Countdown To Christmas Support Thread

[PunkyCindy]

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...Ok, so I'm a little early, but before you know it Christmas will be here. I'm starting this thread for anyone who wants to make significant progress by Christmas. As of 8/31/12 there are 116 days till Christmas and I want to be significantly closer to my goal by then. This isn't going to be a competition with a spreadsheet and everything, just a place to hang out and lend support to each other.

I'd encourage you to keep up with your progress and weigh in weekly for accountability even though this isn't a formal comp, but that's your choice.

Let's melt away those lbs....like Frosty. lol

[ribera1980]

Gday, im thinking about a Christmas deadline too! Probably not to hit target, but at least measurable progress. All the best with your plans mate.

[middylep]

Count me in, I'm going to need support the day OF christmas too. My family goes all out on the food. It's hard saying no.

[Etharian]

I'm down for this, but my closer goal is Thanksgiving. That is my big family holiday and will be the first time my family sees me since I started losing weight in July.

edit:
I am about 182 right now at 5'11". I won't be back home until tomorrow to weigh in for sure though.

Hoping to be down in the low 160s are even 150s by Thanksgiving.

[WunSen]

iv got around 8-10 more ibs to lose then can start bulking around christmas time so can enjoy a nice big christmas dinner

[live4gs]

Since the holidays are so tough, count me in as well. Still a Friday check in? (Except after thanksgiving, should weigh in on Wednesday)

[Winfamy]

Count me in! Weighing in tomorrow, will take the chance to post my story when I do

[earthshieldlol]

imma be so jacked & so tan by christmas.

but no forreal, if there's two things i love it's the holidays & getting in shape. count me in.

[PunkyCindy]

Whoo hoo....glad to have some company here. Fridays for weigh ins sounds good to me.

I'm starting out at 192 lbs.....off to do errands, will post more later.

[Ummabeast]

I'll join in on this thread. To help motivate people.
And gather motivation.
I can't workout for a while.
And will be through this tough process of rehabbing my foot. I just had surgery on.

So I will just stick around to keep myself in check and not over indulge on food while unable to workout.

Stay strong everybody. Weight loss is tough, but life is tougher for each pound of fat you gain.

[Winfamy]

Hiya. Think it's about time to start logging my progress and having so many people intent on doing the same is bound to keep me on track Sorry in advance for the (probably) long post, but I suppose giving the proper backstory is important to my current situation. I also apologize for any mistakes, English is not my native language.

Been overweight my whole life, a fact I had tried to hide from myself by striving to excel in every mental activity I ever took part in. Guess my hypercompetitive attitude comes from there, from trying so hard to justify looking how I looked and becoming what I eventually becoming by blaming it on natural selection but being alright with it because I was being the best at the things I did put effort in.

All of this contributed to me becoming very antisocial and mentally elitist, even if that was but a mask to hide how I truly felt about myself. Truth to be told despite what I tried to make myself believe, I had never liked myself one bit. Deep down I knew it was my fault I got pushed into that situation, but I became quite the adept at avoiding such thoughts and so I proceeded through life as an obese teenager. I suppose the fact that I never truly liked myself also explains all the failed relationships. How can you expect someone to love you when you hate yourself? As cliché as it sounds, I think it holds quite true to my own experience.

About a year ago, after yet another failed relationship, I finally sat down and did some introspection on what was truly wrong, what was preventing me from enjoying life to its fullest, what was preventing me from being the person I wanted to become. And well, the answer to all of those was myself. By putting so much effort into avoiding the things I wasn't sure I could succeed at I was effectively preventing myself from ever being truly happy or the person I knew I could become given enough effort.

Upon that realisation, changing was actually the easiest thing I have ever done. Sure, not laying on the couch all day or eating junk food every day of the week wasn't too great, but feeling like I felt my entire life was a million times worse. At the time I was about 250lbs and knew absolutely nothing about exercise or proper nutrition, but I had the most important thing and what I missed before - the will to go through whatever had to be done in order to get to where I wanted, to finally challenge myself in a physical plane.

Looking back it's hilarious how poorly executed my plan was, but I can't help but smile at my then newly found determination Must've been eating like 800-900 calories a day with absolutely no clue on what macros were while doing 3-4 hours of cardio every day.

Did I starve as hell? Yeah. Could it have been done a million times better? If I had known about BB.com then, definitely. Did it work? Well yeah, I got down to 150lbs about 6 months later, though I was an absolute twig with no mass to speak of.

At that point people were telling me how much better I looked, but I knew I wasn't satisfied. Physically I still wasn't the person I wanted to be, even if I had come such a long way. After so much work, stopping at skinny fat just didn't cut it for me. So I started looking online on how to grow some muscle. Learned about bulking and jumped on it right away after 4 months of starvation. Started lifting (homemade plan with some dumbbells, you see where this is going don't you?), but I had no clue on how to properly count calories and all I focused on was getting ridiculous amounts of protein (like 2.5g/lb haha) because lots of protein = muscle right? Along with disregarding the importance of carbs and fats my surplus was way too high so it ended up being a fulk with very little muscle gain as my workout routine didn't allow for that even with the ridiculous surplus.

Around this time I discovered BB.com and didn't stop reading until I absorbed EVERY SINGLE THING there was to know about nutrition and proper working out. Best thing I ever did in regards to my physical well being

I started that bulk skinny fat (probably should've started it at a lower BF% and with a reasonable surplus, but that was a good learning experience haha) at about 14-15%, went up to 22-23% before realising I was doing something seriously wrong and I was becoming the person I had hated all my life again. So I've been slowly chipping away at a 1lb/week deficit and I'm currently at ~11% BF, 151lbs when I weighed in last saturday and hopefully 150 tomorrow

The current plan is to go down to about 8-9% BF and do a lean bulk (200-300 surplus) from there. Definitely not starting a bulk at 14% with a ridiculous surplus again haha. If all goes well I should get to my desired BF% in about 6 weeks or so and I can't see it going any other way now that I've found so many people also doing their best to become the person they want to be.

Think that's all for the lengthy intro. Definitely come a long way, but have an even longer one ahead of me, doing this for life will be posting as regularly as possible and also keeping track of everyone's progress along with helping out in every way and shape I can!

Will weigh in tomorrow as I had planned, but if everyone weighs in on friday I'll switch to friday starting next week

[JChase27]

I'm in. My next goal was 190 by Christmas anyway. About 4 months, 23 lbs. Should be achievable. I set the bar a little low actually, so I fully expect to go beyond that.

[Ummabeast]

I'm in. My next goal was 190 by Christmas anyway. About 4 months, 23 lbs. Should be achievable. I set the bar a little low actually, so I fully expect to go beyond that.

It won't be easy, but it won't be as hard as you think. As long as diet is in check.
Push yourself hard, beyond your limits. Your mind will give out before your body does

[IVAN305]

im in! im 5'6 started at 215 now im at 155-160 want to get to around 145 by nov/dec. (the sooner the better btw tmrw is my first 5k obstacle race course at a local park!

[Gymmysmits]

Good luck everyone. Thanksgiving is going to be a speed bump for me lol.

[xdjmtx]

In on this. Currently 175 lbs. Had a cut from 220 to 175 from June to present.

Working on cutting till around 145/150, then lean bulking to 170.

Hopefully I have started my lean bulk right before Christmas.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE

[Tacomaster]

Count me in, I'm going to need support the day OF christmas too. My family goes all out on the food. It's hard saying no.

Yeah no kidding it makes you feel like an outcast meanwhile they're rubbing all the delicious food in your face teasing you with it.. argh.

brb candy canes
brb cheese popcorn, butter popcorn and caramel popcorn
brb egg nog
brb red velvet cake
brb swiss colony chocolate,

Anyway It's my second--almost third week on my cut and I've lost 9 pounds so far, down from 291 to 282. Good luck to everyone I'm sure we're going to need it .

[PunkyCindy]

Gday, im thinking about a Christmas deadline too! Probably not to hit target, but at least measurable progress. All the best with your plans mate.

Welcome and good luck, no way I'll make my goal by Christmas, but we'll get closer.

Count me in, I'm going to need support the day OF christmas too. My family goes all out on the food. It's hard saying no.

I know right, this year I'm going to have to find new ways to celebrate other than baking for my kids...maybe christmas themed bento.

I'm down for this, but my closer goal is Thanksgiving. That is my big family holiday and will be the first time my family sees me since I started losing weight in July.

edit:
I am about 182 right now at 5'11". I won't be back home until tomorrow to weigh in for sure though.

Hoping to be down in the low 160s are even 150s by Thanksgiving.

thanksgiving is a killer, but I'm cooking so instead of sweet potato casserole it'll be plain sweet potatoes, instead of green bean casserole, fresh green beans.... anyway, people are just gonna have to deal

iv got around 8-10 more ibs to lose then can start bulking around christmas time so can enjoy a nice big christmas dinner

good luck on these last 10

Since the holidays are so tough, count me in as well. Still a Friday check in? (Except after thanksgiving, should weigh in on Wednesday)

friday sounds good to me...lol about thanksgiving.

Count me in! Weighing in tomorrow, will take the chance to post my story when I do

welcome

imma be so jacked & so tan by christmas.

but no forreal, if there's two things i love it's the holidays & getting in shape. count me in.

welcome!

[PunkyCindy]

I'll join in on this thread. To help motivate people.
And gather motivation.
I can't workout for a while.
And will be through this tough process of rehabbing my foot. I just had surgery on.

So I will just stick around to keep myself in check and not over indulge on food while unable to workout.

Stay strong everybody. Weight loss is tough, but life is tougher for each pound of fat you gain.

how have you been? Glad to see you here, you're so encouraging

Hiya. Think it's about time to start logging my progress and having so many people intent on doing the same is bound to keep me on track Sorry in advance for the (probably) long post, but I suppose giving the proper backstory is important to my current situation. I also apologize for any mistakes, English is not my native language.

Been overweight my whole life, a fact I had tried to hide from myself by striving to excel in every mental activity I ever took part in. Guess my hypercompetitive attitude comes from there, from trying so hard to justify looking how I looked and becoming what I eventually becoming by blaming it on natural selection but being alright with it because I was being the best at the things I did put effort in.

All of this contributed to me becoming very antisocial and mentally elitist, even if that was but a mask to hide how I truly felt about myself. Truth to be told despite what I tried to make myself believe, I had never liked myself one bit. Deep down I knew it was my fault I got pushed into that situation, but I became quite the adept at avoiding such thoughts and so I proceeded through life as an obese teenager. I suppose the fact that I never truly liked myself also explains all the failed relationships. How can you expect someone to love you when you hate yourself? As cliché as it sounds, I think it holds quite true to my own experience.

About a year ago, after yet another failed relationship, I finally sat down and did some introspection on what was truly wrong, what was preventing me from enjoying life to its fullest, what was preventing me from being the person I wanted to become. And well, the answer to all of those was myself. By putting so much effort into avoiding the things I wasn't sure I could succeed at I was effectively preventing myself from ever being truly happy or the person I knew I could become given enough effort.

Upon that realisation, changing was actually the easiest thing I have ever done. Sure, not laying on the couch all day or eating junk food every day of the week wasn't too great, but feeling like I felt my entire life was a million times worse. At the time I was about 250lbs and knew absolutely nothing about exercise or proper nutrition, but I had the most important thing and what I missed before - the will to go through whatever had to be done in order to get to where I wanted, to finally challenge myself in a physical plane.

Looking back it's hilarious how poorly executed my plan was, but I can't help but smile at my then newly found determination Must've been eating like 800-900 calories a day with absolutely no clue on what macros were while doing 3-4 hours of cardio every day.

Did I starve as hell? Yeah. Could it have been done a million times better? If I had known about BB.com then, definitely. Did it work? Well yeah, I got down to 150lbs about 6 months later, though I was an absolute twig with no mass to speak of.

At that point people were telling me how much better I looked, but I knew I wasn't satisfied. Physically I still wasn't the person I wanted to be, even if I had come such a long way. After so much work, stopping at skinny fat just didn't cut it for me. So I started looking online on how to grow some muscle. Learned about bulking and jumped on it right away after 4 months of starvation. Started lifting (homemade plan with some dumbbells, you see where this is going don't you?), but I had no clue on how to properly count calories and all I focused on was getting ridiculous amounts of protein (like 2.5g/lb haha) because lots of protein = muscle right? Along with disregarding the importance of carbs and fats my surplus was way too high so it ended up being a fulk with very little muscle gain as my workout routine didn't allow for that even with the ridiculous surplus.

Around this time I discovered BB.com and didn't stop reading until I absorbed EVERY SINGLE THING there was to know about nutrition and proper working out. Best thing I ever did in regards to my physical well being

I started that bulk skinny fat (probably should've started it at a lower BF% and with a reasonable surplus, but that was a good learning experience haha) at about 14-15%, went up to 22-23% before realising I was doing something seriously wrong and I was becoming the person I had hated all my life again. So I've been slowly chipping away at a 1lb/week deficit and I'm currently at ~11% BF, 151lbs when I weighed in last saturday and hopefully 150 tomorrow

The current plan is to go down to about 8-9% BF and do a lean bulk (200-300 surplus) from there. Definitely not starting a bulk at 14% with a ridiculous surplus again haha. If all goes well I should get to my desired BF% in about 6 weeks or so and I can't see it going any other way now that I've found so many people also doing their best to become the person they want to be.

Think that's all for the lengthy intro. Definitely come a long way, but have an even longer one ahead of me, doing this for life will be posting as regularly as possible and also keeping track of everyone's progress along with helping out in every way and shape I can!

Will weigh in tomorrow as I had planned, but if everyone weighs in on friday I'll switch to friday starting next week

Here's to you deciding to change you're life. Good luck reaching your goals.

I'm in. My next goal was 190 by Christmas anyway. About 4 months, 23 lbs. Should be achievable. I set the bar a little low actually, so I fully expect to go beyond that.

good luck!

im in! im 5'6 started at 215 now im at 155-160 want to get to around 145 by nov/dec. (the sooner the better btw tmrw is my first 5k obstacle race course at a local park!

good luck on your race!

[PunkyCindy]

Good luck everyone. Thanksgiving is going to be a speed bump for me lol.

it doesn't have to be

In on this. Currently 175 lbs. Had a cut from 220 to 175 from June to present.

Working on cutting till around 145/150, then lean bulking to 170.

Hopefully I have started my lean bulk right before Christmas.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE

perfect timing for you then

[JChase27]

It won't be easy, but it won't be as hard as you think. As long as diet is in check.
Push yourself hard, beyond your limits. Your mind will give out before your body does

I think I've gotten into too much of a comfort zone. The 35 lbs. I lost over the summer seemed like a piece of cake but progress definitely slowed towards the end. I lost my motivation to get into the gym over the last month, but I'm starting to get back into it. And I'm walking probably a few miles to class every day now which I wasn't doing over the summer. I just need to find that motivation again, and it sounds a lot easier than it is.

[Winfamy]

Here's to you deciding to change you're life. Good luck reaching your goals.

Thank you Sure makes you wonder how we're able to be so miserable for so long and not think of changing til much later *sigh* thankfully I'm on the right track now and I very much doubt I'll ever let myself get to that point again, had enough of that for a lifetime!

[Ummabeast]

@PunkyCindy

I've been doing good
Watching what I'm eating.
Getting in what working out I Can.
No lower body.
Besides hopping around on crutches.(which is a workout in itself)

Not in as much pain, but still some.
I go back in a week to see about taking the pin out they put in to hold the bone in place.

They made 5 different incisions.. gonna have hellish scars.

But all is healing good.
And don't feel I've gained much if any weight being stationary.

Thank you for asking.

How is your journey going?!.

[dragonmwt]

I have a Cruise to the Bahamas the first part of December. I want to loss a little more weight so I will jump in here. Whats up everyone? I may do a little of a re-comp so if that is cool.

[Monkey Wrench]

I'll be hanging around here, but won't post my weight til tomorrow. Tomorrow marks 8 weeks on my cut; I started at 207lbs and my goal is to hit 185lbs tomorrow morning if everything goes my way.

[krete77]

i'Ll jUsT THroW tHiS iN hERE noW.

- happy labor day
- happy veterans day
- happy halloween
- happy thanksgiving
- happy hanakuh
- happy..ahem..merry christmas.

[Winfamy]

i'Ll jUsT THroW tHiS iN hERE noW.

- happy labor day
- happy veterans day
- happy halloween
- happy thanksgiving
- happy hanakuh
- happy..ahem..merry christmas.

No one said it'd be easy, they only said it'd be worth it

[Voxmusculus]

I'm in! Although, I started clean bulking recently, so this will be a transformation for me rather than weight loss (bulk 2.5 months then cut).

I'm sure the old June supoort crew will join in, so this should be fun.

[Samamo]

In. Got a music festival coming up 2nd December. Would like to lose about 20lbs over the next 13 weeks

[Earlbolus]

Hey guys! Good to see many old faces

Today my weight is 208.6. For anyone that want's a chart, you can copy mine:

Countdown to Christmas:
9-1: 208.6 | 9-7: xxx | 9-14: xxx | 9-21: xxx | 9-28: xxx | Month Total: xxx
10-5: xxx | 10-12: xxx | 10-19: xxx | 10-26: xxx | Month Total: xxx
11-2: xxx | 11-9: xxx | 11-16: xxx | 11-23: xxx | 11-30: xxx | Month Total: xxx
12-7: xxx | 12-14: xxx | 12-21: xxx | Three Weeks Total: xxx
Final Christmas Weigh-in | 12-25: xxx |

September - Christmas Total: xxx