Setting Mini Goals

You've made one of the most important decisions of your life. You've decided to adopt a healthier lifestyle, to lose weight, and get in shape. You look in the mirror and pick apart the parts of your body you fantasize slimming down or becoming more defined. You step on the scale and think to yourself, "I'm X number of pounds heavier than I ever wanted to be in my life." According to BMI indexes you fall into the "overweight," "obese," or "morbidly obese" categories. At this moment the concept of losing as much weight at you need to be considered healthy seems insurmountable, especially if you have tried many different ways to try and lose weight in the past. So what do you do?

Set mini goals. We all have mini goals in our minds anytime we set out to do anything. The same is true when we evaluate ourselves in the mirror, on the scale, or in any other way when it comes to our bodies. We all think, "I'd feel so much happier if I could just get down to my pre-pregnancy weight" or "I'd look so much better if I could just lose an extra 10 pounds" Almost immediately following that thought is, "but it would sure be nice if I could get down to the weight I was when X number of years ago" and then finally, but I would sure love to to be in as good as shape as I was when I was in college or the the shape I was before..."

When you look a big goal it's easy to get discourage, especially in weight loss because weight is gained so much easier and faster than it is lost. So, when you're only losing weight at the rate of a pound or two a week (the best case scenario to develop better food and health choices over a long period of time). It's hard to get excited about being 5 pounds lighter in one month when you have 50 pounds or more to lose. This is where the mini goals come in. When you sent a mini goal you get that sense of accomplishment several times along your weight loss or fitness journey. Which motivates you to keep pushing toward your overall goal.

Those of you who have been following me on facebook, twitter, or myfitness pal know that I have set several minigoals for myself. I started out with an overall goal of losing 50 pounds. My first mini goal was to lose at least 5 pounds in one month. My next mini goals was to lose 20 pounds by my birthday (in 4 months). Once I reached both of these goals... one well head of schedule as my birthday isn't until next month! I decided on another reasonable mini goal. 10 more pounds by the new year. This is a rate of 1 pound a week... yes even over the holidays.

The other key to continued success is being able to forgive yourself and setting realistic expectations. If you only lose 9 pounds when your goal was 10... still recognize the 9 pounds you did lose. Set a more accomplish able minigoal for he next round.

So to recap.

1) break down your overall goal into mini goals
2) be realistic about your mini goals
3) acknowledge your accomplishements even when you don't make your mini goals
4) forgive yourself and keep focused.