Are you looking for support on your health and fitness journey? If you are, then this thread is for you.

There are no expectations in this forum. Post as often as you like. Post anything that you feel is relevant to your own personal health and fitness goal. Here are some ideas:

• Monthly health and fitness goal
• Daily health and fitness goal
• Progress (or setbacks) in reaching your goal
• Personal stories about why you are joining this topic
• Healthy recipes that you feel others will enjoy
• Links to articles or books that you feel others would find helpful
• Food Choices (healthy or unhealthy)

Remember, your health and fitness journey is your own. There is no one program, method, or philosophy that is right for everyone. This thread is for support only.

Trying to do better this year for health reasons. I could use touching base with others.  
 

Dee

Thanks for setting this up Melissa.

I could use this.  Thanks, Melissa.

I'm officially ending out the year at 236.4 so I'm 9 lbs. heavier than I was last New Year's Eve. Will be pushing myself hard in 2023 to get the weight off.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !! Let's make 2023 the year we all reach our goals.

UPDATE/ 1-1-2023

Starting out the new year at 235.6, so I'm headed in the right direction. This year I'm challenging myself to reach my goals. I know I can do it if I push myself.

We can all reach our goals if we really work to make it happen.

I was here several months last year and then I fell off the wagon.  I was maintaining most, but not all of my good habits, but I am ending the year about where I started last year and I would really like to lose about 15 pounds.  So I am going to try to follow along here every month for some inspiration.  For January my goals are to get back in line with the basics after the holidays: drink my water, mindful eating, and some kind of movement/exercise every day.  I struggle getting my steps in every day in January and February when the temperature is just too cold out but I will try to bundle up every day even if it is just for a short walk.

Happy New Year everyone!

Good morning.  I didn't make it back to my December 1 weight - up 1.2#, but overall I'm okay with that.  I'd like to lose 12.2 pounds during 2023 and I guess that can be broken down to just a pound a month.  That seems so doable.  In a perfect world I would lose the pound and never regain it, but I know that isn't realistic.  I also know that to do this I will have to change how I eat - less carbs/sugar.  The habits I made last year will help, especially the 'sweets/dessert no more than 2x a week.'  I'll have to work to get this one re-ingrained though.  I was waaaaay over that most of December.

get back in line with the basics after the holidays: drink my water, mindful eating, and some kind of movement/exercise every day - Debbie, great goals.  I get a lot of my steps marching/pacing in front of the television.  I don't really enjoy walking outside and sometimes I walk on the treadmill at the gym and read while I'm doing it, but usually even that isn't enough to get me to 10K 'naturally.'   Ironically, my marching is probably more industrious and energetic than my walking on the treadmill is.  I usually get my steps 6/7 days this way.

I'm an intermittent faster, but I've been doing 'dirty fasting' for the last several months.  That means I've had things like sparkling water (things with calories, but a total less than 50 calories) during my fasting window.  I think I'll try hard to do it right again.  Nothing but plain water/black coffee/black tea during my fasting window.  I think I do better that way for some reason.

Goal is to weigh 156 on January 29.

Wishing everyone a good week and success at your goals.

Good morning & Happy New Year. I love a fresh start. Last year on 1/1 I weighed 129, today I weighed 126.8. I plan to weigh every Sunday & my goal weight for 1/29 is 124.

I haven't given a lot of thought to 2023 goals yet which is unlike me, but I think I need to sit & reflect on 2022 still. I will say for Jan my goals are like Debbie...get back on the right track w/ water, food & exercise.

Each day, all 365 of 'em, provides us with a chance & a choice. I hope we all crush our goals this year.

First, Happy New Year to Everyone! I managed to lose 10 pounds last year, and I'm at the weight that I would like to be. This year, my main focus is going to be moderation in all that I do and be mindful of everything that I do. I have an obsessive personality, so it's all or nothing for me.

Welcome Dee: I think that we all need the accountability. It does help to touch base with those who are also trying to improve their overall health.

Lisa: I hope that as the year goes on, we can get more folks to interact in this thread. I know that I let it slide toward the end of the year. I'm going to have to use this as my Daily Page if I'm really going to sustain my involvement.

Welcome Bonnie.

Welcome Back Debbie! There is a core group who post regularly.

Shayla: I think reflection is an important part of our healthy journey.

Vicki: It seems like you ended up having a good year last year, in spite of the weight gain. Do you plan to continue working part-time?

I do need to narrow it down for January, so here are my intentions for January 2023:

• Be mindful and moderate in everything that I do. *I know that I should be more specific here, but I'm not exactly sure what I want this to look like yet.
• Write my Daily Pages at least 5 morning a week.
• Write my Daily Reflection at least 5 evenings a week.
• Write a letter per day~positive interaction to keep me positive.

2022 was a good year overall. I found the motivation to take control of my health by losing significant weight. I'm not big on setting goals in most things BUT  my intention is to lose at least 25 pounds in 2023. I need to lose 50 minimum but I don't want to push. I think I'm not sagging all over now because I lost the 50 slowly. Also, I'll have to buy smaller clothes as I lose weight and a gradual loss means I won't be changing sizes too often. All theoretically.

120.8

Breakfast: scrambled egg and rye toast

Lunch: shepherd's pie

Supper: 1/4 pork cutlet, 1/2 tomato, 1/2 cup black-eyed peas

I sat down & got a little more specific with which goals I'll be tracking. They are: exercise 3x/week, eat dinner in, read 10 pages of success book each day, read 30 min for pleasure each day, 48 oz of water, floss daily, & night time routine of wash face/brush teeth. 

All of those are previous habits but I kind of let go in Dec. Except for flossing...for some reason flossing daily is still going strong. So in Jan I want to recommit to these former habits & make them strong habits again.

I also made some non daily goals for the month..one for work, one regarding my oldest son, the last will be good for me....clean out my closet & dresser drawers in order to donate to ministry thrift store. Cleaning out will be good for my mental health. It's needed & long overdue and for some reason I just keep putting it off & putting it off. 

Melissa, I'm very much an 'all or nothing' person so I know that struggle is real.  I think that may be what the Lord intends to work on with me this year because my word for the year is freedom.  I'll be sorting out what that means in the area of my health and fitness goals/habits.

Today it means "not perfect does not mean failed."

Shayla, like you, I let some of those new habits slide in December.  So also in kind of a refocus mode for January.

I just got up from a nap and it was great. Now I'm going to work on my PBS forums for a bit. I'm excited about a new year! The word I've chosen this year is APPRECIATE. I want to take the time to appreciate what I have more often this year.

Melissa, thanks again for starting these monthly discussions. I like how they are open for each person to set their own goals, but are all on the theme of health so we can support each other.

Dee, welcome!

Lisa, glad to see you here! Getting back to better following of IF is also one of my goals, as is less sugar. And I need to keep "not perfect does not mean failed" in mind as well.

Bonnie, welcome!

Vicki, I'm happy there is someone here with a similar weight!

Debbie D, great to have you back. I also need to go back to basics and get back to some habits I worked on last year.

Shayla, I am so glad you pointed out that each day brings chances for good choices. I know some times in the past I set great goals on Jan 1 and then found it easy to give up as soon as I missed a day at something like daily steps.

Teri, you continue to inspire me! I'd like to set a big weight loss goal, but I need to be realistic too!

I think the only habit I really firmly established last year was taking my thyroid pill every day, after I was first prescribed them in March. So everything else needs a brush up. 
 

Weight recap: I started 2022 at 250.6. I think my lowest weigh-in was 225.6, but it didn't stay that low. I was hoping to keep at least 10 pounds of, and I did. I weighed today at 240.6*. The * is because it probably would have been lower if I had weighed first thing, but that didn't happen, and I ended up weighing mid afternoon after having eaten. Usually I weigh first thing after I get up and use the toilet, but today my knee was angry and I had to go to bed with an ice pack for a few minutes, so then the prep for getting to church got really rushed.

id like to make a weight goal, but if I focus on weight I tend to do unhealthy things to get the weight down, and if I establish better habits, the weight should come off. Would be thrilled level: 180 pounds on 12/31. Would be very happy: under 200 pounds on 12/31. But I think I'll leave it at this: if any month doesn't show a 2 pound loss, the focus for the next month needs to be on something very directly related to weight; some kind of eating better goal.

January Goals:

• Get in bed by midnight; lights off by 1.
• Walk 50,000 steps each week
• On January 29, weigh at most 235 pounds. (Adjusted from 238, since I was below that on Jan 4)

comments: the bedtime goal is a revision of the goal from 2022 that I was the least successful at establishing. In the long run, for best health, that maybe should be earlier. But this goal is what seems realistically doable and yet would be an improvement from my current sleep habits. The walking goal means about 7000 steps a day, but I found last year that a weekly goal is better for me since my schedule is so different on different days. I was walking more than this before it got so cold, so 50,000 per week seems like a good place to start and I plan to increase each month.

So this goal of being in bed by midnight is already challenging and having positive effects. I looked at the clock, and said to myself: "You are going to be in bed at midnight. Which of the things you had on the to do list are going to actually get done in the limited time you have left?" So now the dishwasher is loaded and the washer is running, and these things being done will be a good way to start tomorrow.

Margaret, You and I are staying within a couple pounds of each other. Like you, in 2022 I lost extra weight. Got down to 223lbs. but it didn't stay there long. My highest in 2022 was 238.9. And like you I'm truly hoping to see myself under 200 lbs. by 12/31/23. Another thing you & I seem to have in common is that when we focus totaly on weight loss/eating, we end up doing unhealthy things to help drop the pounds.

I'm really going to be working this year to eat healthier, and cut out a lot of the sugar and sodium. And I need to cut back on the bread. There are times when I eat way too much of it.

I know I need to exercise more than I do but it's difficult for me to do any kind of exercise that means I have to get down on the floor as I have a real problem getting back up once down. Because of weak wrists due to breaks that didn't mend right, I can't put a lot of pressure on my wrists/hands, and pulling myself up is a lot of weight. So I'm going to try and do some chair exercises to begin with. And maybe get back into dancing ( as my back allows). I used to love to dance and it's good exercise too, but I do have to be careful since I have a slipped disk in my lower back and if it shifts, then I can barely walk, much less dance. But I'm determined the weight has to go this year so I'm going to do as much as my body will allow me to to help firm things up.

I got up and worked out this morning. The other plus to working out in the morning is I also start off the day drinking a lot of water

I drank so much water yesterday my body was in shock. I didn't drink an excessive amount I just hadn't drank much in Dec since my diet was pure garbage all of Dec. Rob & I are waiting for it to warm up a bit before working out in the garage gym. 

Good morning.

Margaret/Vicki, I also tend to make bad health choices when I focus on the weight itself.  Much better to work on the healthy habits, and like you said Margaret, then weight loss will follow.

To that end, I think I am not going to weigh every day anymore.  My official weigh-in is Sunday and I will do a mid-week check on Wednesday.  I don't really need the scale to tell me if I'm doing good or bad and I think I need to break that daily focus on a number and letting that define if I am doing good or bad.

IF - 7am-3pm eating window
       Eat at the table; no 2nds, should be a no sweets/snacks day
I'll go to the gym this morning too
10K steps

Missed my 7 hour sleep goal by 16 minutes, but I am not surprised.  I didn't sleep well at all.  Lots of tossing/turning/being awake.  Hopefully, that will rectify itself tonight.

Have a good day everyone.  Success starts in the mind. . . . .

Just read this: 

What does a New Year give us? 365 opportunities.

Not profound but little nuggets like that keep me going & squash the excuses. I really want to focus on squashing excuses this year. 

Hello and Happy New Year. I can't promise I'll check in more than once a month, but I will read most week days.

I had some health concerns with pancreatitis twice last year and I needed surgery to remove a gastric polyp. I'm on a low fat, low cholesterol, low carb diet and have lost fifteen pounds. I'm trying to follow a largely plant based diet with meat or fish once or twice a week.

I'm feeling good and my goal will be to get more exercise in 2023. I wish you all good health.

I also know that I make poor choices when I am overtired, especially I don't use my time well when I am tired. So that is why I set the goal this month to be in bed by midnight and lights off at 1. 
 

I didn't make it last night. I wasn't in bed till 12:15 because I decided it was more important to get the clothes hung when the dryer finished so I wouldn't have to iron or redry. I didn't turn the light off till 1:06 because I just didn't realize how late it was. But it was a good start, and I woke up at 8:30 feeling very rested. I did have a 3-hour nap yesterday, and that made it a little harder to get to bed!

For my walking goal, well, I only got 4029 steps yesterday, mostly from the back and forth as I did the set up for church. The previous day was 7137, from playing 3 rounds of minigolf. So a good walk at some point is a priority today.

And the weight, this morning the scale says 238.0, which I expected. The 240.6 yesterday was in the middle of the day, after eating.

Shayla - I also need to do better at not making excuses! and I like the idea of every day is a new opportunity and this year is a year of new opportunities.

121.2

I also make poor choices when I'm tired...in all aspects of my life. I've read several articles about drinking 12 to 16 ounces first thing in the morning to make up for the night time deficit.

I had half of a bacon English muffin and yogurt and granola for breakfast. For lunch, I ate a tuna sandwich on rye bread and some kettle chips. I had a chocolate truffle for dessert. For supper, I had a small salad and some grilled sweet peppers.

Steps: 3283

Water: approximately 40 ounces

I am also focusing on my mental health. I'm working on not obsessing on little things.

I'd also like to work on organizing my life (how vague is that?). I think more structure would mean less obsessing.