Here goes... It's the beginning of a new year, bringing with it any number of goals and wishes. There's something about starting a weight loss regimen in January that I don't like. It's probably the connotation of broken New Year's resolutions, newly purchased gym memberships and workout clothes that go to waste... It seems January is the brightest of the months, with the bleakest future.
Now I've never been one for New Year's resolutions, which might be a good thing, because it implies I don't have too many bad habits. But this year I'm making one and I intend to see it through.
For anyone who hasn't read my intro in the newcomers section, I'll give it to you in a nutshell. I'm a 21 year old female. I'm a third year Nursing student, which makes me a bit of a health geek, so beware giving me unhealthy advice! Haha. I started university in 2003 and have gained about 20lbs since then, going from 150-170 in less than 4 years. My goal is to lose all that 20lbs and return to my previous 150lbs. I'm a fairly tall girl (5'6") with a naturally curvy figure and a lot of muscle, so I looked good at 150, despite what the BMI (or should I say, BSI) might try to tell me.
I intend to lose 3-5 lbs per month, reaching my goal weight of 150 by Jan 1, 2008. I want to lose the weight by diet modification and increasing exercise. At the present time, the only thing I intend to cut out altogether is potato chips. I don't eat them much, but when I do it's usually my boyfriend and I watching a movie and finishing off an entire big bag. I want to cut back on the amount of restaurant eating I do, and decrease my food portions overall. Exercise won't be a problem, since I walk everyday as is and I have a gym membership at my school every semester. The term starts on Monday, so I'm going to start by going to the gym for an hour twice a week, and working out with my workout DVDs at home twice a week. We'll see how that goes and I'll make changes as I see necessary. With help from all of you, of course!
I'm very excited about this forum. I thank each of you in advance for you help. I wish you the best with your goals. I intend to make an entry in this once a week, but it may be more since I think I'll like it. Haha Hope to hear from you all soon!

SunnyDee

Hey, welcome to the forum

Hi SunnyDee,
Welcome to the WLF and good for you for starting a diary!

Your goals are very attainable and you have a good plan in place I look forward to following your journey as you reach your goal!

My first day of the new semester is over! Feels kind of good to be back to school for some reason. I guess after the madness of the holidays, I feel as though I need some routine again.

I ended up getting a cold over the weekend, which I'm quite angry about! But it started Friday night and seems to be clearing up already. I intended to go to the gym today, but as I was walking to school, blowing my nose every couple of minutes I thought it might be a bad (and sort of gross) idea. So I'll probably just do some Tae-Bo. That way I can give up when I need to, without looking like a doof. Haha

My boyfriend and I had a near moment of weakness last night. We were watching TV and a commercial came on showing some guy eating Cheezies. And we both realised we REALLY wanted Cheezies! But we resisted and ate a few raisins instead. Yay us! lol Despite the fact that I've been doing great food-wise, I was still 170 when I weighed today. I'm not going to start feeling bad about it though because I'm keeping my goal in mind: 3-5 lbs per month. I still have until the 31st to reach 167 and meet my goal for this month.

Thanks again for the encouragement. Keep it coming! Best wishes to all of you once again. Keep loving and taking care of yourselves.

Congreatulations on your nursing, thats so cool! and good luck with your weight loss, im sure you will do great!!!

Thanks a lot

Welcome..... yea that tv will get you..... I never noticed so many food ads lol...

Hey good for you for resisting temptation - it's amazing how good tv commercials do their jobs!

sounds like an achievable goal and realistic goals which is very important... I hope to continue to see you post in your journal.. whenever I feel like someone thinks I'm going to quit I usually work harder at it, cause I love to prove people wrong.. so if ever you feel someone or other people think your going to quit, just prove them wrong, lol
Remember think long term... short term things give you short term results... and long term things give you long term results... I know you probably know this, but its good to have a reinforcement... hope to hear from you soon

Good morning SunnyDee - I hope your day goes well!

Good advice. Thanks for the support! It means a lot.

I'm getting pretty ticked off about the gym. I go to the gym pretty often, sometimes I'll miss a week or two, if school gets hectic. But generally I'm a gym-goer. And I absolutely hate it in January! It always goes back to normal by mid-February, which is actually sort of sad. The other day I ended up not going on any cardio equipment at all, and just going around the track and doing a few resistance things. And yesterday I just got fed up and didn't bother doing anything there. We have a sign-up board for cardio equipment and it's unbelieveable how long the waits are! Yesterday it was 2hrs and 20mins! People sign up before class, and then come back after class to get on the machines. I can't do that because my classes are at the Health Sciences Centre, which is on the opposite side of campus. Booo! Anyway, I made up for it by going for an hour walk with Matt (my boyfriend) last night. It started to snow while we were out, and I woke up this morning to 15 cm! There was no snow on the ground before that. Arrgghh!
So I'm going to have to revamp my exercise plans to include 45 mins of cardio 4 times a week. Rather than saying 2 days have to be at the gym and 2 days at home. So that can be at the gym, at home with my videos, or walking/running outside. I think it will actually be a lot easier to stick to that, especially now that the winter weather has come.
I'm weighing tomorrow! Oh dear! Wish me luck! I wanna see a 6, not a 7 in that number! Everybody wish for 160s for me! I'm off to do some Tae-Bo. Thanks again for all the nice comments.

Hi SunnyDee!!

sounds like we have a lot in common. I'm also 21, put on A LOT of weight in my first and second year of uni, and this is the year I fix it for good, so I can look gorgous in my graduation pics, and for a long time after!!!!

I went from 140lbs to almost 170lbs in a year, and my goal now is to eventually (by graduation) get down to 125 which is the weight I feel best at, and have not been since about a year before uni!!

I like the lots of little goals thing you're aiming for, and well done for sticking to them already!!

Kez

168! Yay Out of the 170s. There's a start! Went for another nice walk last night and just a short one today. I'm going out with some girlfriends tonight, but I've told them in advance that there will be no diet-breaking! I'm so proud of myself for resisting food temptations and staying active this week.

Wow well done that must feel great!