Jumpstart January 2022 Challenge

baconslave
baconslave Posts: 6,948 Member
Here we are. Another year gone. But a new one is starting, and in keeping with the tradition of a New Year Resolution, I have a challenge for you aiming at helping you KEEP those resolutions this year.
It's the perfect time to Jumpstart your health!

I do go on and on about one B-word. The Basics. Why? Because they're important. It may not be sexy, or catchy, but take it from a person who lost the weight and has kept the majority of it off (Hey! I'm human. It's probably vanity weight, but it offends me with it's existence, alright? :lol: .) Keeping the low-carb basics locked-in is where it's at if you are wanting to actually succeed long-term. Minding the Basics will continue to serve you all the way to your goal weight and will keep you in maintenance.

So what are these Basics?
  • Planning ahead!!!
  • Staying under carbs
  • Staying under calories
  • Logging and measuring
  • Getting in exercise/movement if that's one of your goals
  • Keeping an eye on electrolyte levels
  • Getting enough water
  • Planning ahead!!! Oh, wait. I said that already? Yes, I frickin' did. Because you must! "Failing to plan is planning to fail."

Last month we focused on the basics in an effort to avoid gaining during a hectic time of year. There were lots of treats around. But many of us managed to hit our goals and not gain. Some of us even lost a few pounds, or gained insight into our own patterns when faced with pressure.

Consistency + Persistence + Time = Success

I really can't parrot that cliché formula enough. Because it's true.


Let us know your resolutions, or even just a way you'd like to challenge yourself this month if you aren't much into resolutions. Any low-carb plan is welcome. Just post your monthly goals and/or beginning weight, or if you are just planning to maintain through the month, or have NSVs to achieve, check-in daily or weekly with how well you did.

You can report your progress to your goal, whether it be ultra-obsessive daily hitting your low-carb plan Basics, or working on a fitness goal, or even nailing down other good habits in your life. Anything is fair game as long as it's in pursuit of your health or fitness. And if you have problems or need advice, you'll find that here.



Before you start, think about your goals. For measurable resolutions, we recommend getting a baseline.

Here are some ideas (abridged from @FIT_Goat in this post For Those with New Year Resolutions):
  • Get an average of your most recent weigh-ins for a good idea of your starting weight.
  • Record your food, even if you're estimating. Sure, it will be a little higher in calories/junk due to the holiday season but it will still be better than having nothing.
  • Take body measurements and pictures. To make sure they are accurate, take several sets of measurements and average them. Or watch this video on how to measure yourself so that you are actually measuring the same spots every time. You never need to show/share these with anyone, but you might be surprised how willing you will be to share them when you have success.
  • Make an exercise log and try for your current personal bests (even if they're nothing to be proud of). Again, a starting number is better than nothing. It will show you how much you have achieved.
  • If you're also doing something else (like quitting smoking), the same idea applies. Take a starting measurement, like how many cigs or packs per day. You'll often be shocked at how much growth you make.
Remember changes are often slow and hard to see in the mirror. The scale is lazy and doesn't always readily reflect genuine progress. Measurements and pics will help you really see what's going on behind the scenes. And speaking of invisible progress, how you feel (improved health and/or energy) are great markers that your change is working.

Sooooo...go ahead and introduce yourself and/or post your goals when you are ready. Challenge starts on the 1st.


Here's a sample format for how you can report on various goals if you'd like:
Monday 1/1:

Water: Yep. :flowerforyou:
Electrolytes Good: :flowerforyou:
Logged Food: :flowerforyou:
Exercise as Planned: Strength training :flowerforyou:
At or Under Carb Level: :flowerforyou:
At or Under Calorie Limit: Yes! :flowerforyou:
Planned Day Ahead: Yes! :flowerforyou:
7/7


This is a fresh new year.
Own it.

We'll be here to cheer you on.

Happy New Year and make that resolution stick.





«13456710

Replies

  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 38,512 Member
    Hi there ...My name is Megan and I am re-starting my journey on 1/1/22... I took 2 months off of logging and not working out due to being burned out (I did log today's food and my walk for today ) .. I thought I would be able to do it on my own ...boy was I wrong ... I have been gaining gaining gaining ... Looking forward to a fresh start and seeing what I can do in a full year.. I am excited to get back on Keto ... workout.. and log everything :) My goals are to stay within 5% carbs ... eat more veggies ....drink 120 ounces of water daily ... walk 5 days a week ... use my home gym for 2 days (for now) and get over 10,000 steps
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,948 Member
    Hi there ...My name is Megan and I am re-starting my journey on 1/1/22... I took 2 months off of logging and not working out due to being burned out (I did log today's food and my walk for today ) .. I thought I would be able to do it on my own ...boy was I wrong ... I have been gaining gaining gaining ... Looking forward to a fresh start and seeing what I can do in a full year.. I am excited to get back on Keto ... workout.. and log everything :) My goals are to stay within 5% carbs ... eat more veggies ....drink 120 ounces of water daily ... walk 5 days a week ... use my home gym for 2 days (for now) and get over 10,000 steps

    Welcome back, hon.

    I have been doing the weight loss and then weight maintenance since 2014 and I still cannot lose weight without logging. I can't eyeball anything worth a crap, even though I convince myself I can. So you aren't alone. <3
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,948 Member
    I'll be in here on the 3rd after my birthday weekend is over.
    I'm hitting keto hard and this Quarantine Fluff is going.
    Bye, chub. Won't miss ya.
  • annham
    annham Posts: 3 Member
    Hi
    I ate low carb for years, lost weight and kept my weight stable, slowly it has crept up and up and I have not been successful on my own. I am also in the 50 plus group so fighting my metabolism. My goals are to increase my water, lower my carb and sugar intake and increase my exercise. Weight loss goals are not in numbers right now but more in how I feel and how my clothes feel.

    Ann, Peterborough, ON
  • Americanbabydoll
    Americanbabydoll Posts: 1,255 Member
    Highest Weight 05/22/19: 276.8
    Starting Weight 10/31/21: 258.6

    January Weight 1/1/22: 241.4
    End of Jan Goal 1/31/22: 235.0

    Other goals for each day:
    Stay under 100g carbs:
    Get at least 4,000 steps:
    Eat over 1,000 cals:
    Drink 100 oz water:

    Not really anything to report at this time since I track everything the next day. Just saving my place and saying HI!
  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 38,512 Member
    baconslave wrote: »
    I'll be in here on the 3rd after my birthday weekend is over.
    I'm hitting keto hard and this Quarantine Fluff is going.
    Bye, chub. Won't miss ya.

    Happy Birthday ..Mine was 12/29
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,948 Member
    baconslave wrote: »
    I'll be in here on the 3rd after my birthday weekend is over.
    I'm hitting keto hard and this Quarantine Fluff is going.
    Bye, chub. Won't miss ya.

    Happy Birthday ..Mine was 12/29

    Hey! Happy belated Birthday, Megan! :smile:
  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 38,512 Member
    baconslave wrote: »
    baconslave wrote: »
    I'll be in here on the 3rd after my birthday weekend is over.
    I'm hitting keto hard and this Quarantine Fluff is going.
    Bye, chub. Won't miss ya.

    Happy Birthday ..Mine was 12/29

    Hey! Happy belated Birthday, Megan! :smile:

    Thank you ... I hope you have a great Birthday and Year :)
  • Bloomer723
    Bloomer723 Posts: 4 Member
    Happy New Year Everyone! I have been on/off MFP for the past 7 years. My highest weight has been 232 in 2016 and I lost to 161 in 2017 and did a pretty good job maintaining. I lost my mom in August and she was my bestie, so it's been hard. I've gained 17 pounds over the past year and want to get back on track before "POOF" I've gained it all back. I've got lots of goals, but with so many it seems overwhelming to address all at once, so I'm going to start with just tracking my food while staying within my numbers and drinking water. I'll add from there as tracking becomes more of a habit.

    Lisa
  • NYPhotographer2021
    NYPhotographer2021 Posts: 505 Member
    2022 ~ Day 1 ~ 179.4 lbs

    Starting weight: 8/26/21 - 214 lbs
    9/30/21 - 204.6 lbs
    10/31/21 - 194.0 lbs
    11/30/21 - 185.8 lbs
    12/31/21 - 179.4 lbs

    January 2022 Goals: Get down to 175 or lower
    IF: Yes, 16:8
    Water 65 oz: Yes, 88 oz
    Logging daily: Yes
    At or Under 1450 Calories: Yes, 1300 kcal
    At or Under 30 g of Carbs: No, 34 grams
    64 g of Protein: Yes, 77 grams
    2500 Steps: No, didn't wear my Fitbit
    Daily stretches: Yes
    Check BP: Yes - 131/82 - Hypertension stage 1, Not good.
    Check BG: No, I don't have the supplies yet

    Happy New Year everyone! So first day of the new year. I meant to go for a walk but instead decided to be lazy yet again. But not beating myself up about it. Tomorrow's another day. I'm the same weight as yesterday, but still under my December goal of being under 180 lbs. So that is a win. I've upped my carb goal. I used to be under 20 grams. Although I was able to make it almost every day, it was hard. So I will try 30 grams and see how that goes.

    Happy Birthday @baconslave & @Megan_smartiepants1970 ! Megan, your birthday is the same day as my Mom's!


  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 38,512 Member
    2022 ~ Day 1 ~ 179.4 lbs

    Starting weight: 8/26/21 - 214 lbs
    9/30/21 - 204.6 lbs
    10/31/21 - 194.0 lbs
    11/30/21 - 185.8 lbs
    12/31/21 - 179.4 lbs

    January 2022 Goals: Get down to 175 or lower
    IF: Yes, 16:8
    Water 65 oz: Yes, 88 oz
    Logging daily: Yes
    At or Under 1450 Calories: Yes, 1300 kcal
    At or Under 30 g of Carbs: No, 34 grams
    64 g of Protein: Yes, 77 grams
    2500 Steps: No, didn't wear my Fitbit
    Daily stretches: Yes
    Check BP: Yes - 131/82 - Hypertension stage 1, Not good.
    Check BG: No, I don't have the supplies yet

    Happy New Year everyone! So first day of the new year. I meant to go for a walk but instead decided to be lazy yet again. But not beating myself up about it. Tomorrow's another day. I'm the same weight as yesterday, but still under my December goal of being under 180 lbs. So that is a win. I've upped my carb goal. I used to be under 20 grams. Although I was able to make it almost every day, it was hard. So I will try 30 grams and see how that goes.

    Happy Birthday @baconslave & @Megan_smartiepants1970 ! Megan, your birthday is the same day as my Mom's!


    Congrats on your weight loss so far ... I took 2 months off from logging and I have been gaining gaining gaining .. I am back on Keto as of today ..I ready to take control back and to see what I can accomplish in a full year ....That is awesome that your mom and I share the same birthday ... Happy belated Birthday to your mom :)
  • taylok23
    taylok23 Posts: 818 Member
    New year, new outlook, right? I’m going to focus on a few things this month: increase hydration as I’ve not been drinking as much water while on vacation over the holidays, eat only when hungry (why was this so easy as a kid?), increase my protein and progressively lift heavier weights. I’ll be 48 this year and want to get my eating on track before my hormones get wonky and I hit menopause. I’m well on my way to being in the best shape I’ve ever been in but food could always use some tweaking. And if I lose weight? Bonus!
  • Americanbabydoll
    Americanbabydoll Posts: 1,255 Member
    Highest Weight 05/22/19: 276.8
    Starting Weight 10/31/21: 258.6

    January Weight 1/1/22: 241.4
    End of Jan Goal 1/31/22: 235.0

    Other goals for each day:
    Stay under 100g carbs: 32g
    Get at least 4,000 steps: 5,437
    Eat over 1,000 cals: 1,100
    Drink 100 oz water: 118.3
    1/2/22 241.4 lbs
  • NYPhotographer2021
    NYPhotographer2021 Posts: 505 Member
    2022 ~ Day 2 ~ 176.2 lbs

    Starting weight: 8/26/21 - 214 lbs
    9/30/21 - 204.6 lbs
    10/31/21 - 194.0 lbs
    11/30/21 - 185.8 lbs
    12/31/21 - 179.4 lbs

    January 2022 Goals: Get down to 175 or lower
    IF: Yes, 17:7
    Water 65 oz: Yes, 88 oz
    Vitamins: Yes
    Logging daily: Yes
    At or Under 1450 Calories: Yes, 1310 kcal
    At or Under 30 g of Carbs: Yes, 20 grams
    64 g of Protein: Yes, 82 grams
    2500 Steps: Yes, 3230
    Daily stretches: Yes
    Check BP: Yes - 114/77 - Much better!
    Check BG: No, I don't have the supplies yet
    Sleep: Good - 7hr:17min

    And I got a Whoosh for my efforts yesterday! The lowest I've gotten was 178 on Christmas Eve. So I'm a happy camper today! I've added two more goals - Sleep and vitamins. I'm not a good sleeper. So I think it's a good thing to keep track of. Wore my Fitbit to bed last night so I should know every morning how I did. I wake up a lot during the night. I've also added vitamins. I was very lax on that last week.

    Hope everyone has had a great day!
  • swimmom_1
    swimmom_1 Posts: 1,302 Member
    Hi! I'm Mary from Pennsylvania.
    Back again! Will post weight on Sundays. Sticking with what has been working for me since 5/14/21. 1000-1200 calories/day,
    Net Carbs15 +/- 3 grams(some days actually less), 70+ oz water/day, only 2 meals/day on non work days (I work 4 days/week) and exercise on my non work days (as I work long days).
    UGW-122 lbs
    Down 84.2 lbs of 132 lb goal to lose.

    Oct goal was 10 lbs Almost made it!, loss -9.6 lbs
    Nov goal was 5 lbs Made it, loss -5.6 lbs!
    Dec goal is also 5 lbs, loss so far -5.4 lbs! Made my goal!

    9/14/20-255 lbs Highest weight twice :-(
    5/3/21-240.5 lbs
    6/1/21-228.8 lbs
    7/1/21-222.2 lbs
    8/1/21-212.0 lbs
    9/1/21-200.0 lbs
    10/1/21-191.4 lbs
    11/1/21-181.8 lbs
    12/1/21-176.2 lbs
    12/26/21-165.6 lbs
    12/31/21-168 lbs
    Went out to Texas Roadhouse on on 12/28, behaved except for a few of their rolls (remind me of my Grandma's homemade bread) so I'm sure its water weight from Sodium.

    My January goal is 5 lbs and continue with my diet and exercise up above, that is working great for me. I did 240 minutes on my Elliptical yesterday and today for 16.5 & 16.55 miles.

    1/2/22-168 lbs Still sure it's water weight. And having Pork & Sauerkraut for New Years isn't helping. It will drop eventually.

    @baconslave Thank you for for keeping this thread going. She helped me out from when I first started with MFP in May 2021, to understand better the LC WOE. And you can see it's working for me.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,948 Member
    swimmom_1 wrote: »
    Hi! I'm Mary from Pennsylvania.
    Back again! Will post weight on Sundays. Sticking with what has been working for me since 5/14/21. 1000-1200 calories/day,
    Net Carbs15 +/- 3 grams(some days actually less), 70+ oz water/day, only 2 meals/day on non work days (I work 4 days/week) and exercise on my non work days (as I work long days).
    UGW-122 lbs
    Down 84.2 lbs of 132 lb goal to lose.

    Oct goal was 10 lbs Almost made it!, loss -9.6 lbs
    Nov goal was 5 lbs Made it, loss -5.6 lbs!
    Dec goal is also 5 lbs, loss so far -5.4 lbs! Made my goal!

    9/14/20-255 lbs Highest weight twice :-(
    5/3/21-240.5 lbs
    6/1/21-228.8 lbs
    7/1/21-222.2 lbs
    8/1/21-212.0 lbs
    9/1/21-200.0 lbs
    10/1/21-191.4 lbs
    11/1/21-181.8 lbs
    12/1/21-176.2 lbs
    12/26/21-165.6 lbs
    12/31/21-168 lbs
    Went out to Texas Roadhouse on on 12/28, behaved except for a few of their rolls (remind me of my Grandma's homemade bread) so I'm sure its water weight from Sodium.

    My January goal is 5 lbs and continue with my diet and exercise up above, that is working great for me. I did 240 minutes on my Elliptical yesterday and today for 16.5 & 16.55 miles.

    1/2/22-168 lbs Still sure it's water weight. And having Pork & Sauerkraut for New Years isn't helping. It will drop eventually.

    @baconslave Thank you for for keeping this thread going. She helped me out from when I first started with MFP in May 2021, to understand better the LC WOE. And you can see it's working for me.

    You are doing so great. I just pointed you in the right direction. You've done all the rest.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,948 Member
    edited January 2022
    Ok.
    Goals...lose the weight I packed on from March -October 2020 that I still haven't managed to get serious enough to shed. I need to get hardcore on it. So here we go. I'll weigh in the morning.

    Just putting this here for me to c&p tomorrow:


    Monday 1/3:

    Water:
    Electrolytes:
    Logged Food:
    Exercise as Planned:
    At or Under Carb Level:
    At or Under Calorie Limit:
    Planned Day Ahead:
    0/7
  • Ringbearer2
    Ringbearer2 Posts: 592 Member
    Well, after an eventful yet stressful Oct-Dec during which I was crap about sticking to my program and culminating in a 2 week carbapalooza of hyper palatable food while in the US, I’m ready to take the 11 pound hit, put guilt behind me, and get on it for 2022. Also, I lost my Garmin on the plane and am bereft and mad as hell I need to buy a new one, but I do need it.

    So…

    January goals

    ❄️ Get back on the keto wagon 50 grams of carbs or less (this works for me)
    ❄️ 10,000 steps outside of exercise
    ❄️ Minimum of 30 minutes structured exercise 5 days a week. I’ll start with Leslie as I don’t need to overthink it

    I think 3 goals is plenty for my reset.

    Wishing us all much success!,


  • Ringbearer2
    Ringbearer2 Posts: 592 Member
    Happy Birthdays to @Megan_smartiepants1970 and @baconslave !
  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 38,512 Member
    Well, after an eventful yet stressful Oct-Dec during which I was crap about sticking to my program and culminating in a 2 week carbapalooza of hyper palatable food while in the US, I’m ready to take the 11 pound hit, put guilt behind me, and get on it for 2022. Also, I lost my Garmin on the plane and am bereft and mad as hell I need to buy a new one, but I do need it.

    So…

    January goals

    ❄️ Get back on the keto wagon 50 grams of carbs or less (this works for me)
    ❄️ 10,000 steps outside of exercise
    ❄️ Minimum of 30 minutes structured exercise 5 days a week. I’ll start with Leslie as I don’t need to overthink it

    I think 3 goals is plenty for my reset.

    Wishing us all much success!,


    We are in this together ... Let's show 2022 who is boss .... We got this :)