of the whole issue is that if you have more than a few pounds to lose, you can usually get away w/ not eating them all back. However, you want to be sure to be eating enough so that you don't lose muscle mass, which will further slow down your metabolism and even stall your weight loss. I think it becomes more and more crucial to eat them back as you get closer to your goal.

You may already be familiar with these, but I also found these links to be helpful in the past:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

As for your 2nd question: I am also currently focused on non-scale goals (maybe someday i will be able to do a 'real' push-up, complete 1/2 marathon, etc.). I think body measurements, BF% and fitness goals are also great indicators of improvement.

ETA: Sorry if you know all this already - I realize that this could be all Old Hat for you - just trying to be helpful.

allysonvb

Thanks so much! I, like many on those posts, find it hard to believe that I should eat my calories, as I've been successful on many less calories. Maybe my body doesn't have a starvation mode!

I'm with you about the scale. I DO have weight to lose, but I think there are other indicators of my fitness, pal!

yellowrose5321

Second, I am a person that does not believe that the number on the scale equals wellnes or fitness, so I search for other indicators or progress. Are any of you like that where you don't weigh yourself on a regular basis?

I weigh every day, but that's just because I'm a sucker for punishment I only record my weight once a week, and I agree with you that the scale can't tell you whether you're fit or not. I think if a person has medical issues for which weight is an important factor, they should consider what the scale says, but there are other factors that are just as important.

Body fat % and waist/hip ratio are probably more indicative of fitness level than weight (not the BMI -- I abhor the BMI; I know it's easy but it can be SO misleading!) If you've hit a plateau on the scale, but your measurements are still going down, you're still making progress -- just replacing fat weight with muscle weight. The way your clothes fit and just how you honestly feel about the way you look are also just as important as what the scale says.