In One Year From Now.......(Challenge)

[divaindubai]

Hey all,

I've been doing a lot of thinking and have decided that I would like to post this thread here in the challenge forum.

Its been taking me a while now to lose this weight, for different reasons, although now I feel myself motivated than ever before to lose this weight.
A co-worker said something to me yesterday while at work, and it kind of made me think and realize, and once I did this I got even more excited.

For instance,

I'm around 250 lbs at the moment, and my ultimate goal weight is around 130 - 140 lbs. That means I have around 120 lbs to go (OUCH!! ). Seems like a helluva lot when I think of it like that. I have full faith in the Atkins WOE and everything and I know if I keep my exercise up and even increase to better lengths of time more often (i.e. 45 mins - 1 hour a day instead of 30 minutes per day), then I know I wlil also get better and quicker results.

This challenge... In One Year From Now....

I challenge myself to be down to at least 180 lbs by this time next March (2007).

250 - 180 = 70 lbs

70 lbs / 12 months = 5.8 lbs per month at least! or 2.6 kgs!

I can do this! This is a realistic goal for me that I know I can reach. 5.8 lbs a month?? heck... That's about 1.4 lbs a month. Easy Peasy I'm sure!

So that is what this challenge is about. Setting goals that we know we can reach and are easily attainable. I'm sure I will lose more than 70 pounds this year, hopefully, but by this time next year I want to be down to 180. Even below 200 pounds will be awesome. ( 250 - 200 = 50 50 / 12 = 4.16 lbs per month).

Where do you want to be for sure in a year from now? (where you know you will be satisfied with those results and perhaps you want to lose more than this goal, but this one year goal is a good target) It might be half the amount of weight you want to lose, it might be all of the weight you want to lose, but whatever it is, you know you will feel proud of yourself in one year's time.

There hope that explains this challenge! If you have any more suggestions, comments or just simply want to join me, then please post away!!

[Sheshy]

Re: In One Year From Now.......(Challenge)

Hi Diva,

I just wanted to pop in and say Hi and great job writting down your goal! And I like the idea of your range (200-180) ... that awesome!

[Mary-chan]

Re: In One Year From Now.......(Challenge)

Hey Diva! 70 pounds in one year is a great goal and I KNOW you can do it!! One year from now you will be feeling incredible!!

I always loved that saying, I forget who's signature I read it in, that says "a year from now you will wish you had started today". So true, time passes us by so quickly, so before we know it, it will be another year and we will be even healthier then we are today!!

This last year I was working so hard to lose 10 pounds each month, but as my weight lowered that goal was harder and harder to reach and I got pretty discouraged. From now on, I won't care about the speed I lose, but only the direction the scale is moving!! Slow and steady wins the race, right!


Your thread got me wondering about what my long term goals are, too. I've been working so hard just to get where I am that I haven't thought about long term in a while. I remember when I was at my heaviest I thought to myself "I'd be happy just to be at 180 again!!" But now that I'm almost there I realize I would still like to lose more. I don't care if I'm ever insanely thin and I don't care if I never look good in a bakini, but I definitely need to keep losing..

It's hard since I've never really been below 180, I don't know what I will be happy with. My original goal was 162, but I think with another year's time I can get there and even lower if I don't screw up. I guess maybe 145 would be realistic for me? I've kept my goal at 162 because anything lower seems kind of intimidating for me, but I guess I should work on that.

I also need a new motivating factor for me. When I first started, I just wanted to feel "normal" and get my blood sugar and health in control, have my feet stop hurting all the time, and be able to ride roller coasters and put the trade-table down in airplanes, etc.. Well I've reached almost all those goals so it's a little harder to focus. Also, I would keep picturing myself at my wedding and that helped motivate me. I need something that will help put a mental image in my mind of where I want to be!! I have no idea where I'll be a year from now so it's been hard to think of one..

Okay, sorry for the babbling just trying to work things out in this screwed up head of mine!! Let's say my goal is to be 145 by my 27th birthday (May 6, 2007) and maintain that weight. That means I have about 40 pounds to lose this year. Not too daunting, gives me a little elbow room so I'm not constantly mentally torturing myself with what the scale says! I would love to be a size 10 or 12. Hard to imagine what that will feel like!!!

I think the hardest part will be the maintenance. Even after a year, It's still hard to convince myself this is a way of life and not a "diet" per se. But I will get there!! I think more important than HOW low I go is making sure I don't just give up and gain all my weight back, which has happened every time before!!! Even if I'm still around 180 next year there will be some measure of success!

How will this challenge work? Is it just to figure out our goals, or will we be posting on it throughout the next year? Either way it was good just to think about and write down my goals for the year

[divaindubai]

Re: In One Year From Now.......(Challenge)

Thank you Shelly! {{hugs}} your support means a lot!


Mary-chan, {{hugs}} First, I cannot believe your wedding is soooo close! That is really awesome! Thanks for stopping by this thread and I'm excited that you are thinking of joining this challenge with me.

I think that you have done soo awesomely this past year that you've been here at ADBB and you definitely had a great goal in mind and a very motivating one too (your wedding!). I wish I had been more faithful to myself and this WOE last year when I first joined ADBB, but different things and excuses came in the way. I'm goig through a bit of an "off the wagon" period at the moment, probably doing this WOE about 90%, and trying to get my exercise back up again to what I was doing for 6 weeks (30 minutes a day about 6 days a week, and I can see nice results!). SO my immediate goal is to get myself back on the wagon 100% and get my exercise even more frequently and mostly longer duration of time each day (45 minutes - 1 hour!). I am sure if I work my butt off this year I can lose at least 70 pounds. If I lose more than all the more power to me.

So it is actually motivating when we make goals that we know we can do with minimal restrictions, and we feel good about ourselves when we reach our goals. I guess I basically want to give myself a nice year of working hard and achieving my attainable goal of 70 lbs.

Sorry that this post is mostly about me, but I did read your response and I'm sure you can lose 40 lbs within the next year! I'm sure you will look great with 40 more lbs off, but you already look great now!

We can post on this thread maybe at least once a month? to keep up with our yearly goal, what do you think about that idea?

[yankee]

Re: In One Year From Now.......(Challenge)

I'm afraid to think long term. Every day is such a struggle right now. Today was good, better than yesterday, but if I think of tomorrow I panic. My long term goal is to never weigh my highest weight again, to never gain back permanently the pounds I've managed to lose these past nine months. Is 45 pounds in not quite a year great? For me, yes it is! Could it be better? Yes it could! So I go from day to day and when one year from now comes I will look back and see how I did......

Teri

[Mary-chan]

Re: In One Year From Now.......(Challenge)

Thank you Shelly! {{hugs}} your support means a lot!


Mary-chan, {{hugs}} First, I cannot believe your wedding is soooo close! That is really awesome! Thanks for stopping by this thread and I'm excited that you are thinking of joining this challenge with me.

I think that you have done soo awesomely this past year that you've been here at ADBB and you definitely had a great goal in mind and a very motivating one too (your wedding!). I wish I had been more faithful to myself and this WOE last year when I first joined ADBB, but different things and excuses came in the way. I'm goig through a bit of an "off the wagon" period at the moment, probably doing this WOE about 90%, and trying to get my exercise back up again to what I was doing for 6 weeks (30 minutes a day about 6 days a week, and I can see nice results!). SO my immediate goal is to get myself back on the wagon 100% and get my exercise even more frequently and mostly longer duration of time each day (45 minutes - 1 hour!). I am sure if I work my butt off this year I can lose at least 70 pounds. If I lose more than all the more power to me.

So it is actually motivating when we make goals that we know we can do with minimal restrictions, and we feel good about ourselves when we reach our goals. I guess I basically want to give myself a nice year of working hard and achieving my attainable goal of 70 lbs.

Sorry that this post is mostly about me, but I did read your response and I'm sure you can lose 40 lbs within the next year! I'm sure you will look great with 40 more lbs off, but you already look great now!

We can post on this thread maybe at least once a month? to keep up with our yearly goal, what do you think about that idea?

Thanks for the supporting words and encouragement I KNOW you will acheive your goal!! And even if you've been struggling, 90% is better then 0%.. every little bit we do adds up in the end!

I've been struggling lately too, I was on/off the wagon for 3 weeks in February, and it resulted in me gaining about 10 pounds It happens to us all, unfortunately.. BUT I've been "good" for the last 6 days straight and have lost half of what I gained, so I'm feeling a little more in control. it's still so frustrating when you have to re-lose what you've already lost. But I keep telling myself.. it happens and all we can do is learn from our experience and move on. Anyway that was February, this is march

I like the idea of posting at least once a month. How about we promise to catch up with each other on the First of the month, at the very least? I'm positive that you will do just great!

yankee - I know what you mean about it sometimes being a minute-to-minute challenge. For myself, it really helps to look down the road to remember why I'm pushing myself so hard to begin with. Gotta go with what motivates you personally. Goodluck with your goals and I know you will succeed!

My goal for April First is to at least be back to where I was before I started gaining - around 178. I will work as hard as I can to try to achieve my goal, but I promise myself if I am not where I want to be, I will not beat myself up for it!!

Woohoo, we can do this!!

[Mary-chan]

Re: In One Year From Now.......(Challenge)

Well it's April 3rd today. I had a very bumpy month!! Been on and off and on and off and on and off!! But the important thing is I haven't given up! It's amazing to me how slow it is to lose and fast it is to gain - I got up to a high of 195 this month and am currently around 186. So it sucks that I am not where I wanted to be - but at least I am still hanging on somewhat!! I know the reasons why I've been screwing up - major stress!!!!!!! Things should be back to normal in a month or so, and I am not giving up!!

Anyway hope you're doing great!! Hope you're reading the boards and come by to check in

Next month's weight is going to be high I know, so I'm not going to set a goal for the beginning of May. I intend to enjoy my wedding and honeymoon. I have worked been looking forward to it for so long that I plan to make the most of it!!

So my goal for next month is to check in here, weigh myself, and then get back on track losing what I'm sure to gain this month!!!!

Sending good thoughts your way!!

[yankee]

Re: In One Year From Now.......(Challenge)

Good Morning Mary-chan! Only three weeks till your wedding and they are going to fly by! What an exciting time! Your approach to changing your way of eating and having it fit your life instead of rearranging life to fit the eating plan continues to inspire me.
I've been on again off again, trying always, still on the SLOW but downward trend on that scale. Your post served to remind me about this thread and to keep my eyes on the long-term goal.
Thanks Mary!

Teri

[Mary-chan]

Re: In One Year From Now.......(Challenge)

Good Morning Mary-chan! Only three weeks till your wedding and they are going to fly by! What an exciting time! Your approach to changing your way of eating and having it fit your life instead of rearranging life to fit the eating plan continues to inspire me.
I've been on again off again, trying always, still on the SLOW but downward trend on that scale. Your post served to remind me about this thread and to keep my eyes on the long-term goal.
Thanks Mary!

Teri

Thank you, Teri, that is very sweet!! It's hard to feel inspirational at all when I keep screwing up like I've been doing. But I KNOW that after my honeymoon I am going to return to this way of life and get to goal!! I'm so happy that your scale is still on the downward trend even if it is going slowly!! Mine has been a total rollercoaster lately.. Just trying to do damage control at this point.. Can't wait until the pressure is off and I can go back to losign weight for my HEALTH more then how I will look in my wedding pics

EDIT

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