Set Your Goals Attainably High
Everybody loves a great weight-loss story. They inspire and give hope to those struggling with weight. What happens when the story is still in process though? Sure, reading someone's story about how they lost 100 pounds in a year is amazing, but think about that process. Think about all the ups and downs in between meeting that goal. I'm sure they had to break up that weight-loss into smaller weight goals. If you had to set a 100 pound goal for a year from now, a couple things may happen. Either you forget about it along the way because it isn't happening fast enough or your attention span has lost interest, OR maybe after just a week, you realize that it'll never happen due to one week of no results. You get discouraged.
Let's turn that outcome around with just one change. You make several attainable goals that add up to your main goal. Take it one step at a time and anything is possible.
I'm currently trying to lose around 90 pounds. It feels daunting, it feels enormous, it feels almost unattainable, but I know it is humanly possible. If I would just say to myself, "I'm going to lose weight", I would probably work at it for maybe 2 weeks and then give up. However, I said to myself, "I'm going to lose 30 pounds by July of this year." I lost 5 pounds already since starting to tackle this goal. What made the difference? Just being specific.
If I tie myself down to the exact number of pounds by a specific date, then I'm going to have to be more accountable to myself. If I lose ten pounds by the time it hits June, I'm going to have to push myself to meet my deadline instead of making up excuses as to why it can wait. I have something to measure myself to and something to look forward to in that time I'm working towards my goal. It suddenly seems so much more attainable.
Will I be 90 pounds lighter? No, not yet. But that's just one step in my longterm goal. My next goal is going to be another 30 pounds. After that, my goals involve less weight-loss as it gets harder to lose the weight. I'm being smart about my goals. I'm making sure I don't set myself up for failure. Those that fail to plan, plan to fail. It could not be more true. This can be applied to any goal you have in life.
I plan to keep everyone posted on my goals to be even more transparent and accountable. This matters to me a great deal because it is relevant to my health and quality of life. If it didn't matter to me, I wouldn't be fighting this hard to achieve my goal. Right now, keeping this up means daily logging of my food, exercising 6 days a week, keeping a deficit of 750-1000 calories everyday, staying away from simple carbs, and increasing my hydration. I'm educating myself with new healthy facts, recipes, food prep, and exercise. I'm improving in all areas of life with just one weight-loss goal. Imagine how much you can achieve with just one manageable goal.
Remember, make your goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-sensitive. Do this, and you'll start getting SMART about all of your goals.
Have any questions on weight-loss? Post in the comments below! For more information past what I can give, I suggest reading Extreme Transformation by Chris Powell & Heidi Powell or any other book by Chris Powell. They're not paying me for suggesting them, I just happen to love his approach to losing weight. :)
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