Weight-loss goals..?! And have you given yourself a "goal" date?

swim777

bri170lb wrote: »

I have a date goal. I think i am in the minority here, but it works for me. I need to know where i am going i order to know how to get there, i guess.

I started really working on my weight loss in ernest on 1/7/15 and my goal is to lose 100 pounds by 1/7/16. (I will have lost a total of 130 pounds because I lost 30 pounds during 2014 also.)

I broke that big goal into lots of smaller goals and I even scheduled a 1 month vacation time where I maintained my weight during the summer.

I have had some better months and some difficult months because of health and work issues but so far I am pretty close to being exactly on track.

If I miss my date by a few days or weeks, I won't be unhappy. How can I be unhappy when I have come sooooo far!

After that goal, my next BIG goal will be to lose my last 20 pounds by May 30, 2016. I ran in my 1st 5k race on that day in 2015 and I plan to PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999!!! WHEN I REACH MY ULTIMATE GOAL.

I have had lots of goals of all kinds along the way. Like, I am entering 1 5k each month since last May. Also, just sticking to my calorie goals 1 meal at a time. Or making a really good choice for MYSELF each day.

I have kept track of everything on a calendar and have a regular journal, a 5k journal and a JOY journal where I write down all the places where I see joy in my life.

I hope this inspires some of you to keep moving forward and keep making good choices for yourself because you really are worth every ounce of effort!

It sounds like you are doing great!!! So motivating to read!!

rankinsect

I have a big goal and many mini goals spread over 18 months, but I set them to be easy (my ultimate goal assumes I can sustain an average of about 40% of the rate of loss I had initially - which granted was a high initial rate of loss because I started in morbid obesity, but over the entire course of a year and a half, I thought it was reasonable.

And I am not set on reaching it exactly. 21 months after my original start date I want to hike to the summit of Kilimanjaro, so I don't need to be at my goal weight per se - I just need to be fit and ready to go.

FitCurves1818

I don't have a date set for my ultimate goal, but I am a fan of setting dates for mini goals. In September I challenged myself to lose 10 lbs in a month. I got aggressive for that month and dropped 9.7 lbs. yeah I technically didn't reach my goal but it helped to keep me on track and served as extra motivation to add some extra workouts, have fewer indulgences and provided a bonus loss during that time period out of my total weight loss journey. My next goal is to get to Onederland by January 1st 2016. I base my mini goals on where I currently am and what I can achieve with reasonable effort in that amount of time. I know weight loss isn't linear, but I also know that I need to set goals for myself to keep myself accountable and putting forth my best effort. Sure a loss is still a loss but at my size and the amount of weight I still need to lose, if I look back over 2 months and have only lost 5lbs during that time, it means I need to make adjustments because I've been phoning it in but ymmv

heidiglaubitz

I'm 5'6", and I weigh 145lbs (roughly). I want to lose about 15lbs, and make my way down to a comfortable 130lbs. I hadn't really thought about a cut off date. But honestly, once I begin clean eating- my weight sheds like crazy... So I am thinking Christmas is a good date. But, I'm going to aim bigger, and shoot for December 11th.

jemhh

heidiglaubitz wrote: »

I'm 5'6", and I weigh 145lbs (roughly). I want to lose about 15lbs, and make my way down to a comfortable 130lbs. I hadn't really thought about a cut off date. But honestly, once I begin clean eating- my weight sheds like crazy... So I am thinking Christmas is a good date. But, I'm going to aim bigger, and shoot for December 11th.

Perfect example of what I described in this thread. That's a 1640 calorie daily deficit goal. Even aiming at Christmas it would be an 1141 daily deficit. For someone within her healthy bmi range and only 15 pounds to lose.

KT_3009

Thanks all for the great advice! I myself have a few small goals in mind than my big goal. I will probably stop stressing about having done them in a certain amount of time I also lose weight quite quickly if I stick with exercise and clean eating

brb2008

Right now my goal is set to 200lbs, but ultimately I want to get down to 180 before I decide where maintenance is for me.

So thats nearly 60lbs to onederland, and I hope to do it in 6 mos or less. I have previously lost 100total pounds so I know my body can let it go pretty quick if I stick to my plan.

KatieFerg95

I'd like to lose 13 lbs by New Year but I won't be upset if I don't quite make it.

Soopatt

I am glad I did not set a time goal in the beginning because it would have been completely unrealistic. I was sure that I could lose all my weight by round about August and it is now November and I still have 6kgs to go.

Now that I have got over myself, I think I have a better idea of how long it takes based on my experience since April. I think it would be safe for me to set a time goal now, but I would still want to do it very tentatively so that I am not hard on myself.

I would like to lose my last 6kg by 20 Feb next year as that is my birthday. I will not beat myself up or take drastic measures if I don't though, I will just keep on going.

lemurcat12

earlnabby wrote: »

I did not set an ultimate goal but I have set tentative "it would be nice if . . ." dates for my mini goals.

I did this, and it worked for me. But I knew I wouldn't get unmotivated if I didn't make it and that I'd be happy and feel it was a victory to be close. It was more of a way of making clear to myself how much I could lose in 6 months or a year just being consistent and not aiming for any kind of crazy rate of loss.

I tend to be into plans, though -- it's always been my way of approaching big undertakings. Also, it was very important for me that I included lots of process and fitness goals along with the weight goals, so I would feel I was making progress in things I had more direct control over.

I really depends on you, and you know yourself. Will setting a goal motivate you, or will you get derailed if it looks like you won't make it? Only you can really answer those questions. If you can set a goal and are willing to revise it as you go along, go for it.

100% this.

kristen6350

There shouldn't be a time line. Crap happens that will slow you down. And that's ok, it's life. And for those of you who are at the beginning of all this, there is no end date. When you reach goal, you go into Maintenance, which is a whole other life lesson.