Every time I visit this board I see all these "100# in 2008!" threads.

You know, my goals this particular year are not that big. I've lost over that much so far, and I lost a good chunk of it twice (sigh), and when I lost it, it was always pretty rapidly.

My goal for this year: from June 1 (actually 5/25 on in my case) to December 31, is to lose 30#. My weight is varying so much lately (as my carbs, sodium, TOM, etc. are confusing the hell out of it) that I'm not even sure exactly what it is (keeps changing!), but suffice to say that as of 5/25, whatever it is, my goal is to be 30# lighter than that by end of year.

Is there anybody who would like to do the so-much-more-modest, smaller-dream 30# goal for the next six months?

I know it is not as exciting as 100# but I am focusing a lot more on things for my health than things for weight loss at this point, so I am ingesting more carbs and not really trying to make my weight the primary focus so much as health; weight is still a 'goal' but not the first one.

This amounts to losing about 1 pound a week.

Here are the things that I personally am working on June - Dec:

* Eating more vegetables
* Drinking more water
* Taking my supplements far more regularly
* Getting more exercise
* Increasing the recipes/foods I'm comfortable making
* Increasing the number of quick and/or storable dishes/items
* Increasing the time I spend in the sun
* Developing some daily visualizations for weight loss

If I just wanted to lose weight I'd do mostly M&E for awhile--it falls off me when I bother focusing on it--but that focus takes such effort that I don't do it all that often. So I'm trying to work out something more long-term, something more fun for me, and something my 11 year old can do beside me and not feel deprived or bored or whatever, too.

So I have a goal, but it's a smaller goal. I AM NOT ASHAMED.

(It's not the size that counts. It's....)

Anybody else want to join my The Lesser Ambition: 30# in 2008 effort?

Anybody qualified for the triple-digits thread should, barring some stalls, or food intolerances etc., not actually have a problem meeting this goal, even with occasional slipups. Whaddaya say? Wanna play??

PJ

PJ, for me this isn't lesser ambition, it's damned near impossible. I honestly don't believe I can lose 30 pounds in 6 months, but I'm willing to give it a shot. (I tend to average less than half a pound a week but that's just life!) As long as I eat cleanly I will consider it a success, and if I lose all 30 pounds I'm going to buy myself a new lens for my camera.

I think that's awesome. My weight loss goal IS a goal but it is currently at the "bottom of the list" of goals that I consider more important for the long-run of the rest of my life.

I've been on lowcarb since mid-Sep 2006 and I still suck at doing some of the most basic "health" related things as a habit. For me it is no longer enough to just count carbs. I want to focus on detoxing, on life-wide habits that hopefully, if I can establish them over the next six months, will make a significant difference to my weight loss and quality of life from that point onward (vs. if I hadn't made that effort).

I guess you could say I did one previous loss in 'quantity'; now I want to do a period where I work to develop 'quality'. Then I think after that, I'll have a better platform in the latter for working on the former.

BTW, one that whole recipe thing. You might want to check out the mexican recipes Cleochatra posted in the recipes section. They are pretty easy to make and pretty tasty , too.

I was going to suggest the SAME EXACT THREAD I'm so glad you did - I was definitely intimidated by the 100 pounders! I lost quite a bit last year and wanted to lose half that amount this year, half of that next year, etc. as my goal. I've also been more preoccupied with healthier habits which stalled my weight loss to zero as carb creep snuck in - I even gained back some. My goal in to just lose 30 (half of last year's 60) which would get me to my stated goal of 204 pounds, not lose thirty pounds after I get back to my low weight of last year, just start where I'm at.

My goals:

-Work on cutting out dairy which lately makes me nauseous
-Do the Philly Distance Run, a half marathon, in the fall
-Run faster than I do now
-Never eat grains again
-Be better at portion control

I lost seven pounds last week from 234 to 227, so I've only got 23 to go. I have not been below 215 for a very long time so I see an epic struggle ahead.

Anyway, I'm in!

Janine

Oh, how wonderful! A "goal thread" where I fit in! I'm in! My goal is simply to re-lose the pounds I gained last year while waiting for my doctor to wake up and listen when I told her my thyroid med needed to be adjusted!

I have 40 pounds to go to get back to where I was at the beginning of last year. I'll be overjoyed if I can manage to achieve that. I'll be perfectly happy to lose 30 lbs, though!

Great! You've already lost a lot, and already lost a few just for this part, so you're definitely on your way!

I don't run unless chased, so I'm always impressed with people who are runners.

I remember when I was in the CCC in the early 80's, in the quasi-boot camp up in the San Andreas mountains, we ran every morning at PT (not counting multimile hikes in fire gear carrying double bladed axes in the blazing sun and other fond memories) and this one woman on the trail who was stationed there to make sure nobody quit running etc., was the biggest jerk in the world. I mean, I think she probably had some personality disorder as it's hard to imagine any other explanation.

Now I'd been athletic all my life but NOT a runner. I always hated that part. And I had never once had this mysterious "second wind" experience. I ran till I either had to stop or until I barfed off the side of the trail, whichever came first. Every morning just about at the point where I was coming near her in our morning run, I fought such intense nausea. Oh man, it was terrible, it took unbelievable focus to NOT throw up at that point, and since there was about 1 woman per 25 men there it was pretty easy for her to pick the woman of the bunch (me) and attack her verbally.

I decided, on the last day of boot, that I was going to throw up ON HER. There was absolutely no doubt I could do it, I'd fought NOT to every day for three weeks. The more I thought about it, the more utterly hilarious it became, especially since it was a fairly isolated turn and I knew that no matter how deliberately I did it I could get away with it seeming accidental if she complained.

The day before, we had our final sort of test (mountain run in gear etc.); that was hard. Snake, the huge soulbrother from east LA who threatened to kill me the first day in camp (and who had become my biggest admirer somehow when, in sheer stupidity and naivete not courage, I faced him down; apparently he appreciated a semi-white girl who sang soul, and we had a ton of fun in KP, singing in the kitchen with its awesome acoustics!) he's the only reason I made it; he finished it before nearly everyone, ran back 3/4 of the way, pulled my puking butt off the side of the trail a few times and coached me all the way to the end. But I passed, so I was clear.

The very last morning arrived, our last PT ever, and in DELIGHT at the very idea of finally being able to "express" my nausea to this acting spawn of the devil on the trail curve, I ran with more happiness and optimism than I'd ever had about jogging... ever. I felt light in step. I started getting tired right on cue, and then started getting nauseated right on cue. And then just as I turned the curve to where she stood, it happened: I got my first "second wind" EVER, and suddenly understood WTF people had been talking about all these years.

Unfortunately that meant I was not remotely ill and could not throw up on her. Well, hopefully it's the thought that counts.

Ugh, sorry about your averted puke. You have to understand I always hated running before - this is a new thing since I had kids and had to to something with my upper thighs because they were always restless. I am positive you were running way faster in much more horrible conditions than I do, where it is really like a walk in the park. I run 13 minute miles. My last race was a ten miler with 18,000 other people and I swear there was not one person who actually ran the whole thing who came in after me. I believe I was dead last of the actual runners. This is lite running, easy, as fast as I can go without bottoming out. I am going to work on speed, and then maybe I'll be puking It is nice to know I can run two hours without stopping and fun, but my running is not very impressive at all!

Janine

I'm In!! I am with jschwab, the 100 in 2008 intimidates me...but I think it's only because we are almost 1/2 way though 2008. I'd love to lose 30lbs. this year. (Actually more, but 30 is a great start and a wonderful goal for me.)

My goals are to:
--STOP eating processed meats
--Start planning meals better
--really try to exercise at least 3-4 days per week
--start being a more positive person

It sounds reasonable to loss 30 pounds in 6 months...I have lost 40 since november

My goals are to:

-Get more control in portions
-Increase on veggies
-Cut nuts, cheese and splenda
-Change my sedentary life with more movement (like walking)

Thanks PJ for this thread!!!

I'd love to join, please, I need the motivation and support. Although I don't have 30 pounds to lose, I want to keep losing, and for the past month and a half, I've been mentally stalled.

I thought if I just kept on doing what I've been doing all along, I'd keep losing. More slowly perhaps. But I've just been bouncing all over the 180's for the past month, and I've been hungrier and eating more.

I'd like to try for about 165, and learn to maintain for life.
My goals:
- Get the calories back down. They've been in the 2100 range lately, and I need them down in the 1400-1600 range to lose.
- Get back to IF-ing 4 days a week. Because I've been hungrier lately, I've been starting a bad habit of grazing on LC snacks all day, and that's why the calories are up.
- Step away from the evil pork rinds and canned whip cream.
- Have an active, less sedentary summer.
- Eat out less, eat at home more.
- Resume daily food tracking in Fitday and my journal.

My husband's been on day shift the past 2 months, and that has interrupted my routine I had going for a year and a half. He's back on evening shift now, and I'm ready to find my discipline again. I'm pretty sure it's still around here somewhere.

This is exactly what I needed too! The 100lbs was WAY too motivated for me. I have been on again and off again of plan all year so far.......This goal is very realistic for me.

Thank you rightnow for starting this!

Tonya

Doctors . . .

Cool! Frankly I'll be happy with 10 lbs though not AS happy as I would be with more LOL. My goals are about other things than weight -- I just felt if I set something that was around 1 lb per week or a little less, that it should be do-able at least for my body at this time, and so would give me some kind of goal.

I encourage other people to join even if your real goal is 5# -- there are OTHER goals just as important "for the rest of the year" as any number on a scale, and most of us have lots of stuff we're working on!

I think it's great that you have a psychological goal in there too. It's so important that we put work into our state of mind as well as just into our diet. And it's so important that we put work into nutrition as well as just into the carb count. I think if most of us can do even half our "behavioral" goals for the rest of the year, the weight will start taking care of itself, at whatever rate the body is comfortable with!

Yay! More people are more fun!

I'm trying to cut dairy, increase veggies, and walk or do outdoor work more often too. I tend to think just doing that will help even if I changed nothing else about my food!

Congrats on the 40# loss!!