2008- review your year!

What were your weight goals for 2008, and did you achieve them? what did you learn this year that you will take with you going forward into 2009? and what goals do you have for the upcoming year?

for me, my goal was to lose 22lbs (10 kgs) & I have lost 23 lbs thus far. I started off at 207.2 lbs, and now weigh 184.1. I am just under 5'9".

I have learned to look at my weight loss over 2 months, or even more, and not on a day to day or even weekly level, as sometimes I would go 6-8 weeks trying hard but losing nothing. then I would drop 2-3 lbs and then nothing again for a few weeks. This no longer discourages me, but encourages me to be persistent and know that hard works pays off eventually.

I've also learned that it's no use eating less than my body needs in the hope of speeding up my weight loss, but rather to eat what I need to have the energy to exercise, be active, and enjoy my life rather than making the focus of every day what I'm going to eat. I've learned to be flexible. to eat the chocolate if it's what I feel like! because feeling deprived isn't how I want to live!

most importantly, I've learned that I don't have to wait until I reach a magical number on the scale to be happy with myself. I think I am beautiful now, even though I might have bigger hips than I would like. I've learned to embrace who I am now and choose to be content. Weight loss is important or my health's sake, but it has no bearing on my satisfaction with life.

Going forward, this year I'd like to lose 24lbs to take me to my goal of 160lbs.

share your story, the ups and downs and let's all be encouraged!

Reviewing my year is like reviewing a war... an ongoing one.

It was bleak, it was violent, there were casualties on both sides and the end looks no where in sight.

Everyone said it would be over by christmas...

The weight loss front was gaining ground around august, but the junk food tirrade rose up and beat the allied forces of diet and exercise down.

To bring in a end of year with only a stone of weight loss occuring.

still... I cna't complain too much, I did lost something, 14lbs this yeah... thats over a pound a month. lol.

I do hope to do better next year though!!!

as I am off to university next year, I would like to buy a whole new (slimmer) wardrobe as the cupboard provided it ever so small in the dorm rooms. lol.

I learned I can do it, I can work out heard, I can push myself... I just need to push a little harder adn fora  longer time next year!

2008 was a good year for me.  Most importantly my family is well and my work life is on track.  Weight wise I've lost almost 20 lbs and hope to lose my last 5 - 6 pounds by Spring.  I've been maintaining since August and am pretty happy with the results. 

Well, im a thirteen year old boy...

I started the year at a seriously overweight 65kg.

Nearly a year later im here at 48kg... finished my weight loss last month and have been maintaining ever since. I have learned all the healthy foods i like and cook almost every meal (apart  from school)

I was always... lets say, fat.

but now i am The average weight for my age and will NEVER be able to go back to my old eating ways...

To sum it up.. 2008 was a year for me to remember when i grow up, it was when i changed my life around.  

My goal for 2008 was just to lose weight in general. I didnt assign a number because to be honest, I never really thought I would ever reach my goal. However, I have lost close to 60 lbs. My goal for 2009 is to lose 25 lbs more and actually be at a healthy weight and be 10 lbs under the goal I had in mind last year.

This year, I have learned how to not diet, but how to live a healthier lifestyle. I now exercise so that I can lose weight while still eating and enjoying food. I have also learned to enjoy and crave foods that I never did before. Example, before I couldnt eat no more than 2 bites of an apple or banana. Now, I could (and have) ate 4 apples in a day because I enjoy them so much. I also hated lettuce and now I order a ceaser salad instead of fries when I eat out. I know some people on CC would consider my diet to be the healthiest, but compared to where I was last year, I have made huge improvements that I am proud of!

2008 had its up and downs...I've been battling binge eating throughout the year..and have had periods of being free throughout the year but I think I've finally kicked its butt.  It's been over 2 weeks since my last binge and I haven't had a two week mark in months! 2008 is ending on a good note. My goal for 2009 is to sign up and complete either a triathalon, half-marathon, or 10k...its all going to depend on whether or not I get a gym membership for christmas.

January 2008 I started "dieting" for the first time in my life. Unfortunately, it was before finding this site, and I thought that the best way to lose was an "under 1000 cal" diet. Most days I had 950, others only 750, and I was drinking nearly 4L of water daily. In the first week I lost 5 pounds. Then I treated myself for my hard work by having the buffet at Pizza Hut. Over the next few days I ate and ate until I had the 5 back again.

In February, hubby and I started a weight loss competition to see how could lose X amount of weight first. In March I found this site. I set a goal to lose 10lbs. The most I've lost is 6 (done it a few times), and I've gone back up to my start weight at least 6 times.

As of this morning I am down a total of 3lbs from my starting weight. Not so good. But I have learned how to do it (just need to kick myself in the butt and do it!), I've also learned about BF% and how it plays into it. I'm eating healthier than any other time in my life.

Even if I never get these few more lbs off, I'm glad I found the site, as it's given me lots of info, friends, and perspective over the past year!

While I wanted to lose weight, my real goal was to feel healthy which I have been doing. It's a long, drawn out story but I have taken care of some major problems and other things are finally falling into place. Not a very interesting answer but I'm pretty proud of my progress this year in a lot of aspects of my life.

This year I realized that I am not alone!  I am not the only person on the planet who feels fat, frustrated, disappointed, angry, happy, ecstactic, overwhelmed, confused, triumphant, and defeated in the same week.

My body and I have bonded this year.  I know when to listen to it, and it respects me for that.  2009 will be an even better year for all of us!  Keep on, keepin' on!

my goals for this year were to lose weight and to quit smoking for good.  well, i quit smoking for about 6 months out of this year and started again in sept.  but on this past friday (3+ days so far) I had my last one (again) and hope to quit for life this time.  Also, I didn't lose weight all year up until Sept (before starting smoking again) and I started getting motivated and since then I've lost 17 pounds.  Just a half a pound from my goal weight and I feel amazing about the way this year is turning out.  I also got out of my awful horrible job and into a great one where everyone is super nice and i'm stress free.  This has been a very good year to look back on.  I hope to maintain my current weight (or a few pounds lighter) next year and keep up my other recent cessation goal. 

Simply weight wise, 2008 was a struggle.. I started the year underweight with a goal of gaining, goal weight being 112lbs. I did achieve this but developed a tendency to binge which I have found hard to battle with all year, gaining a further 8lbs or so. However in the last couple of months I've made tons of progress, so it hasn't all been bad. Also I realize that 8lbs isn't worth stressing over (which took some time, because at first it seemed like a mammoth amount of weight.. I now realize it's not.)

I don't have any weight goals for 2009 but I want to aim to be more positive (about everything, not just diet etc.) and take care of myself, stop obsessing so much.. Something I should have decided to do this time last year but I probably wasn't ready. 

I remained stagnant this year floating between 250 and 260 with a few drops under 250. Overall this year was a failure. It's really crappy fighting over the last 1/3 after losing the first 125ish without too much struggle.

Goal: I have a wedding in Nov and must not be a tubbly wubbly for it. 70 lbs in 6 months is goal. 

2008 has had plenty of ups and downs for me...started at 200. lost 15, passed my PT test, went into celebration mode and realized after gaining it all back that i have to get back on the wagon. i know what to do and have the tools to do it so i just have to get my butt back in gear. i am confident that 2009 will be successful for me weight wise. so overall, the only goal i really achieved for 2008 was passing my pt test but now i need to start over :-(

2008 was the year I got serious!  I told myself that I was not going to go to pot at this young age, I was not going to wait until later to be the person I have always wanted to be, and I am not going to feel like a work in progress or make excuses anymore!  So I began the year with the goal to be "HOT BY 25!"  I wanted to lose 35-40 pound by my 25th birthday, because if I can't be hot at 25, I'm never gonna be!!

And I did it!  I reached my goal weight exactly 1 week before my birthday and I felt amazing.

Also this year I have focused on fitness, incorporating a varied workout routine, pushing myself, and even taking up running and "racing" in my first 5k!  I'm very proud of that, too.

My goals for the next year are to maintain, of course.  I want to find out how I am at this weight - how I feel, what I can do, what my muscles should look like... I want to be healthy and not go overboard...I want to obsess less over calories.  I want to become stronger.  I want to keep at running...maybe even try for a half marathon next fall?  Mostly, I want to learn to listen to my body.  I have learned to love my body and I want to care for it as best I can.

Hmm 2008....

Started out in a not-so-good state of mind.

I was fit, but bored, lonely, broke and down in a city I hated with not too many friends, missing my family and London.

Then in Feb, I met a new guy.

Things started okay. We then went through a rocky patch where we both had our doubts...but the back end of the year (Aug-Now) everything is LOADS better. I got a pay rise, new flatmate, job got slightly more challenging/interesting (though I could work MUCH harder) and things with the guy are now sweet.

I also joined a gym after my bike was stolen and I now remember just how much I love exercise : )

So I'm ending the year in quite a good place and frame of mind.

2009 - I will be 30!

I get my own flat in January but I also Must learn to drive (got to suck it up - HATE driving btw)

Weight wise - Get to 140lb and maintain : )

Next autumn I will need to find a new job, but I'll deal with that when it comes lol

Good luck to you all x

2008 has been good. I am healthier then I've been in a long time and managed to lose a lot of weight. I started here in December at 193 lbs. I had exploded gaining rapidly for the past 2 years prior and am finally back down to 155 give or take a lb or two from week to week.

I am 28 and have had my ups and downs my entire life.

I lost a total of 38lbs! I lost about 25 or those lbs in the first 6 months and have lost the last 10 a lot slower. I have been maintaining for the most part since June.

My ultimate goal was 135 (which I hope to achieve in 2009). But I'm really happy with what I achieved thus far, and I think my skin probably needs this time to catch up with the fat loss anyways.

2008 has been a bit confusing body wise, I dropped weight at top of year and then started gaining again then dropping ... my yo'yo ing has probably confused my body a bit and it's learned this year that I need focus and discipline to get back to regular healthy weight.

I have learned that nothing works better than working out and watching what you eat. And I have learned that my Wine consumption has played a major major role in slow weight. I'm excited because I now am starting to change some seriously bad bad habits, drinking a bottle of wine in one sitting, smoking a pack along with it and then gorging on salty and sweets! this was a bad bad habit and even though the next day I would get up and work my butt off in the gym -- it didn't matter my body was like 'really?!' One of my biggest wake up calls was when my daughter said to me 'Mommy you work out so hard and then at night you counter everything because of all the eating you do' ... !!!! that was what I needed to hear... so actually maybe 2008 wasn't confusing at all, it was a major learning experience** onto 2009 with new healthier habits and a newer healthier me 

I started my dieting goals with 50 some pounds to lose starting last January. I thought by now my goals would have been achieved, but I kind of took the slow route and wasn't dieting to my fullest. I did good until about mid Feb. then I started having a cheat day..which turned into two cheat days a week and they weren't just cheat days, but full out binge days and I was lucky to lose 1 pound a month. This went on until about August. So my weight loss goals are no where near where I want them to be, which kind of sucks. I'm hoping by this summer to be at my goal finally and to be able to wear this cute skeleton bikini my man got me over a year ago before I put on the weight! Wish me luck! I wish you all the same. :)

After hitting menopause and gaining about 30 pounds (on top of the 25 extra pounds I was already carrying!) I decided that if I didn't get my butt in gear and lose this weight I never would. There would be NO excuse!

My brother-in-law moved out (with a BIG push) June 1st. Stress level went down and I started working out with a partner. I have lost 15 pounds (wanted to lose 24 -- 2lb/month) and several inches and gained lots of muscle. My w/o partner and I changed it up and started doing the NROLFW program.

I have learned what a 6 oz glass of wine looks like. I have learned that I need to eat MORE to lose weight. I have learned HOW to lift effeciently. I was the number #1 in sales in Creative Memories US for the month of September (over 43,000 consultants)!!! I have been married for 10 years and am still in love...sex is better than ever!

Wow, some great goals met and some super determination found, I am impressed.

The first part of the year was a bust, then i woke up and realized I am going to be 60 next year.  I have been overweight and under exercise for so many years, I can't go back that far and remember.

In July, along with some other important changes I decided to eat right, watch my portions and get off my butt.  I have lost 32lbs, but I still have a long way to go.  I definitely feel better, a step in the right direction.

My goal for 2009, is to really work on my exercise program, step it up, work harder but most importantly be consistent 5-6 days per week NO MATTER WHAT!

Continued good success to you all and Happy Holidays!

2008 has seen me the most stressed as ever in my life.  My calorie counting and exercising has been at a major low after a great year in 2007 where I was losing weight and nearing my goal.

2008 was a major step backwards.   It's not over though and I'm looking to have myself on the right track through the rest of the year... but this doesn't counterbalance what has overall been a pretty terrible year for my health (mental and physical).

By this time next year I hope to be about 170 pounds (or more but the more will be because of added muscle not fat).