We have said before that it is important to have goals for your weight loss, just as for other things in your life.
We are much more likely to succeed at something if we set a clearly defined goal, and then imagine ourselves already at that point.
But when it comes to weight loss, it is important that the goals are realistic and that they focus on results, not on time.
Pretty much everybody has a goal weight when they start out on a weight loss program. It might be the weight that they were at some time in the past, or a weight that is within the healthy range for their height.
Other people have goals in terms of clothes sizes or fitness levels. These are useful goals too, and they work better for people who do not want to become obsessed with the scale.
But one mistake that many people make is to link their goal to time. For example, losing 10 pounds in 2 weeks, or being able to fit into a certain pair of pants by Christmas.
These goals sound innocent enough, don't they? But in fact they can seriously undermine your weight loss.
The reason is that this type of goal does not allow for the unpredictable way that the body goes about losing its excess fat.
If we follow a good weight loss and exercise program carefully, we are pretty sure to lose some weight. But there is no way we can know how fast it will go.
So what happens when the two weeks are up and we only lost 9 pounds? We feel we have failed, and quite likely we abandon the diet. Crazy, when we actually lost a lot of weight.
Or Christmas comes and even though we've been losing weight pretty steady, we don't quite fit into those pants. What happens? We feel disappointed and eat everything in sight for the rest of the holidays.
So take a look at your goals right now and scrub out any reference to time. The important thing is to lose the weight and keep it off, not how fast it happens.
