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,