HealthyLoserGal FIVE POUND Club... are you IN?

Where will you be a year from now?  What are the fitness and/or weight loss goals you'd like to achieve in the next twelve months?  Do they seem achievable to you today?

I'd like to have you join me in a journey to lose five (5) pounds.  Just five pounds.  A month. : )  Every month of this new year of 2017 or until you've reached your healthy weight!

I know the overwhelming feeling it is to face having to lose a great deal of weight.  I was morbidly obese once and know the fatigue the weight puts on your body and your self-esteem.  You think there is NO WAY you'll be able to lose the weight.  But I'm betting on you - believing that you can set your sites on losing five pounds and that you'll be able to achieve it.  And then we'll do it again.  Five pounds at a time.  Before you know it, we'll have lost 20 pounds and then 35 and then 50 and, finally, next Christmas or Hanukkah time, we will be 60 pounds lighter and so much healthier! 

Tomorrow is the 3rd of January and will be Day 1 of the Healthy Loser Gal 5 Pound Club Challenge. The January #HLG5lbClub challenger will end on January 31st when we'll celebrate out 5 pound losses!  On February 1st we pick back up again and set another 5 pound goal for that month.

So how do you lose the weight in a month?  Science has long held that if you decrease your food intake by 500 calories per day times seven days of the week, you'll have a 3500 calorie deficit which adds up to one pound lost.  Sometimes this works for people and sometimes it doesn't.  I, personally, will be walking more and exercising with weights to help boost the calories I'll be reducing through cutting out sugary soda and meal-end sweets.  

There are tons of apps to help you count calories burned and log your food which I suggest you give a whole-hearted try! : )  Logging helps you realize the food that you casually may snack on during the day or evening without giving much thought to but that add up quickly when you log the amounts!

I will be on Twitter and Instagram and hope to see others use the #HLG5lbClub hashtag so we can offer support to one another as the challenge starts and continues!  Relying on friends to help you through a difficult day is a great way to realize you're not the only one craving chocolate or not wanting to go out to walk in 30 degree temps! 

If we truly COMMIT to the challenge and set our sites on only five pounds at a time, I know we can do this!

I hope you're in the Club with me!!


Dream. Believe. (Work hard!) Achieve! 
Jan / HealthyLoserGal

HLG 30 DAY CHALLENGE: Step it UP September

I don't know how you're doing, but I am ready for a little September SUCCESS! : ) I'm putting away the "oh, its summer, I'll walk (bike, swim, run) off these extra pounds this summer... no worries" lies to myself and getting off of my high horse and taking *action*!

There are dumb goals and there are SMART goals and I'm into the smart kind after years of finding out the dumb ones only lead to further despair and unhealthy behaviors!  SMART goals are all about Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Restricted goals.    In other words: they're the right kind of goals to set.

September for me is going to be about losing weight and shaping up.  I haven't been journaling my food and have gained weight. I tore my meniscus in April and was inactive all summer because of the pain involved in just getting around. But I'm healing up well and it is time (doctor approved, too!) to get back at being healthy!

I'd love to have you join me in the September fitness and weight loss challenge.  I'll be tweeting about it using the #hlgStepUpSept hashtag.  Let me know here in the Comments or on Twitter or Instagram if you'd like to join in! : )

When I was morbidly obese and set out on this journey, I was ECSTATIC to be able to complete one loop around the high school gym track.  That is a quarter of a mile.  I did it without having to stop and I thought I'd won the Olympic gold!  So if you're worried about starting and not being able to keep up - don't worry... I've BEEN THERE! ; )  You have to dig down deep and realize that you have within you what it takes to conquer your old habits and reclaim your health. Push those negative thoughts away.  You CAN do this. I CAN do this. We ARE going to DO THIS!

Here are the #hlgStepUpSept challenge goals:

1)  Whatever you are doing for steps per day, make a SMART goal to double it by October 1st. I wear a FitBit so it is easy for me to count my steps but there are plenty of apps that will do it for you or buy yourself a good ole pedometer which are much less expensive than they were just five years ago.  My goal is to walk 2 miles daily for steps.

2)  Set a specific goal for your calories per day and follow your plan.  I've never liked the phrase "oh, I cheated on my diet last night".  No, you didn't cheat on some fantasy diet, you cheated yourself.  You let your self-discipline slip and gave into cravings which will not make buttoning that top button on your skinny jeans button any easier. I, sadly, know this from experience! ; )  THIS will be the hardest part of the challenge for me... keeping within my planned food and journaling what I have eaten daily.  It is SO worth the effort, but - when I have slipped up - so hard to admit to.

3) Drink water or unsweetened ice tea or lemon water ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT long.  Water flushes out toxins in our fatty tissue and helps our vital organs, our skin, our metabolism.  When you drink a lot of water you don't become hydrated and you will feel more energized.  (And yes, you'll become very familiar with the path to the nearest rest room the first week or so until your body is used to you not starving it for H2o!)  ; )

4) Journal for yourself for how you're doing, positive thoughts, encourage yourself in your writing, and also encourage others in the challenge, too, on Twitter, in the comments here, through Instagram and on Facebook.  I like to hand write my goals every morning in blue ink (studies show that blue ink on white paper is proven to give better stimuli to the brain!) and then I usually - okay, this is a little over the top but it helps me, you'll have to find your own way to encourage yourself - find and write a positive quote to get my day started.  And, for me, this works!

I'll be checking in on Twitter every day as I can (while working full-time) and hope you'll join me in this month of Stepping Up our September SUCCESS! : )

Here's to our health!

Dream! Believe! Achieve!
HealthyLoserGal ./ Jan

Gift of Fitness Challenge Check-In: Week 4

So how are you doing after three full weeks?  Are you feeling motivated?  What have your non-scale victories (NSVs) been?  What are your challenges to staying on track? 

I'm SO impressed with how you're encouraging one another on the blog and Facebook.  My friends, you are the best!  Believe in yourself and your own abilities every bit as much as you encourage one another!

Dream.

Believe.

Work hard.

Achieve!

Jan/HealthyLoserGal

Gift of Fitness Challenge Check-In: Week #1

Sometimes the first week of the challenge can be the easiest (because we're all fired up to make changes) or the worst (because we're pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones), so no matter which it is for you, let's support one another by using the Comments section to check in. 

How are you doing?  What changes are you making?  What are you learning that you can share with other challengers?

Dream.
Believe.
Work hard.
Achieve.

We CAN do this, friends!  Nothing is in our way but ourselves! :)