Weight Loss Wednesdays 2010 Kick-Off

Today we kick off the new year of Weight Loss Wednesdays. Now, if you haven’t joined our little cyber group of girlfriends, don’t fret! Newcomers are always welcome. You can get caught up by clicking on Weight Loss Wednesdays in the side bar. Just leave a comment on the last post listed there. You can read the others, if you’d like, but it isn’t imperative. Just hop over each Wednesday to join us and check in with how you are doing. You don’t have to tell us what you weigh. You can tell us how much or little the scale moved, if you want. The point is accountability and encouragement for each other. We’d love to have you!

It feels so good to be through the holidays and back into my regular routine. While I love taking time off from schooling, blogging, etc and doing up Christmas and New Years big, there is something to be said for normal, daily days. They feel familiar and comforting.

So, how did your eating go over the holidays? Which of the three plans did you choose? Were you glad you did or regretful?

I choose plan number two opt to sample the goodies in a sensible and occasional manner, savoring them slowly and hope to just maintain my current weight and not gain or lose.”

What it looked like was this:

  • Actually planning out at which functions I would sample a treat and at which ones I’d only sip herb tea or decaf coffee.
  • Purposefully eating a small salad for lunch on the days I wanted to indulge in a holiday goodie or two in the evening.
  • Intentionally waiting until there was only one piece of peanut butter fudge or serving of eggnog left before sampling. That way, if I wanted to binge on more, there wasn’t any!

I also tried to keep up with moving more by walking, doing light weight training and visiting the gym, although I couldn’t always make it there. My goal was just to maintain my current weight or maybe see the scale only go up a pound or so in this two week span since we last met here. That would have been grand!

However, it seems my eating habits and appetite have really changed since we began in October. I just don’t pack away the food like I used to. And I felt full just sampling those Christmas treats. One piece of fudge was plenty instead of 5 or 6.

In fact, I am amazed at just how little food a gal really needs to live.

So, my plan to “sample sensibly” and try to keep moving paid off. I really expected to stay the same weight. However, when I hopped on the scale today, I discovered I actually lost 5.5 pounds.

Ladies, that is a major miracle! 5.5 pounds lost over the two-week holiday span….without writing down my calories; by just being sensible. God is good…..

And I did not starve myself. Over the last two weeks I had fudge and turkey with potatoes and dark chocolate from my stocking and spinach dip and cheese and crackers and four pieces of black forest cake! And I ate out twice too!

The key was, the rest of the time, I ate veggies and lean meats; fruits and whole grains.

It was a fun two weeks “off” my normal routine and the results made me happy. If I had been super strict, eating celery sticks while the rest of the world celebrated, I would have lost more weight. My guess is though, I would have only lasted so long, felt deprived and left out, threw in the towel and gorged.

Then this morning the scale would have showed at least 5.5 pounds in the other direction!

Now it is back to recording my calories and hitting the gym 3 or more days a week.

Normal.

Routine.

Wonderful.

Now, let’s hear how your time away from our little support group has gone. Please still comment even if you gained some or perhaps totally blew it over the holidays. It is a New Year and time to start fresh, right?!?!

And, no matter if you are a regular, a returner or a newbee, please tell us your goal. How much would you like to lose? Or how many sizes would you like to go down? Also, if you have been here since last year, how much weight have you dropped? I’d love to figure out our total and post it next week!

Also, stay tuned to WLW over the next weeks and months. We’ll be having some special guest posts, sharing recipes and winning giveaways!

But most of all, we’ll be encouraging each other on our journey to a healthy lifestyle and weight…..

Now leave your comments. I’ll go first.

My goal is to be a size 10. I started a size 22-24; got down to that size 10; then when I regained weight, I went back up to a 16-18. Right now I am a 14, but some of my 12s are starting to fit. And, since we began in mid-October, I am down 29.4 pounds!

I could NOT have come this far without you all! Thank you!!!!

Your turn- how were your holidays? Or what is your goal? Or how much have you lost by being part of WLW?

Or all of the above! :-)

New Year’s WLW Blessings,

71 Comments

  1. Hi, I have just joined yesterday and won’t weigh until Saturday as that is my WW weigh-in day. I haven’t been for 4 weeks and definitely didn’t watch what I ate over the Christmas/New Year time so I’m not really looking forward to going but know that I have to start again sometime.
    My goal for this year is to get to my goal weight, which when I stopped going last year was only 10 kilos but who knows now. Also, more importantly, I want to learn self-control around food. I had been doing ok but have slipped up big time recently. Back to recording my food intake and sticking to my WW points! Exercise is a bit difficult for me at the moment as kids are on school hols. I just need to make myself get up and exercise before hubby goes to work. Mmm, will see how that goes. Anyway, hope you all have a great week and thanks Karen for this opportunity, its the spiritual support and accountability that WW doesn’t supply, exactly what I needed.

  2. Thanks Amy for the encouragement. I’m not giving up. I’m already motivated just from all the posts I have read. I also like working out to dvd’s. I have found some good excercise routines on direct tv. I have recorded some and watch them when I can’t walk, which is my favorite thing to do. In fact, even though it is cold, I’m gonna go out for some fresh cold air and a brisk walk. Thanx everyone!

  3. We did “hold it for the Holidays” at work. We weighed in before Thanksgiving and we weighed in today. I was down three pounds, so I’m excited for that. I still have 25 pounds to go. I’m wondering with the formula that you use to calculate your calorie intake – what do you find most helpful as a calorie counter? A certain book or website? I’ve been counting points with weight watchers and I’m thinking about “switching” things up.

  4. Thankfully, I didn’t gain over the holidays…. only thanks to nursing a newborn fulltime! But…. yesterday, I hit restart. And…. I did something monumental: worked out for the first time in TEN YEARS! Woa (and yes, I AM sore today!) I have decided to make my weight loss goals in small chunks this time (I have SO far to go that I get overwhelmed at the TOTAL goal). My first goal: to weigh less than my husband (8 pounds to lose!) Blessings to all of you! Have a great week!

  5. Crystal,

    I was very overweight when my two daughters were growing up. They were also 4 years apart as are yours. Neither were overweight while growing up. The oldest is now 34 and at a perfect weight for her. The youngest is now 30 and 75 pounds overweight (but in her defense she just had my third grandson). You don’t say whether your daughters are overweight. The world does emphasize looks but looks can also be perceived as healthy. I am 125 pounds overweight. I’ve worked for an attorney for 27 years and have always had to dress nice, hair done, make up, etc. While I think I wordly look presentable, I know I do not look healthy or even as physically wordly attractive as perhaps I could be because of the excess weight. Maybe the answer is healthy looks leads to wordly good looks? I don’t believe there is anything wrong with being a beautiful person outside as well as inside. I do know that it is important for our children/grandchildren to be healthy and at an acceptable healthy weight. I’m just not sure how we get there with children without making them self-conscious or messing with their self-esteem. Again, I don’t know so I probably shouldn’t even post this comment but I guess I will anyway.

  6. what an awesome thing, to have a support group for this journey! thanks kimberlee, for giving me this site! if it’s not too late, I would love to be accountable here. I did join a class at big picture scrapbooking that is called: wellness and that is helping too! I have lost 3lbs. since Monday. I have 28lbs to go. tara

  7. Wow Karen you’ve done a great job. I went with option #2 and today when I weighed in I lost 1 pound. So I am happy especially since I didn’t gain. It was nice to have my boys home from college but I am also glad to get into a regular routine again. I would like to be down five pounds this month. I hope everyone has a good week.

  8. I joined this group last week, but started watching my food intake in mid-November. I lost two pounds in the first three weeks, and yesterday was at the doctor’s office with a child and stepped on the scale. I dropped one more pound over the holidays. That really surprised me, since I had chosen option #2. My goal was to stay the same, and I was so happy that I lost one more pound!
    I am trying to make manageable goals – I would rather set small goals that I can attain, rather than lofty goals and fail. Not sure if that mindset it right or wrong, but that’s what I am doing.
    I would love to get back into a size 8, which I think is reasonable for my age and height. I am currently a size 12. But regardless of where I end up with dress size, the main thing is that I am healthy and strong.
    I have a question regarding writing food down and measuring portions – I did that for the first few weeks, but got a lot of questions from my daughters. I stopped over the holidays when my oldest came home from college, and just tried to eyeball things and stay away from junk food. I do think I do better when I write and measure, BUT I have concerns about giving the wrong message to my other girls at home, who are nine and five. I DO NOT want to give the wrong impression to my daughters because the world emphasizes looks. How do I emphasize health without making them self-conscious about their appearance? Does anyone know what I mean or have any advice?

  9. Way to go Karen…you are such an inspiration to all of us.
    My goal thru Christmas was to maintain and not gain. And I was able to do that. Praise God! I too, found that just a few bites of the sweet stuff was enough! Now I’m ready to start again with the new year. I like the motto someone used”Getting thin in 2010″. We can do it girls, just one day at a time. I’ve been with WLW simce it started in mid-oct and have lost a total of 10 lbs. My next goal is to lose another 10. Thanks Karen and others for your encouragement.

  10. You can do it Kimberlee! As I told Donna, just take one day (or even one meal!) at a time. Don’t give up if you eat that 2nd (or 3rd) brownie–just be aware of it and eat better at the next meal–and DON’T beat yourself up over it; we’ve all done it. (Been there, done that!) Movement is so important. I’ve never heard of that study you’re talking about but I work out at home to dvds–here’s how I got started: I borrowed workout dvds from my public library. I found some I loved and then bought them! I also get them from Netflix to try out and if I like those, I’ll buy them online or at Target or wherever. I’ve got quite a collection going! Just some helpful tips. :)

    Please let us know how you’re doing each week.

  11. Hello Ladies! I’m brand new at posting although I’ve been lurking for a little while. I’ve decided that I might as well be accountable and try and get to where I really want to be. Currently I am at a size 20 and would like to lose a total of 75 pounds to be at my wedding weight. That is a little too daunting at the moment so I’m just trying to get out of the 200s. I have made the goal to just go slow and steady and stop thinking I’m going to lose 20 pounds in one week like a certain show on tv portrays.

    For Christmas I blew it, but not as bad as what it probably would have been if I wasn’t thinking about weight loss. I did gain a bunch, but after this past week really trying to be good and recording my food, I am back down 4 pounds from the highest I was during the Christmas break. That feels really good and I will continue slow and steady.

  12. Kimberlee,

    My daughter (a registered nurse) led the First Place study at our church after the birth of my granddaughter. She needed to lose about 20 pounds and by being the leader/nurse, she succeeded as did everyone in the group. That was 7 years ago and she has kept it off. I looked at the book thinking I could do it myself, too, but decided it was more of a group thing but it may be just what you need to help you. Good luck.

  13. Thanks, Amy!
    So here’s my goal…by March 3 I plan to be down 15#! Ugh, I’m scared I’m not going to be able to!!

    Has anyone ever done that 1st Place study? I’m considering doing it (alone), but want to make sure it’s worth it.

  14. Way to go Karen and everyone else! Even for those of you who gained, it’s great that you are posting. I lost 1 lb but I think that’s pretty much miraculous! I went with option #2 because I knew that if I went crazy and just threw in the towel and ate whatever/whenever I wanted over X-mas it’d be that much harder getting back in the swing of things; I didn’t do option 3 because I knew that if I was overly strict and didn’t allow myself any treats I’d eventually gorge out of extreme frustration! :) (I think women’s bodies are made for sweets anyway!—in moderation of course.)

    I have to say, I LOVE working out at home to dvds….I used to belong to a gym and I found myself making more and more excuses why I couldn’t go-“too tired”, “I have to make supper”, “My daughter’s sick and needs her mommy”, “I’ll go tomorrow,” etc. Now, however, I roll out of bed, get my workout clothes on and start exercising before my daughter gets up in the morning. I get it done and overwith and I feel great!

    I still allow myself to have one treat most days and then I feel balanced….I LOVE sweets. I guess what helped me during X-mas is that I’m not a real ‘chip/snack food’ person. I am, however, a CHOCOLATE JUNKY!!! I dont’ really eat storebought cookies and things but I LOVE homemade cookies, candy, etc. That’s probably why I’m always baking things myself because that way I know the nutrition content.

    ***Donna-way to go with your weight loss and almost reaching your goal weight! Almost 3 yrs ago I lost 35 lbs and I’ve kept it off. You’re right, once you lose the weight, it’s tempting to stop and go back to old habits…BUT DON’T DO IT!! Trust me, the pay off is wonderful….I have energy I didn’t have lugging around that extra 35 lbs and I have more endurance to keep up with my daughter. Don’t look at it as a diet; look at it as a healthy journey you are on. Take one day at a time and please don’t give up. :)

    ***Kimberlee-1-2 lb weightloss per week is reasonable, so to lose 15 lbs based on that it could take you at least 7-8 weeks. I don’t think 3 mo. is unrealistic. It’s better to lose slowly than all at once.
    -Amy V.

  15. Wow, Karen! Great Job! What an inspiration you are!

    I’m back at it again-hopeful to get to a size 6 (which is really where I should be based on my height (short) and age (young at heart). I would be happy at a size 8 but we shall see.

    My kids really need to focus more on regular exercise as well, but I certainly haven’t set a good example for them. My 17 y.o. daughter and I have started playing various WII games every other night. I am SOO SORE today but what a great feeling!

    I’m very fortunate that I work from home. My husband made me a treadmill desktop so I can work while walking. Yes, it really can be done! Takes a time or two to get ‘adjusted’ but it’s really, really easy. I have been trying to walk for 60 minutes at 1mph (No incline) and work each day. It burns over 100 calories, and it really is no big deal.

    I’m also back to writing EVERYTHING down. I can honestly say that I didn’t gain anything over the holiday seasons but I didn’t make good choices-too much chocolate that has impacted my skin (yes, I still get pimples-what’s up with that!).

    Good luck in the coming week, everyone!

  16. Hi everyone. Although I have been keeping up with this site, I haven’t joined in. My weight has been up and down my whole life. After my husband had a heart attack in September, I became serious again. I have had great success following the plan he is suppossed to be following and exercising faithfully. I have made good choices and limited my sodium intake, which helps elimanate water intake. I am done 21.2 pounds PTL! I have 1.4 more to go to hit my goal weight. My problem now is staying motivated. I can be very motivated at first, but now that the weight is mostly off, I tend to want to slack with eating and exercise thinking it won’t hurt to nibble or snack just this once. So, I’m joining in hoping it will help me to STAY on track , not just when I’m trying to lose, but trying to stay this way period. Any help would be appreciated. Am praying for all of us.

  17. Wow Karen! Those are some impressive numbers! I am basically starting as of this last Monday. I had done well over the holidays but a road trip to see an ailing relative did me in. With 5 hours in the back of the van, two kids under 5, and a family that centers their trips around food, it was hard to lose anything. I gained 3 pounds from the trip. I know it’s not too bad but I had really maintained over the holiday. So, as of Monday I have started to write down my calories and I have exercised 30 minutes both cardio and light weight training. My first goal is 10%. So I want to lose 19 pounds. As of this morning I have lost those pesky 3 pounds from the trip! I’m sooooooo excited! Just think how much more I can lose as I keep this up!!! Karen, do you think you could post the mathmatic equation again on how to figure out your resting caloric intake? (I remember it from your talk at Hearts at Home) I think it would be a great tool for everyone!!! Thanks to everyone! peace and blessing!

  18. That is amazing, Karen!!! Wow.
    Debbie, awesome on your loss over the past few months!
    Well, ladies, let me be your lesson…I am right back to where I started! I regained the 3 measly pounds I lost. I think I’m more stumped over the small amount I’ve lost over all that time, then what happened over the holidays. Honestly, I’ve been exercising since April and I never dropped a size, but I did like seeing my arms and legs tone up.
    The weight started to drop when you urged us to journal the food.
    Yes, I chose option 2, I didn’t keep track or exercise. I didn’t overeat at the feasts. But I did have too much temptation in the house that I should have removed sooner. My husband was home since Christmas Eve till 2 days ago. I do not exercise when he’s around.
    So those are my lame excuses. Seeing a pattern? I think it’s my attitude. I think I don’t care. I thought I did, though. I do care about getting healthy, preventing diabetes, preventing heart disease, looking better, being an example to my kids. Maybe I just don’t care enough?
    I think a goal is going to help me, that’s probably another key, huh? :P I vowed to lose 15# for Pound for Pound, but I haven’t given myself a time to do that. I am not sure what reasonable loss in amount of time is. Is 3 months too long?

  19. I had lost 28 pounds since August. Since Thanksgiving, I have gained 7 back – but since the first of December, I did not record in my food journal so all in all, I’m not surprised but not too terribly disappointed as I unfortunately went back into the routine of eating what I wanted, when I wanted and as much as I wanted. I am that horrible term of “morbidly obese.” What ugly words. My goal is to just get out of the 2’s (weigh 199, wear a size 18) and when I get there if I feel called to go lower, I will. I have 106# to remove to get to 199. I restarted Monday and again am full of focus and motivation. Thank you, Karen, for starting this. I have been reading your blog every day for awhile now (all the way back to when you originally posted about your weight loss) but it took me until last August to put your counting calorie system to work. The accountability is something I was missing in earlier weight loss attempts. Here’s to “Getting Thin in 2010!”

  20. My long term goal is to lose 43 pounds-short term goal is 10 pounds this month. I am down 2.4. I did well over the holidays and have been able to maintain but now I want to lose it, lose it for good!!
    I also felt good in a size 10 but I am not sure now that I am older if that will remain my desiered size. I want to be healthy, I want to feel healthy and good in the body God has given me~that is my real desire. What ever size or whatever number that is what I would like to maintain.

  21. My plan for the holidays…the stomach flu. Ok so maybe it wasn’t planned. Maybe it was God saving me from myself. Or maybe it was my turn since it was making a path of distruction through my family. My birthday is the day after Christmas so I was down for the count on both Christmas and my birthday. I am down 2 lbs and most of the extra “bad” foods are finally gone from our house. I live in MI so needless to say it’s too stinkin’ cold to walk outside but we passed a bond and built a brand new high school and to “pay us back” we get to walk indoors on the track during the winter – so with kids back to school we can return to walking in the evenings…in warmth! Felt good to walk and even run on Monday night. Going again tonight after Girl Scouts.

  22. I failled miserably through this past week. Sampled everything and now paying for it by what the scale says, but also the mind games of you can’t do this….
    Time to get back on track.
    My goal for the next week? Be down 2 #’s by next week Wednesday.
    Thanks for your encouragement and honesty!!

  23. Well, it is the start of a new year and I am resolved to eat for the glory of God not my stomach or emotions. I am looking forward and not backward pressing on to the goal. I am hoping the encouragement I get from this group will help me to realize that goal once and for all!!!

  24. The holidays werevery tempting and I did not do well with my plan.

    I have begun again at paying attention to what i am eating and how much. Trying to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Which is hard this time of the year when the selections in the store are not very appealing.

    I need to begin exercising. Not sure what to do there.

    I am hoping to go down one size.

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