<p>It is incredibly hard this time of year. Actually looking forward to January, fresh and new, beginning again on my healthy eating and daily activity plans.</p>
<p>Don’t give up just because it’s the partying & laying-around-watching-TV-specials time of year! You’ll just hate yourself in January.</p>
<p>Instead of sitting for 3 hours on the sofa, you can do stretches & crunches during the commercials. And try to eat healthy for the meals you’re NOT at a party. ;)</p>
<p>Someone in the church choir I play for gave everyone a small package of beautifully decorated, sugar-laden bakery cookies. Lovely gesture but I thought, “What am I going to do with these??” The next day I was at a thrift shop and gave them to a woman who was loading her 3 kids into the car. She was delighted, I felt good. :)</p>
<p>I’ve gained a few pounds back, but I have had to accept that it’s just how it’s going to be until after the holidays unless I don’t go to anyone elses house or have anyone else over and stick to my exact proper normal daily routine, which isn’t realistic. If I eat one bite of something that isn’t a part of my normal routine, even if it isn’t bad for you, I gain a pound the next day that takes two weeks to take off. We just went to a party where there was nothing but pizza and cake, and the healthier dish I brought was crammed into the fridge and they refused to serve it. So, I think it is only mentally healthy at this point to allow myself a couple pounds and not beat myself up for it as long as I am doing the best I can. I still have four months after this before the wedding. The damage will be undone in a couple weeks. Sometimes life gets in the way.</p>
<p>In the meantime, I will stick to my workouts and keep making every good choice within my power! I will not lose momentum, and that is what is important. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! We can do this!</p>
<p>Weighed in at WW this morning, down 33 lbs. I am finally able to really appreciate and work the program, using those extra points when I need them. Eating a small portion of my friend’s special homemade Swedish cake at a holiday party was worth it, I wanted it, it was divine and I counted it. Instead of having the treat and then going crazy as I have in the past. I also balanced the day with saving points for the party, eating veggies with hummus before going, only having one pomegranate punch. </p>
<p>Keeping my exercise regular, 4-5 times per week at the gym really helps me to think about my food choices too. It’s also totally okay to choose to maintain over the holidays and simply enjoy a bit more…</p>
<p>Merry Christmas all! Yes we can do this!</p>
<p>Hope everyone is enjoying time with your friends and families. I am eating a bit more, but am also moving more, too.</p>
<p>But, now I have my Withings Body scale and it is pretty cool. My H and I set up separate accounts so we each upload our weight data to MyFitnessPal, and Withings also has their own app for iPhones and droids (but not iPads yet) so you can track body fat and heart rate as well. If you like to see numbers to track your health progress, these gadgets are cool. So, the good news is that it is working, the bad news is that my body fat percentage is what it is.</p>
<p>I don’t even celebrate Christmas and I still ate too much. How could I resist DH’s home made chocolate fondue…</p>
<p>Austerity diet on the horizon for the new year!</p>
<p>I braved the scale this AM. Not bad considering how bloated and swollen I feel. Way too much sodium in the past week. I can feel it in my fingers and my eyes. My goal of today is to get as many glasses of water into my system as I can today.
I picked up the book WheatBelly at the library just before Christmas. I don’t think I could give up wheat entirely but I do know I feel better when I limit my consumption.
My other goal over the next week is to get a small bit of exercise in. I am starting off small. A walk and counter push ups. Push ups done for the day. Walk still to come. It is a beautiful day and I need to get out in it. On Christmas Eve H and I took a walk from our house out on to some undeveloped bluffs. It was balmy and we saw about a dozen dolphin playing close to the shore. A beautiful sunset also. A real reminder that I have so many great places to walk if I just step outside of my gate.
Ema- that is so not cool that your relative did not serve your dish your brought.
Wishing all of us a happy and heathy new year</p>
<p>Ema, that is really too bad that you weren’t able to eat the healthy food you went to the trouble of bringing. The walk sounds beautiful, mom60. I think I will have to join you in starting up an exercise program! I’ve been trying to walk every day but have not made it the last few days, with the Christmas rush. </p>
<p>I am down another pound. 20.5 pounds lost since this thread started. lindz, congratulations on the 33 pounds! It sounds like you really have this down.</p>
<p>congrats to you too and thanks NYMomof2—lifetime member who has repeatedly did WW “my” way, only to not have the best longterm outcome. kind of surrendering to the process.</p>
<p>great to get out and walk even briefly to reboot after a holiday meal, remind ourselves to stay active to balance partying</p>
<p>Walk done. It was 73 degrees, I tell myself i have no excuse to not go out.</p>
<p>Happy New Year’s Eve!</p>
<p>I don’t have a specific resolution yet, but it will likely involve continued healthy eating and lots of movement. Tonight I am going to a neighbor party so am bringing some healthy appetizers, a healthy side dish and a salad … Luckily these friends will appreciate it!</p>
<p>I ended up gaining 5lbs over the holidays, which was pretty alarming… my weight never fluctuates by that much so I gained quite a bit. I found it odd, though, because I only gained like 2lbs from thanksgiving (which I lost right away) and I ate WAY worse over a longer period of time for Thanksgiving than I did for Christmas. The one party where I ate one slice of pizza and one cupcake resulted in a 4lb gain overnight that so far, almost two weeks later, I have maintained-- and then christmas day itself tacked on another pound. Those were the only two days I broke routine, and Christmas day I was still within my points and didn’t eat poorly, just differently. </p>
<p>I find the pattern of this weight gain pretty bizarre, as well as the actual amount gained proportional to the actual amount of bad behavior. I think maybe half the gain was just rebound because I lost MUCH too much the week before by losing over 4lbs in one week… maybe I rebounded 2lbs and just gained 2-3 from the holidays. I suppose it doesn’t matter all that much other than that I am trying to stave off a nervous breakdown and the rebound theory makes me feel better!</p>
<p>I am starting fresh this week and just trying not to think about it. Unfortunately, when it rains it pours and I have a pulled muscle in each leg and my knees are acting up, so my workouts are not great. I just hope to be in a better place in a week or two. Just hoping I still have time to lose what I wanted for the wedding… I really want that new swimsuit for the honeymoon.</p>
<p>Ema, you will be fine once you get back to your routine. The weight difference you see right now could be due hydration levels in combination with holiday eating, but you know what to do to get back on track. There is no mystery to it … Science can explain a shift as long as the data is accurate. </p>
<p>Here’s to all of us getting back on track!</p>
<p>Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthier New Year.
Today is the first day that everything is back to the regular routine. I weighed in this morning and was happy to see that I was just up 1 lb over the holiday time.
I joined the plank challenge. Did my counter push ups and have my fitbit on. I was able to get some great long walks in over the holidays. While the rest of the nation is freezing we are actually having dream weather. We don’t get this much sunshine in the summer. I am committed to get outside and see the beauty. Though we do need rain.
I am thinking grilled chicken breast, quinoa and steamed vegetables for dinner.
How is everyone else starting the year?</p>
<p>I am still holding on to those 5 holiday pounds. I seem to have my momentum back and my weight is trending down, but Sundays are weigh in days and they have not been my best days of the week lately. We need to go back to behaving perfectly on weekends and not succumbing to the temptation of takeout. I am hoping since I am working from home today that I’ll be able to get my workout in a little earlier in the day when I am less tired. We have been exhausted lately.</p>
<p>Emaheevul07 -don’t be so hard on yourself. If I where you live I would feel exhausted too. I find when it is cold and dark I am ready for bed by 7pm. When I am tired takeout and carbs just are what my mind and body crave. The problem for me is that I spiral downhill from there.</p>
<p>Bumping up
I have a challenge for myself.
I have a trip scheduled to Hawaii in May. I want to be in good walking and breathing shape in order to hike without huffing and puffing uphill. I also want to lose at least 10 lbs to feel comfortable in swimwear. I think with 4 months those goals are realistic.
Walked 45 minutes today with a lot of hills.
Anyone else?</p>
<p>My son is getting married in June. I’d like to lose the ten pounds I gained in the last two years and have arms like Michele Obama’s. (Or at least look good in a sleeveless dress.) I’ve made some progress towards both; already been to the gym this morning.</p>
<p>mom60–(my new age!)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about weight loss so much as being in shape for walking comfortably. And you are walking up and down hills so that is a good start! Taking stairs instead of the elevator is another good one…little things add up!</p>
<p>I’m with you on that goal! I want to lose 10 more pounds before my wedding in May. </p>
<p>I have lost about half the Christmas weight so far, I seem to be starting to get my momentum back… here’s hoping! We’ll see what the scale says on Sunday. It has been really hard to get the scale moving back in the right direction again.</p>
<p>I am on an every-other-day workout schedule at the moment to accommodate the low cal diet I’ve been eating, and today is supposed to be an “on” day but my hamstrings are still sore from my first pilates session in a while on Saturday. I’m thinking I need to rest it one more day. Sometimes it’s really hard to tell if I am being reasonable or making an excuse.</p>