I lurked last year, but it did not have the desired effect, so I'm joining in for real this time.
Starting weight: 192 lbs, 36" waist on 12/26/2017
Goal 1: 182 by 02/16/2018
Goal 2: 172 (167 stretch goal) by 05/13/2018
Goal 3: Maintain below 172 until 08/01/2018
The dates align with trips and family gatherings that will involve a lot of photos. One of the things that has bothered me as my weight has crept up is how puffy my face looks in pictures, so these deadlines will be motivating for me. It's been 2 years since I was at 182, 5.5 years since I was at 172, and 7 years since I was at 167. I've been trying to creep my weight back down all that time and have been largely unsuccessful, so I consider these ambitious goals. If I am able to hit the stretch goal of 167, that would put me right on the upper boundary of a "healthy" BMI.
The hard part is the how. For the moment, I am focusing on January and Goal 1. I'm going to try some stuff, see how it goes, and adjust accordingly.
(1) Tracking. I know from experience that counting calories is not going to happen. Having to do the math on every single thing I cook drives me insane, never mind having to figure out the difference between a "medium" banana and a "large" banana. But accountability is good, so I will commit to keeping a plain text food journal for January (e.g., "3:45 pm - handful of salted peanuts"). If I can't be bothered to type the details on my phone, I can't be that hungry.
(2) Fasting. I have been experimenting with IF, and really like the 16/8 schedule, so I will continue with it. My results have been mixed with longer fasts, but I will do some more experimenting to see if I can make periodic 24- or 36-hour fasts work for me.
(3) No wine. This is a significant source of discretionary calories (and $$$), so I need to re-set my habits. It's just so delicious. I've done months without alcohol before, but I am far less tempted by beer and almost never drink liquor, so I'm focusing just on wine this time. My goal is to make it to 02/16/2018.
(4) No added sugar. I've given up sweets before without too much trouble, but I've never tried rooting out added sugar in things that are not sweet, Whole30-style. I think it is worth doing as an exercise in awareness of what I'm eating, so I'm going to do it for January. I don't eat a lot of processed foods, but I've already been surprised by what has sugar in it (mayonnaise! tofu hot dogs!). In February, I'll revert to just "no sweets".
(5) Vegan for January. This is not strictly a weight loss goal, though I think that disrupting my eating habits will help. I've been a vegetarian for a long time, and though I'm not ready to go full vegan, I would like to reduce my consumption of eggs and cheese. Like the sugar goal, this is about being aware of what I'm eating and making conscious choices rather than continuing on auto-pilot.
(6) No chips. I almost never buy them, but we have free food at work, including a basket of chips on prominent display that I have to look at every time I get tea or go to the bathroom. Everyone else considers it a perk, but I hate it. I know they are crap, but some afternoons they call to me. Prohibition has worked before, so I'm adding them to the list.
I have some additional wellness habits I'd like to cultivate around meditation and strength/stamina for hiking and backpacking, but I'm going to hold off on formalizing goals for them. I don't want to sabotage myself by attempting to boil the ocean. At the moment weight loss is my priority, so for now I'm leaving it at "I'll try to do better on those fronts", and will consider adding them as formal goals in phase 2 or 3.