The importance on setting goals to keep you on track in losing weight.
Setting goals is an important part of a successful weight loss plan. We all have that big goal that we strive towards in mind. Mine is to be 100 pounds lighter by this time next year. How do you get to that goal is the issue. For many people, including myself, 100 pounds is overwhelming. That overwhelming feeling may lead some to believe that it too much, and therefore the resound their selves to the fact that they are overweight and can never lose that much weight and therefore why bother? Remind you of someone that has been my philosophy before.
Solutions? The way I usually jump over that hurdle is to set smaller goals. It seems more feasible to lose 10 pounds a month and even easy when you decide to lose 2 pounds a week. Two pounds isn’t much, you think to yourself, I can do that.
Not only do I set up smaller weight goals but I also have written down monthly goals that I have to meet. This way I can keep on track. I also write everything down and keep it where I see it every day. This makes it much easier for me to keep my ultimate goal in mind. I even put reminders in my car, in my purse, and at friends’ houses. This way, when I am out it isn’t as easy for me to forget my short term or long term goals that I am working toward.
So here is my list for meeting my goal of losing 100 pounds this year.
Main Goals – Lose approximately 2 pounds a week. By losing 2 pounds a week by the end of the year you could have lost 104 pounds! This is also a safe amount of weight to lose at a time. Remember losing weight should be for more than just fitting into the size 4,6, or 8, pants, it should be because you want to be healthier and feel better physically as well as emotionally. When you start losing too quickly it can cause health problems and the likelihood of keeping the weight off is better when it is lost gradually. Plus, when you set your goals too high and then don’t meet them, the disappointment may sabotage your weight loss.
Keep a food journal. This is something that really helps me when losing weight. Keeping a food journal is key to being able to see what you ate for the day. It also helps you to think about what you are doing. When you are not thinking about what is going into your body then you are more likely to overindulge or eat less healthy foods. Don’t cheat on this. This is for you; no one else will ever need to read it. I usually write down not just what I eat but also the calories and the number of servings. This forces me to read the nutritional information on most packages and also portion size. Pretty soon you get a feel for what a portion is really supposed to be.
No eating out for first three months. Because I am a busy person and really don’t like the clean up that comes when I have to cook for myself, I find myself eating out a lot. This also goes for take out, and delivery. Take that pizza place off your speed dial! Eating out causes a problem because of portion control and also not knowing how much fat each entrée was cooked with. Willpower also nosedives for me when I am faced with having so many choices on a menu. For this reason, I stocked my fridge and cupboards with fresh fruits and veggies and quick and easy as well as healthy entrees.
These are my main goals to start out with. These are my building blocks to a better me.
I consulted my doctor before deciding the best “diet” to go on. I wanted to make sure that there was nothing physically wrong with me that would prevent me from trying a particular diet. For example, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t have diabetes because then I would have had to keep my ratio of foods more even. I was also hoping, like everyone else, that maybe I was overweight because of a thyroid problem, only something simple that I could take a pill for and fix. Unfortunately, I am overweight for the same reasons that many others are overweight, too many calories versus not enough exercise.