A look back at 2017 - did you achieve more than you think?

I've been a member of MFP for close to two years now, but didn't consider myself a "Success Story" until today. I was writing this post for a group I belong to and I realised that yes, I actually AM a success! I may not have reached my goal yet, but I have been - and am still being - successful. So I decided to share my thoughts here for everybody.



I thought I'd do a little "2017 roundup", to remind myself that I really did achieve more than it feels like during this past year...!

On January 1st I started the year at 172lbs, 45lbs down from where I started on Jan 11, 2016, and by Jan 19 I'd hit the 50lbs-down mark.

At some point in January I changed my deficit to lose 1/2lb per week rather than 1lb, as the calories had got too low to be sustainable for me.

At the beginning of March, I reached the goal weight that I'd initially set for myself when I started out, and which felt very ambitious at the time - 160lbs. I've revised this goal a couple of times since the start (it's now 140lbs), but back then I thought it would be a miracle if I ever managed to reach 160!

Also in March, I took a maintenance break for 2 weeks.

On April 8, I hit the 60lbs-down milestone.

On April 15, my wedding anniversary, I weighed just 10lbs more than I had on my wedding day back in 1989.

On May 6 I saw a weight that was just under the "overweight" line for the first time - I didn't stay there, and bounced around above that for a few more weeks, but around the beginning of June it settled under and stayed there.

Also in May, I took a three-week maintenance break.

In mid-July, I started a training course that threw me for a bit of a loop and I found it tough to stick to a deficit, so I decided to go to maintenance for the 6-week duration. I enjoyed eating more and was reluctant to go back to restricting...! It wasn't until after my birthday at the beginning of October that I finally went back to a deficit.

On Nov 10, I reached the second goal weight I'd set of 150lbs.

On December 1, I hit the 70lbs-lost landmark.

On Dec 22 I went into another maintenance break for the holidays!

And today, December 31, I'm at 148.5lbs - that's 23.5lbs down over the course of the year. Considering that I had around 4 months of maintenance in there, that's pretty darn close to the 1/2lb per week I was aiming for.

Although I'd been hoping to reach 145lbs by the end of the year, with all the sweets and treats around I had to accept that it probably wasn't going to happen! I did see 145.5 on the 23rd, but I knew it wouldn't stick around.

I'm a little disappointed that I don't have the willpower to resist all the yummy food and treats, but at the same time I think I can be pretty proud of myself for what I have done this year! In the grand scheme of things, 3lbs over the holidays is nothing. That's why I wanted to do this look back at the year, to remind myself of the bigger picture.

I would encourage you guys to do something similar, especially if you feel like you didn't achieve much. Are you a similar weight to when you started the year? Well, maybe that's not so bad! Did you successfully practice maintenance? Did you make improvements in other areas, like strength or speed gains, taking up a new sport or activity, or even something as simple as trying out some new recipes?

Have you been treating yourself kindly, forgiving your mistakes, and accepting that you're human?

Have you been dealing with stresses in your life that might have tried to push you completely off the rails?

Did you feel like giving up and throwing in the towel, but you stuck with it anyway?

If you did fall off the wagon, did you get back on it again?

All of these things are reason to celebrate! Don't wait until you reach your goal weight to tell yourself that you're "successful"... every step you take in the right direction is a success.

Keep on taking those steps in 2018!

Happy New Year, everybody! I wish you everything that you wish for yourself.


[Edited to add a milestone I'd missed out... ]