New year, new resolutions

With the 1st of January fast approaching, the majority of us will be thinking up a new set of New Year Resolutions to stick to throughout the coming year and I don't think I'm wrong when I say that the majority of us will be setting a goal to lose some weight! It might only be the couple of lbs you've gained throughout the festive period, it might be more, or you might just want to be more healthy, exercise more and become fitter. We're all in the same boat.

It takes a lot of hard work and motivation to stick to your goal and lose weight so we'd love to hear what your goals are, and how you plan to stick to them. Here's our own goals to start off...

Charlene - I'll admit that I've been a complete failure when it comes to losing weight this past year and I've definitely put some on. I think I need routine, in the form of planned meals or a set diet, to make this work. Living at home with parents and not being the one doing the weekly food shop is difficult. I also need to rejoin the gym and I'm going to keep a diary of food, exercise and inch/weight loss. The thing I struggle most with is my sweet tooth so I need to think of ideas to keep that satisfied in the healthiest possible way and the other biggie is that I also need to learn to say NO to the free takeaways, cakes and sweets at work every day.

Sarah - I am really pleased with my progress in 2011.  I felt like a million dollars on my wedding day and that was my main aim.  I have since had five weeks off, a week in the run up to the wedding, two weeks on honeymoon, a crazy week of work followed by Christmas and now New Year.  I have gained 7.5lbs of the 25lbs I managed to lose but I am fine with this... you only get married once after all!! My goal for 2012 is to get back on plan and lose about a stone and a half.  I need to stick to Slimming World 100% and wear my hotpants more often!  I think I will be happy when I get to my current goal weight but can always lower it if not.  I am still mostly fitting into a size 10 so it's just a case of feeling as good when not wearing ultra flattering clothes.  I have also done something I swore I would never do again and joined a gym! 2012 will be the year that I not only get to target but also get fit in the progress.

Sarah V - I charted a graph of my weight losses and gains this year and it looks like a heart rate monitor - up and down, up and down! I've fluctuated a lot and am currently the exact same weight now as I was when we started this blog, which is frustrating as I made such a good start in the Spring and lost nearly a stone. I make way too many excuses and allow myself to be swayed by holidays, special occasions, parties and friends and that's why I haven't been able to stick to a diet for more than a few weeks at a time. I have a big birthday in July and my goal is to feel good about my body by the time I get to that landmark age. So overall I resolve to conquer some of my food issues and get to a point where I am eating healthily, but not obsessing and overeating the moment I'm 'off-diet'. So rather than fixating on weight loss, I am going to focus on living healthily instead.

Lucy - so, hello. It's been a while. I think I've been avoiding reality since I returned from Australia, ignoring the fact that I've been eating everything in sight and not wanting to do anything about it. I really need to have a sit down and think about what I'm going to do for 2012, I need to stop saying I'll do things and then just... not follow them through. I'm miserable and I'm fed up, not just with my weight but with my life in general at the minute; I 100% know that if I even just lost a stone I would be so much happier within myself but it's just making myself start. I need to have some willpower, I need to discipline myself and I need to learn to say no. Things have got to change.

Gem -I'm really happy with my 2011 weight loss and want to continue this in 2012. I lost over 4 stone this year but after three weeks of indulgence over the festive period I have put about 5-6lbs back on. My first aim is to shed all the Christmas weight by following the Weight Watcher plan perfectly and keeping an accurate food diary and weighing all my food. I want to lose at least another 20lbs this year to reach my ideal size and then maintain the weight with a mixture of Weight Watchers and exercise. As Christmas shows, I can't maintain weight loss on my own and go off the rails if I don't regularly weigh in. I hope to become a 'Gold Member' of Weight Watchers and successfully keep the weight off, wish me luck!

Let us know what yours are!