A New Year for a New You Challenge!!!

[lsunrae]

Hi Everyone, so if any of you are like me you really want to lose some weight and just get healthy this next yr. I have been struggling with this for awhile and then last yr finally got a better grip on it. One of the things that helped me was a wonderful success story from a friend of mine that encouraged me to get going and to get serious.

So here is the challenge Dec 31-Jan 6th: Everyone in the Challenge has to send me a success story either one of their own or one of a friend of theirs. Plus if you want (not required for Challenge) you can add what your own personal goals are for this yr with Health and Fitness. My email is lsunrae@yahoo.com Please note if it would be ok for me to share your stories in the forum at the end of the challenge.I am extending this challenge until Saturday night January 9th. So if you would like to share your story you will have more time. Thanks

I will go through the stories and pick the 2 most inspiring to me and these people will win 2 free files!!!

Please have fun with this and in the end I would like to share my own personal success story to all of you!!!

Thank you
Crystal Little
Little creations by Crystal

[ChrisDurnan]

I must say one of the ladies that inspires me in my life is my MIL. It does not matter what happens she finds the positive outlook. She had major surgery mid year 2009 and is already back to walking 3 miles a day and has just had a scan and is cancer free. She lives daily on 10-15% of her heart functioning, but she keeps on going. She quit smoking when she had a heart attack a few years ago. She inspires me because of her positive outlook and her desire to "LIVE".

Thanks for jumping in for a challenge Crystal.

I think this is Crystal's first. So I hope it goes awesome!
Enjoy!
Chris

[rsmobley85]

Thanks for posting this challenge for the members Crystal. This will be very interesting.

I dont have a success story as of yet, as im still in the same boat, LOL!

So my goals for the new year, as I don't make resolutions, just goals and try and make them work. Is Lose some weight.

I already have 24 medical problems, so every day is a struggle for me, but my main problem is weight as I can not walk far or exercise, And I gained a lot of weight after my hysterectomy when I was 28, and cant seem to loose it for any thing.


My DH, has had 3 mild strokes at age 37 and just turned 45, and had to Cochlear ear implants in the past 3 months, so he can now hear, but still needs to loose some weight for his blood pressure to come down.

So our goal for this year is to eat more healthy, His doctor has put him on a NO CARB diet, it worked for a few weeks, he lost 10 lbs, I gained 6, (Whats that about?) But I found out he was going to McDonalds for breakfast, and he gained it back, so with the Holidays, we just stopped, but Plan to go back to it Jan 1.

Goal 1- Keep Hubby away from fast food restaurants
Goal 2- Loose a few lbs.


I want us both to be here for our Children, Weddings and future grandbabies.

Here's to hoping for a healthier new year.

Any NO Carb recipes would be greatly appreciated.
rsmobley85@gmail.com


Sharon

[Games]

What a great challenge. I'll have to think of a good one. ;)

[lsunrae]

Sharon,
You all have been through alot, I will pray that God will give you both the strength to do this food adventure. Food is my biggest enemy I used to say that I wasn't addicted to anything and then one day I realized that I am very addicted to food. For some reason it can't be the healthy food it is always the junk food. God brought a wonderful woman into my life that helped me tremendously in this area. When the challenge is done I am going to share my story in the forum so stay tuned because a healthy weight is not unreachable!!!

In Christ Name
Crystal

[rsmobley85]

Thank you Crystal. I will be watching for your post.

The 4 of us are looking forward to going back on the no carb diet. We did feel better on it, not so bloated feeling. My husband said he was feeling weak from the withdrawl of no carbs and that is what sent him back to his addiction to McDonals. LOL! I do shopping this weekend at Sams, to load up on chicken breast, Salad and Frozen Veggies,

After cooking for 25 years, and being taught that you need a Meat, Veggie and some kind of starch. Its a little hard to get away from but its not so bad, as long as you have the Baked chicken, Steamed veggies and a big salad, that is still 3 things. LOL!

Sharon

[lsunrae]

Sharon,
Adjusting to a different way of eating is very difficult. I was taught about a yr ago that it is so important to have a Good Carb, protein and a good fat at every meal. That is actually what helped me lose more weight than anything else.
I somewhat fell off that wagon recently but as of last week I jumped back on. I need all the strength I can get to say no to the cookies!!!!

It does get easier once you are in the swing of it.

Crystal

[rsmobley85]

Crystal.

I would really be interested is learning more about this from you if your willing to share.

You can email me off list if you like.

Thanks
Sharon

[hrk_md]

What an interesting challenge.
My success story has now been a little over a year in the making. October 2008 I was diagnosed with a quadriceps tear in my left quad. I had to stop running and any other exercise for 8 weeks and then start back very slowly with physical therapy. In that time I also put on 20 pounds. Starting December 2008, I started running at 4 mph for 5 minutes and doing physical therapy to rebuild the muscle. It was a long road back and definitely had ups and setbacks, but as of the end of 2009, I am down 10 pounds (10 more to go in 2010), but I am running between 4-6 miles every other day.
What I learned is you have to be patient and work at what you want.
Heather

[lsunrae]

4-6 miles every other day? That is a goal that I would like to achieve. I just started jogging on my treadmill. I have always just walked and I have got to say that the jogging gets me really going. I feel awesome when I am done!! I can only jog for about 7 min at 5 mph. I am hoping that here soon I can get up to going for about 10 min at 5mph. Thanks for your story!!!

Crystal

[rsmobley85]

Wow, that's awesome.

I wish I was free to walk a good distance, I cant even walk down the street to walk my dog. Walking the grocery store does me in for several days.

This is my biggest problem, I cant exercise. I wont even get in to all that.

Wishing every one sucsess in their weight loss endevors its a daily battle.

Sharon

[ChrisDurnan]

awesome share Heather! that is awesome. I need to find that push to keep at it. :-)

[hrk_md]

Crystal-
My treadmill is my best friend, that is where I do most of my running either listening to my favorite music or watching TV. Just keep pushing and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish, but my PT told me to take it up no more than 10% a week either in terms or time or speed, so that is a rule I tried to really follow.
Good luck and remember it s long journey, not a short sprint.
Heather

[rlovew]

My success story is from last spring- I really wanted to lose about 10 pounds for our anniversary trip. I went to having a large salad(I have never used dressing and love various raw vegtables so I can have a huge one for less than 250 calories) for lunch every day and eating sensibly the rest of the day with only a couple of types of junk food around and then I walked 3-4 times a week (2 miles each time) and used our exercise bike 3 times a week for 20 miuters a time and in 1.5 months lost the ten pounds. it really didn't feel easy but when we returned from the trip I went basck to old habbits.

I am determined to lose some weight this year and keep it off so my goals for this year-
1- walk at the park 3 times a week (at least a mile)
2- use exercise bike at least 3 times per week 920 minutes)
3- do walking exercise videos 2 times a week- work my way up from 1 - 3 mile video
4- eat sensibly

Rebecca

[lsunrae]

Hey all I wanted to share this email with you all of a great story of inspiration that was shared by a new member of our forum. It touched me very much!!
Thanks Sabra and welcome to the forum it is great to have you!!!

Crystal


I am brand new to your forum, as of this evening. I began doing papercrafts this past October and did very well at some local craft shows. Thus, my new obsession with papercraft gifts. I happened across your forum tonight and when I came across this challenge, I knew I had to respond. I would be proud and honored if your share my story of inspiration.

I am the proud mother of two wonderful children. A handsome son, Garrett, age 15, and my beautiful daughter, Hailee, 13. (Can you tell already how prejudiced I am! lol). My daughter has always been a straight "A" student with hardly any effort at all. At age 3 and 1/2 she came to me with a book and wanted to read it to me. I sat down with her, prepared for her to tell me a made up story, and to my unbelievable surprise, she proceeded to read it to me (a Kindergarten book that was my son's). I knew that God had given me a very gifted little girl. She has continued to amaze me ever since.

My son, on the other hand, has wonderful talents of his own. He has been a gifted artist since a very young age. He is now a phenomenal guitar player, skateboarder, snowboarder and all around dare-devil. (14 broken bones from his crazy antics). Hence the multitude of gray hair at age 46. But, school has been a definite challenge for him since day one. He was "officially" diagnosed with ADD in 2nd grade. We avoided the medication route and opted to just give him extra assistance. He has struggled through school year after year. Barely passing last year. After further testing at the end of the last school year, they figured out that he has a very slow processing speed and an above average IQ. With this combination, he is able to learn but it just takes him longer to process every thing. He came to us at that time and asked us if he could try medication. I believe he's at the age where he can have a hand in that decision. So we agreed. He started high school this year on medication. My son, who has always struggled even when doing 4-6 hours of homework on a regular basis since grade school, went from a "D"-"F" student to now an "A"-"B" student. My pride for him is overwhelming. He has taught so many people around him that you should never give up, you should always do your best, even when others may not believe you are. Determination and hard work does pay off. He still spends 2 or 3 hours a night on homework, but FINALLY he is seeing positive results.

My goal for the year is to be more like him. When i get discouraged about something, I just need to keep on keeping on and not let things that are out of my control get me down. This is going to be a great year, I feel it in my bones (thankfully not broken ones. lol!) Thank you for giving me the opportunity to brag about the two most precious gifts that I have been given in my lifetime. We should all work hard and do our best in all aspects of our life. Thanks again.

Sabra

[ChrisDurnan]

And those are truly inspiring stories! Thank you for sharing them.

[cropangel]

This year my goal is to continue to eat healthy and just because it is a 100 calorie of something does not mean it is always good for you. I do weight watchers and when i first began i weighed in at 267 pounds now I weight between 160-165 I still would like to lose about 10 pounds so I have created my own weight watchers journal and even used part of the january grab bag on it.
When i first began ww i could not exercise much i could get on my eleptical and go for about 3 min now i can go for about 45 min one goal i would like to do this year is to run a 5K i am not a runner so this will be a challenge for me. My dr before losing the weight was concerned as i was having high blood pressure and my blood sugar numbers were increasing and my cholesterol was ok now all the numbers are good and my last visit she told me if she had not known me before she would of thought i was always someone who exercised.
I now work for weight watchers as a receptionist and really love helping others out. My family has been very supportive and am glad i made this lifestyle change. I could put more but this is the jist of things going on and what i am doing to still improve this year.



I am going to put pictures of me and of my journal too.

Sheryl

[Games]

Those are some great stories.

Sheryl - You look wonderful. This is awesome that now your really healthy. :D Keep it up!

[hrk_md]

Sheryl-
Wow that is truly inspiring. My mom has been on a weight loss journey of her own and has lost over 100 pounds as well. I have so much respect and admiration for what she and you have both accomplished.

That is a wonderful story by Sabra.
Heather

[lsunrae]

Sheryl,
You look incredible!!!! Oh that just get's me so excited. I have about 15 more pounds to go and I will be at my goal.

These stories are awesome!! I love it!!

Crystal

[phonemommy]

Crystal,
Was wondering when you are going to post your story of success. Been checking since last night, anxiously awaiting it!!

[lsunrae]

I will be posting it tomorrow, I posted a new thread saying that I will announce winners tomorrow. This weekend and Today have been crazy, I am usually on my PC by atleast 9 am. So it is now almost 7 pm and I am finally on here. So yey I will post it tomorrow!! Thanks

Crystal

[bzyPTmom28]

Sheryl, you look amazing--way to go!!! I think WW is a WONDERFUL program, I'd still be on it if I hadn't gotten a medical diagnosis that doesn't let me do that anymore--I know it sounds strange, but I have a really weird autoimmune disease and a really limited diet. I did lose 50 pounds on WW, unfortunately all the drugs they've put me on to try to control the disease made me gain most of it back. But I'm having more intensive testing tomorrow and hopefully they will have an answer. I think exercise is your best friend at maintaining and keeping the weight off---I discovered I love to exercise--not competetively, I hated phys ed as a kid but I love to move. Helps that my job is ALL about exercise--and moving and health. Good luck in your 5K and great news about all your great health improvements!

[lsunrae]

Hello, I would like to announce the winners of the New Yr, New You challenge and here they are..........

SABRA and SHERYL !!!!!!! Congrats girls you have won two free files from Little Creations.

I will be posting soon how exactly you can get those files!!!



Crystal

[cropangel]

I posted on the other thread but I am glad to have wom something yeah!!

congrats to sabra too

now to just continue doing what i have set out to do this year so far am on a roll and have journaled each day since i made my journal.

Sheryl

[rsmobley85]

Congrats to the winners. I enjoyed reading all the stories.

Sharon

[phonemommy]

Thank you Crystal and to all the comments on my story. Was excited to see I won but as you all can probably tell... I'm a winner everyday because of God's blessings on my life. Congrats to you to you also, Sheryl. What a great job you've done. Thanks again!! Hope everyone has a great day. Oh, also, take a moment and please pray for all the victims and family members of the horrific earthquake in Haitti.

[lsunrae]

Your very welcome Sabra, and I did post my story on the other thread.

Thanks for requesting the prayer for Haiti, it is so sad, My prayers are with them!!!


Crystal

[aussie_caz]

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all for sharing their wonderful stories!