John here from Texas , new to this group and mfp.
Goal to lose 70-80 lbs

Count me in, aiming to start the New Year strong

Hi!!! I am new to the group but excited to be here

Hello! I'm new, and this is exactly what I need!! Last year I survived. I got COVID in February and it messed me up for a very long time with my diabetes. This New Year, I'm going to THRIVE!!

Hi, I’m Nan from Scotland and new to this challenge.
Looking forward to trying to meet the exercise and sticking to the calories for Me.

Hello, this is my third month of trying the UAC. The second half of December I didn’t post much. I am encouraged by the daily posts and that is why I signed up for another month.
I started my weight loss journey in July of 2019 with Noom. I am still with Noom. I signed up for MFP because my dietitian has helped me. At the end of 2020 I was down 80 pounds. 2021 I gained weight and have maintained a 65 pound loss.
My goal for 2022 is to lose 20 more pounds.

Hello everyone! My name is Chris, hailing from Kansas, USA.

My health journey started in 2007 with a focus on reigning in cholesterol and diabetes based on whatever the science at that time showed most promising results for those conditions, which led me to adopting a whole foods plant based diet.

I was a bit "too" militant at first, which I actually intended, as my thinking was that I was taking on a "diet" and that if I could just "lose 100 pounds in one year" I would make such a huge impact on my cholesterol and diabetes, and then could just simply lead a more reasonable lifestyle afterwards. While this militant approach resulted in me losing over 60 pounds and also quickly corrected my cholesterol and A1C numbers, the actual end result was burnout.

On the upside I learned a LOT about the benefits of whole foods which has stuck with me even through today. Over the next few years I ate less and less healthy, even going through a few years of eating like a "F#&$@! idiot", and eventually gained all that weight back and had to start again!

I lost that weight again in 2014 focusing on both diet as well as exercise in the form of running, with the peak of my running being running 3 full marathons in a 30 day span (Marathon Maniac #12019). My diet was a less militant but very much "whole foods mostly plant based".

An injury (which is still haunting me) ultimately stopped that level of running and I switched to strength focused exercise, building muscle, which led me to a "Primal Diet" which was not much different from how I was already eating, just with higher protein, which I found success with.

After basically walking away from fitness in 2019 (too busy, etc), I was still eating similarly, but wound up gaining all my weight back by early 2021. I was eating healthy, but obviously overeating and the lack of exercise did not help. (ETA: Also drinking, drank a whole lot in 2020, which is likely most to blame and didn't help a freaking thing)

So I started again in 2021, this time spreading the exercise focus across running and strength (as well as balance and mobility) and in order to speed the fat loss along I set my diet to ketosis using a whole foods based "primal influenced" diet with a goal of fewer than 30g net carbs/day. This ketosis was only meant to last while I lost weight, not he my diet "for life". It worked very well for me, dropping over 60 pounds and also getting the most healthy blood labs in cholesterol and A1C since starting all this back in 2007.

Ok, great, so what makes this time any more special? I found this place.

Seriously!

Look, while I can clearly plan a diet and exercise regimen which I can personally follow to lose weight, get fit, move my blood labs to healthy ranges, etc, what I lacked all this time was the ability to "stick with it". While each period resulted in better long term eating habits for me, if left to my own devices I will eventually overeat and stop exercising at some point (maybe injury, maybe too busy). I still suffer from some condition that causes all that to be allowed to come undone

This challenge is the antidote to that condition.

I'm currently in such a strange transitional period where in the past I might have walked away. My plantar fasciitis has come back hard this year, taking away running again, and for that matter even walks have been on hiatus since October (it's a beast this time around, but I am treating it). This place has helped me stay on track with exercise, which is now strength focused out of necessity. Thank you UAC!

I've also decided that it is time to transition out of ketosis since my cardio is essentially out the window at this time. I'll be switching back to a whole foods mostly plant based primal type diet in January. UAC will help keep me on track for this change as well!

The biggest lesson I have learned since 2007 is that setbacks only happen when I stop watching what I eat, or tracking how much I eat, or stop exercising. Usually after quitting all three! This challenge is exactly the sort of thing to prevent such a thing from happening. All I have to do is continue doing what I would normally do, but then also check in here with my progress. Even if I had to take a pass day, by checking in here it makes me remember how far I've come, how hard I literally busted my butt to get here, what happens when I quit, and how hard it is to come back each time. And I'm not getting any younger so I have ever fewer opportunities!

A healthy life is being healthy for life! Not just for one month. That's how this place helps me the most. It is beyond each month. It's the day to day accountability that wins over any month, or year even. That's the biggest lesson I learned, sticking with it. This place gives you that opportunity to do something to keep you focused on your health goals even on the days you missed, by simply checking in.

I look forward to a healthier January 2022 and beyond with all of you!

Hi! I started in this challenge in August just in time to catch covid and end up in the hospital to which they found a large tumor, I named him Norm. Had Norm removed December 15th. Praise the Lord it was a benign lipoma in a very rare spot in the body. I want this year to be a rebirth of sorts. I want all the struggle of the past to fall away and let me fly. I just have a long recovery still ahead before I can get back to serious business for lifting. I already have plans to learn how to figure skate. I also have plans to dive the Chazawiska River in March. I can not wait to see how far I go once this belly is mended back together!