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Thursday, November 5, 2009

On The Eighth Weigh of Christmas...

...My true self gave to me...

Tomorrow I'm starting a little competition, a weight loss competition. I've needed a push to get my extra weight off, and thought as I was watching The Biggest Loser that something like that might work. There are about ten of us who are working at it, and I'm jazzed to see how it comes out!

Background:
Christmas is 8 weeks from tomorrow. The average American is said to gain 10 lbs between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Who wants to be part of THAT statistic?! Not I!

Rules:
*I don't expect everyone to count calories, but if you DO, please eat at least 1200 calories per day. Anything less is simply not healthy or maintainable.
*Please set yourself a weight loss goal, with a maximum goal of 20 lbs for the 8 weeks.
*Ten hours exercise per week tops.
*No insanity. This should go without saying, but NO severe calorie restriction, NO purging, NO laxatives, NO overexercising. NO "last chance workouts".
*Weigh in every Friday morning and post your loss as a comment. You may post your current and previous weight or the percentage you lost, whichever you prefer! For myself, I'll post starting weight, current weight, pounds lost, and percent total lost because I'm a number cruncher like that. :)
*Person with the greatest percentage toward her goal wins at the end of the 8 weeks.

Calculators to help you find out how much to eat, etc:
How much to eat: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm#
(Fat Loss is 1 lb. per week, Extreme Fat Loss is 2 lbs)

Healthy weight chart: http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweightchart.htm

Calories burned during common activities (if you don't have a heart rate monitor):
http://www.healthstatus.com/cbc.html

Who can't wait to see how amazing they look and feel come Christmas morning?! It'll be a great gift for yourself! :)


If you're playing along, please introduce yourself in the comments section so we can get to know you. Tell us a little about you and why you decided to take up this challenge. I'd also like to know your personal goal (up to 20 lbs) for the contest.


Personally, I decided to do this to kick my tail a bit. I'm working out 5 days a week, but have gotten complacent. Last year at this time I entered my final push and got around my goal weight at 133. I'm back up to 150, and I just feel less strong and compact than I was. I'm back to a size 10 after a while as a 6, and I miss being a 6. My goal is 20 lbs, which will get me to 130 lbs by Christmas morning!

I'm working on a prize, so stay tuned for that. :)

8 comments:

Jennifer said...

I guess I will start. For those who don't know me, I am Jennifer. I am a single mother of 3. I work full-time and cart the kids around to their sports. In the middle of all that activity, I have managed to lose almost 40 lbs in the past year. It has been super hard but since I lost both my parents at a young age, I thought it was necessary for me to change some of my habits and become healthier. I really don't think I can win since I am down to my last 10lbs but they say they are the hardest so I thought I would give this a shot. I think it will be fun.

Susan said...

I am Susan....I have never dieted in my 46 years of life so not thinking this is going to go well for me...but, I do think it will be fun, well sort of fun:)
Honest, I am excited to try to lose the 10 pounds that I gained since my father fell & fractured his vertebrae this past summer. A bit of an emotional eater I am...I guess if my life settles down then I will drop those pounds like no one's business, but things keep getting more complicated, so not too confident on that!
Looking forward to this adventure with you all!

Nikki said...

Ok, so I'm just gonna cut to the chase 'cause I'm a numbers girl.

Current weight: 74.2kg

Goal weight: 63kg

Ok, I shot a little high, particularly for the holidays, but why not shoot for the stars? (Yeah, that's an idea I'll regret later when the pumpkin pie comes out! Haha...)

Of note, I'm not British, just work in sports and kilos become a matter of habit.

Anyhow... Personal background... Um, let's see... Token single girl who works too much, travels too much (though I've got a bit of a break going) and doesn't cook much of anything that doesn't come out of a blue box with the word "Kraft" on it.

Good luck to all!

Unknown said...

Hello all! I'm Lisa married mom to two boys, ages 9 and 3. I work full-time and am very involved with my church and my older son's Cub Scout pack. I have way more than 20 lbs to lose, but I'll start with a goal of 20 and go from there! I love to cook and eat good food, but my husband is happier when I'm not so ambitious in the kitchen, so we usually end up eating the same daggone things with little or no creativity involved.

wendy said...

Hello ladies! My name is Wendy. I have 3 little boys. My youngest was born August 5th. When I am pregnant, I get ENORMOUS. So, I have a lot of work ahead of me. I gained about 50 lbs. With this pregnancy. If I can lose 20 lbs. It will put me at my pre-pregnancy weight, which is still 30 lbs. More than what I'd like to weigh. Like I said, I have a lot of work ahead of me!!! I'm shooting to lose 15-20 lbs by christmas.
Starting weight: 185

Anonymous said...

Hi my name is Tonya. I am a mother to 2 girls and 3 step sons. I have been married for almost 2 years, I lost almost 40 lbs and then the past few years I have put that back on. I am very upset about that and am in need of a little push to get back on track! I have alot of health issues on both sides of the family and do not want to take on any of them. Heart problems and diabeties as well. I don't expect to win either but am doing this for myself not to win! Just needing some encouragement and a push to get through this! My goal weight will be between 130-135, that will not happen in the next 8 weeks but will be extremely happy with what i do lose! My starting weight is 187.

kimberly said...

Heather... thanks for the post. You know I've been trying to get this right for over a year now, but I think my head is finally on straight for a change.
I need to/have to lose 25 pounds and I'm setting a goal of 15 pounds from now to Christmas.
I've been on the healthy track before, and somehow lost my focus.
Hope all is well for you....

Anonymous said...

Oy.....here goes. I am Kathryn - the ones who know and love me call me Kate and I am a 28 year old mother of one. This is my first year in college and I seem to have made it my personal mission to maintain the tradition of the "Freshman 15" only, being an overachiever, I've made it more like 20. So, bottom line (ew, no pun intended):

Current weight: 166 lbs

Goal Weight: 146 lbs

Also, Zumba is my new best friend. That's all.