At the start of 2008, I set an ambitious goal for myself. I weighed 207 pounds with 33% body fat. I decided that I wanted to lose 40 pounds by the end of the year. It didn’t happen.
First of all, it took me a long time to get started toward my fitness goals. I mostly sat around and wrote about getting fit instead of doing anything about it. It wasn’t until a Get Fit Slowly reader prodded me into action that I was able to get off my butt and get to the gym.
Two steps forward, one step back
For several months, I did well. I exercised. I tried to watch my food intake. (I ate healthfully for me, but that’s not saying a lot.) By mid-summer, I had dropped 20 pounds and was down to 26% body fat.
Then, of course, I injured myself while training for the marathon. Several of you &madsh; most notably Greenman2001 — cautioned me that I was ignoring the “slowly” part of my mantra. I didn’t heed your warnings. Instead, I kept plowing ahead.
When a family health crisis occurred and my nagging injury did not improve, I lost my focus. I was able to tread water for a couple of months, but by November I was starting to put on weight. Now, at the end of the year, I’m back up to 197 pounds and 31% body fat.
It would be easy to become frustrated by this turn of events. Actually, however, I’m pleased. Sure, I wish I’d kept off the weight I’d lost, but look at the net gain for 2008. I lost 10 pounds. That’s not a lot, I know, and my current habits are poor, but it is progress.
A brand new day
My goal for 2009 is more modest than 2008. I’m not going to try to lose 40 pounds. I’m going to try to lose 20. I know I can do it. I’d done it by mid-year last year. If I can get down to 177, then I only have to maintain for the year to meet the goal. More than that, however, I want to change my diet so it’s healthier still. (I’m eating better than I was at the start of 2008, but still have my weaknesses.)
I went to the gym yesterday to renew my membership. As soon as I’m finished writing this, I’ll get out of bed, put on my gym clothes, and exercise for the first time in a month. It’s going to feel good.
What about you? Did you meet your fitness goals for 2008? Whether you did or you didn’t, are you happy with your progress? What are your objectives for 2009?
Though I may not post as often in the coming months, I’ll still be here, and I still plan to share my progress. I hope you’ll join me.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds to me like you had good success even if it isn’t what you set out for. From a pure weight loss standpoint I didn’t have the success in 2008 I had HOPED for. In 2009 I’m looking to do more than HOPE.
We have fairly similar goals except I only wanted to run a quarter marathon. I wildly exceeded my fitness goals by managing to run a half marathon instead in under 2 hours. I was a bit optimistic with my weightloss goals in that I wanted to lose about 60 pounds but did manage to lose 40 so I’m still overall very pleased.
Thanks for the inspiration and thoughts guys.
I haven’t been around in a while, but thought I’d pipe up anyway. My goals for 2008 were to finish a 10k, ideally in under an hour, and then get pregnant.
My husband and I trained through the winter–getting used to running in 30º and snow was the highlight, no kidding–and ran a 10k together at the end of May. I finished in 1:04, a three-minute improvement over my fastest time, and he finished in 1:00:18. I couldn’t have been more pleased!
I quit running regularly over the summer, since I was teaching 3x/week and prepping 24/7, but I did bike about 25-35 miles a week to get to campus and the chiropractor across town. I ended up losing “that last 5 pounds” with what felt like minimal effort. I attribute it to going off the Pill, but biking 3-5 days a week certainly didn’t hurt. I am a HUGE fan of unintentional exercise.
In late August, I got pregnant. So both missions were accomplished!
My goal for this year is to do as much walking and slow jogging as I can, as long as I can before I deliver in May, and get back to it as soon as I can comfortably do so afterwards. No distance or time or weight goals, just hanging on to some basic fitness so I can get through early motherhood with some energy left over to finish this dissertation…
JD, I think your attitude is just about right, as it gives you a perfect foundation to build on this year. Good luck to you and all this year!
Be sure to celebrate victories large and small. I started my fitness quest in April of this year and went for 284 to 224. Down to 23% bf. Goals are to get down to 15% bf and continue to keep the weight off. Would like to participate in a 10k in April and I think I can do it although it’ll take well over an hour at my current pace. Good luck!
Weight wise, I didn’t accomplish a lot: I lost 3 pounds net in 2008. Fitness-wise, though, I went from essentially sedentary to completing a 5K in August and a 4-mile run in November. I just signed up for an 8K in March that I’ve wanted to do for years (if any of you are in Chicago, the Shamrock Shuffle registration opened today!)
Perhaps most important, my husband started running with me this fall, and he enjoys it! It’s great to have a running partner – we motivate each other when the weather is crummy.
My only specific goals for 2009 are to finish that 8K in under an hour and to run in another 5K race I’ve wanted to do for a long time in September… and I want to complete the one hundred pushup challenge some time this year!
In short, I’m keeping the “slowly” idea in mind: I want these to be lasting lifestyle changes, not quick fixes. Good luck JD and Mac and all you readers, and happy new year!
I didn’t really have any fitness goals for 2008, which may have been a mistake, as I was off-and-on all year. Mostly off after the summer ended. I got a shock when I weighed myself around hallowe’en time! For 09 I’d like to get back to 130-ish lbs (which would be 13 from where I am now), to complete the CN Tower climb again, and to be able to lift the weights I could in 2005. Very doable, I think.
Not really fitness-related, but I’d also really like to challenge my stress, patience and anger levels (all related of course) this year, which are occasionally a real problem for me. Not sure how I can turn that into a SMART goal.
For myself, I rarely obsess about the scale anymore (although it would be nice to get down to 200 pounds). I focus more on improving something fitness wise. This year I want to get strong enough so that I can do some handstand pushups. I’m also going to focus more on making healthy meals for myself at home, as opposed to eating out so much. If I do that, I’ll be happy. Good luck to everyone, whatever your goals are!
- Dave
I originally found your fitness goal on your other blog, Get Rich Slowly. I commented there about my weight loss and the key to my success. Basically, my fitness goal for 2008 has been the same as it has been for the past 8 years. My goal is to walk at a fast pace for at least 35 minutes a day. This is in addition to whatever walking is required for my job. I just walk in my neighborhood. Gym memberships have been a waste of money for me. I just don’t like to work out at the gym. By finding something I like to do, I have been able to stick with it.
Sorry about the long post
A year ago I was 265 lbs (at only 5’10″), sedentary, and unhappy.
I decided on new years eve that being the fattest guy in the room was not a good thing. I took 2 weeks to figure out what I needed to do so I would loose weight safely and keep it off. I started a low calorie, balanced diet. On Jan 15 I went into the gym and worked out on the ellipse for about 15 minutes. It was the most I could do. I started with working out 3 times a week. The fist few weeks were painful, and hard, but I was seeing results, and feeling better.
By May, I had dropped 35 lbs, but I could tell I had a long way to go. I kept loosing about 2-3 lbs a week steadily until I hit 210 lbs. By then I was running 5K 3 or 4 times a week, doing a few weights, pushups, and trying to do a pull up.
Around June I could tell I was hitting a plateau. I stopped dropping weight, and stopped getting that “I feel alive” feeling from workouts. After talking with a friend, I started doing CrossFit. This took me to a whole new level, and have been doing it since then.
Today, I’m 190-195 lbs, and feel pretty good. I’m in the best shape of my life. My weight-loss has stalled a little, but I continue to see more muscle. I can run fast, do real pull ups, dips, lift 110 lbs over my head, run over 5k, do Olympic lifts, and managed to change my lifestyle for the best. As an added bonus, my wife joined me in my craziness, and has gotten in shape too.
My goals for 2009 are to run 5K in 20 minutes, do a muscle-up (http://www.beastskills.com/MuscleUp.htm) on the gymnastics rings, and drop down to around 175 lbs.
Mac, and J.D you guys have been a big help in my journey. I’ve shared a lot of the same frustrations, and victories that you guys have. Keep up the good work!
Even if it was long, great post anyway Miguel!
I didn’t really have any goals going into 2008, but late last year I made up my mind that I need to get into better shape, and spent the last few weeks figuring out how to do it in a way that I can maintain it.
So I’m starting out with things that I’ve already done well with and can improve on. I haven’t lost weight from this, but I haven’t gained weight either. I’m cutting out soda completely (I had gone from 2-3 diet Cokes a day to 1 every couple of days last year), cutting down on my Starbucks budget again (last year I probably got through the year on $100 for Starbucks, after having spent $50/month in 2007. I’m cutting down to $50 for 2009), and cooking at home even more than I already do.
Exercise-wise, I’m taking my boyfriend out for a 6+ mile bike ride every week (we were fairly consistent last spring, and then our schedules got in the way), playing dance dance revolution 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes, and doing a 20 minute light yoga and stretch session at least once a day. For my daily yoga, I’m not really focusing on building strength or getting super flexible, I’m just getting the blood moving a bit and keeping my muscles from getting too stiff and tight and doing what feels great.
For that matter, that’s what I’m focusing on for exercise this year, bike riding, yoga, dance dance revolution, and ice skating (I used to figure skate competitively and might consider getting back into it) all make me feel great and are fun, I’m just making a point of doing it all more often than I have been the last few years. I’d love to be more active, I’ve just been letting my schedule and lack of organization stop me, and I’ve made up my mind to change that in 2009.
Good job on your progress for the year. I had an up and down year.
Started out really well, down as much as 20 pounds, but completely failed toward the end of the year and actually finished the year heavier than I started. That really sucks, but I’m going to do my best to make 2009 a better year.
Best of luck to everyone!
I am also about 200 pounds and 30% body fat. I am looking to lose weight this year and excited about following your blog!
Just a quick question.. how do you guys measure your body fat as a percentage?
Congratulations everyone on their successes, small and large, in 2008! My 2008 plans were largely around completing a move to Chicago and finding a job there, while not entirely depleting my savings
. I succeeded on that!
For 2009, my personal goals revolve around meeting more people in Chicago, and also around health. I am looking to lose 10 p0unds (or more!) and also to run a half-marathon — the underlying goal to strengthen my long-term running habits.
I’ve got a race date for mid-April set, so I’m starting to run more regularly now, even when it’s cold out!
Interestingly (well, to me), my goal was to make fitness a priority, but I deliberately didn’t quantify it because that’s a sure fire way for me to get stressed out and end up gaining. I also vowed not to diet or do any exercise I didn’t like. So, I made it a priority and started blogging my journey and lost over 30# and discovered a love for running and athleticism in general. Who knew I’d get in touch with my inner athlete? It was a great year in that respect. I learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t work for me (New Year’s Eve post). I’m ready for another one. This year, I’m training for a marathon. (Note to self, easy does it.)
@Paul–both JD and I have bathroom scales that measure our body fat % by a method called electrical impedance. It’s not the most accurate, but it does accurately indicate trends (I think).
I met my goal for 2008 – I reached down to 71 kg (from 84) and below (70,5 kg). My goal for 2009 is to keep eating well and take long walks in the forests nearby my home. I should probably not get much thinner, just firmer and stronger now. More defined. The biggest challenge for me is to stop over-eating junk and to start doing some strength training and yoga. Get more flexible and strong. I want to reach my toes!
@macdaddy, you are correct about the body fat % being inaccurate. However it can be good for tracking progress. Just remember your starting point, then chart the weight and % of body fat lost.
I think you are smart for making your goals a bit more believable. In doing this you relieve yourself of some of unnecessary pressure. Once you smash your goals, it is easier to build upon them.
Good Luck in 2009
I know how it feels to have the yo-yo effect. I lost 40 lbs in 2007, only to gain 20 back last year after family health crises and other distractions got in my way.
My goal this year is to lose the last 30-35 pounds by July 1st! Wish me luck!