The best way for people to keep motivated on their journey for weight loss is to create very specific goals and to reference them at every single step along the way. Goals are meant to change over time, that is just part of their nature. If you just began to think about your weight, then your goal may simply be to lose a few pounds during the next month. Over time, however, you may shift your goals to meet your needs, such as to fit into your old jeans or to get into the same shape you were in during college.
Goals and goal setting are good things. Creating specific goals is an even better way to go, because it gives you something specific and concrete that you can work towards. Goals are also a truly wonderful way for you to measure your weight loss and fitness progress along the way. Your goals should be liberating and they should be fun, they should not be weighing you down in any way, shape or form, nor should they remind you of personal failures. Everyone has personal failures, why focus on them?
Here are some important things to understand about setting goals for your weight loss endeavor:
Every goal that you set should be your own goal. It should not be your nutritionist's goal, your sister's goal, your mom's goal or your friend's goal. Unless you truly and completely want to achieve a specific goal for yourself, wipe it off your list.
You should be stating each goal positively. Stop telling yourself what you will not do and start emphasizing instead what you are going to do and achieve.
Every goal that you set should have a time frame attached to it. Tell yourself when you plan to begin achieving a goal, and when you plan to have it achieved.
Your goals should be realistic. Setting a goal that you can reasonably and realistically achieve is the best way to make sure that your goals are achieved. Tell yourself that you will eat 100 fewer calories every day, or that you will work out 20 minutes per day. Do not tell yourself that you will take 10 years off your life or fit into jeans you haven't squeezed into in fifteen years.
Your goals should also all be measurable. Telling yourself that you will lose 5 lbs in a month is realistic and measurable. Telling yourself you will lose weight is too broad to be measurable, making it difficult to feel as if you achieved anything.
Your goals should also really, truly matter to you. As long as a goal really matters to you and was chosen by you and you only, you can make it work because you will be willing to work hard in order to achieve it.
Photo Credits: Noël Zia Lee
Originally posted 2009-08-15 05:54:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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1 comment so far ↓
GREAT advice! I like to use the accronym S.M.A.R.T.
Set specific goals, Measurable goals, attainable goals, realistic goals, and goals with a deadline/time frame.
Otherwise they are just wishes. We need a target, a bull’s eye, to aim for.
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