Do you set definite goals?

Tweaking_Time

I was wondering you you set definite goals?

Not like - I really wish, someday, I could lose 50 pounds
But rather a definite goal like - I want to lose 50 pounds in the next 8 months...and then you write it down, track it, and measure your progress.

I find setting goals keeps me accountable.

jemhh

Yes and no.

When I first started losing weight, I wanted to lose 52 pounds in 52 weeks (start at 202.5 down to 150.5) because it seemed like an attainable goal. Not too crazy fast and not overly slow. Since then, though, time-based weight goals have not been my thing. I have some complicating factors (medical) that tend to get in the way and once I see that I am not going to meet a time-based goal I tend to get anxious, which makes my complications worse. At this point I have to be very low-key with weight loss.

Performance-wise, I do like having specific goals but sometimes I struggle with trying to pinpoint them. Last year one of my goals was a 200 lb deadlift so it was easy to make a plan to move toward that. My other big goal was to "get better" at squatting, because that was something I struggled with a lot. My definition of getting better was feeling more comfortable with it and not completing loathing every workout that involved squatting, to the point of trying to find reasons to avoid it. That kind of thing is harder to measure along the way but I did meet the goal by the end of the years so whatever I did worked.

Right now my goal is to build more muscle, specifically in my lower body. I don't really know how to measure that outside of getting something like a DEXA scan.

StealthHealth

Yes I do.

robininfl

Not really... I set general goals, squishy goals, long term goals. I practice and seem to improve, and don't want to push too hard because I get hurt when I do that and it slows progress instead of speeding it up, so I have desires and goals in athletic training but they are year long things, or things i am working toward but without real deadlines.

So yes, I have a goal of unassisted handstand because I'm close to it and working on it; and have goal of pushups for a similar reason, I feel like I have an incomplete skill set, like I'm fixing identified deficiencies?

But I do not say that I will achieve 6 pushups in the next 6 weeks, I work on them, get better, and when it happens it happens.

pomegranatecloud

Yes.

zyxst

Yes.

CincyNeid

I set goals but for fitness not for nutrition. I'll sign up for a 5K, 10K, 14K, Half Marathon. Or a Cycling Sportive. Something on the calendar that I Know i need to be [Fill In the Blank] by in time for it.

The reason I do that is, if I know I have a end activity the exercise and nutrition will follow.

Tweaking_Time

CincyNeid wrote: »

I set goals but for fitness not for nutrition. I'll sign up for a 5K, 10K, 14K, Half Marathon. Or a Cycling Sportive. Something on the calendar that I Know i need to be [Fill In the Blank] by in time for it.

The reason I do that is, if I know I have a end activity the exercise and nutrition will follow.

^^^This is exactly what I meant.^^^

I find myself to be a bit "adrift" if I do not have the "next goal" in place.

cecsav1

Yes. Not only weight and body fat, but also performance, consistency, and body image goals. I'm a bit of an overthinker. Lol

neldabg

For the most part. It helps to see where I went wrong if I'm not making much progress.

cwolfman13

CincyNeid wrote: »

I set goals but for fitness not for nutrition. I'll sign up for a 5K, 10K, 14K, Half Marathon. Or a Cycling Sportive. Something on the calendar that I Know i need to be [Fill In the Blank] by in time for it.

The reason I do that is, if I know I have a end activity the exercise and nutrition will follow.

This is pretty much where I'm at.

I never had a specific weight loss target, nor did I put a timer on it...I always think that's a bad idea because we're not 100% in control over how we're going to lose weight and sometimes *kitten* just happens...but I do set training/fitness goals. Signing up for events and races also gives me purpose to my training rather than just kind of twisting in the wind "exercising."..it's one of the things I struggle with a bit in the winter because nothing is really going on until late spring...so I tend to just kind of twist in the wind a little and don't put in the kind of effort I generally would training...but it also gives my body a little break.

CincyNeid

Tweaking_Time wrote: »

CincyNeid wrote: »

I set goals but for fitness not for nutrition. I'll sign up for a 5K, 10K, 14K, Half Marathon. Or a Cycling Sportive. Something on the calendar that I Know i need to be [Fill In the Blank] by in time for it.

The reason I do that is, if I know I have a end activity the exercise and nutrition will follow.

^^^This is exactly what I meant.^^^

I find myself to be a bit "adrift" if I do not have the "next goal" in place.

I try to plan something every 3-5 weeks outs.

May 1st I had the Flying Pig Half Marathon
June 30th I had the Freestore Foodbank 5K
June 12th I had the Ride Cincinnati for Breast Cancer Research / 45 mile Sportive
June 24th I had the Twilight Dash for the Cash Crit / and go my butt kicked
July 4th I have the Pray Hope Believe 5K
July 23rd I have the JTs Race for the Wind
August 6th, I have the Color Run Tropicolor 5K
September 11th I have the Sunflower Revolution for Parkinson and Movement Disorders
September 17th I have the Hudy 14K and the Color Run Night Life
October 15th I have the Raptor Run 5K
November 8th I have the DAV5K

I find that if I space them out close enough to keep me energized and willing to "keep at it" but far enough away I don't get burnt out it really helps me out.

ald783

I used to but it never really helped me in any long-term way, and eventually I found it discouraging. I also don't like the idea of actively trying to lose weight quickly.

I'm not really a big goal-setter in general but when I do it's more like going to the gym x times per week or eating at home y times per week, etc.

Willbenchforcupcakes

Yes. I know exactly where I want to be in two years and what it's going to take to get there. Every single day of training is building towards that goal.

caitlinrn83

CincyNeid wrote: »

I set goals but for fitness not for nutrition. I'll sign up for a 5K, 10K, 14K, Half Marathon. Or a Cycling Sportive. Something on the calendar that I Know i need to be [Fill In the Blank] by in time for it.

The reason I do that is, if I know I have a end activity the exercise and nutrition will follow.

THIS. Everything else falls into place with the big picture goal in place.

NorthCascades

http://semi-rad.com/2013/01/make-plans-not-resolutions/

Unknown

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pondee629

At first I set the goal of losing a pound a week, with an eye on a short term goal of getting to 190 (down 30) with a long term goal (could I, may I, is it at all possible) of getting to 185, my weight when I got out of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. After just less than a year, starting July 4 2015, I weighed in this morning at 185.8#s. That 0.8 pound is going to be a *kitten*, isn't it? ;- ). In reality all I was trying to do was to keep to that pound a week weight loss. It wasn't linear, but the general slope of the weight graph was/is down.

Then, once 190 was obtained, and weight loss stalled for several (6) months, (190 happened December 5, 2015) at 190 to 188 and back again (to 190/192) I started running goals. Enter and finish my first 5K (done @ 29:09). Then improve. Done @ 28:28. Improve further, scheduled 5K July 16, Four Miler August 20 and a Half Marathon September 25.

Of course, now I can finish the FitnessBlender workouts that were almost (who's kidding who, they were) impossible to finish when I started. And, instead of only being to walk 3 miles, I now run 5 miles twice a week and have my long Saturday run up to 10 miles.

Goals now, keep at about 185/188, survive that Half Marathon and get in under 2:30.

Did I answer the question? Setting a long term goal with intermediate goals, I feel, is important to keep you going. Regarding time frames, not so strict. Keep the general trend as your friend and don't get too caught up in short term fluxuations. One step at a time and when you trip, and you will, pick yourself up and continue.

elkhunter7x6

yes

sgt1372

Yes and I've achieved them.

SparklySarah412

All mine are performance related.

My goals at the moment are:
Getting a better time at my next 10k race - so I'm doing lots of speed training at the moment;

Increasing the distance on my long runs ready for my first 10 mile;

Training to do pull-ups;

And just for fun: training to do press-ups with my 4 year old daughter sitting on my back

kgirlhart

I did set a goal of losing 60 pounds. But I didn't put a time deadline on it. I still have 5 pounds to go and my next two goals are stay at my maintenance range, and run a 5K. The 5K will probably be in the fall, hopefully I'll get to maintenance sooner. I think goals are a great idea, but you need to set goals that are attainable. For some people it is easier to say "I'll lose 5 pounds" and then when you reach that goal set the next goal for 5 more instead of setting the goal of 50 or 100 etc.

onefortyone

My overall goal is to be 141lbs lol so definitely nothing specific there.

My performance goals are to exercise 4x a week (running & walking), and do at least 10 miles per week. When I exceed these goals for 3 weeks straight, I will up my miles to 12 or 13 miles a week, and still do 4x workouts a week but have them 30 mins at minimum. So they are more structured goals.

I do better at having more definite goals, as my workout log looks AWESOME but my weight loss is paltry! So I'd like to incorporate weekly goals specific to weight loss, but not sure how to frame it except, 'stop binging on cookies, fatass, and maybe you'll lose weight' lol.

Djproulx

Yes I set goals because my fitness and nutrtition efforts also tend to drift without a race on my schedule.

I recently shifted my focus to one of "Performance Weight Management" as outlined in Matt Fitzgerald's book "Racing Weight: Getting Lean for Peak Performance." His basic premise is that endurance sports tend to favor athletes who are leaner, so a focus on getting lean to achieve faster race times( as opposed to just looking at a number on the scale) is a more motivating mindset for many people. Fitzgerald also spends a good deal of time explaining his "Diet Quality Scoring" system, since endurance athletes need high quality fuel to support the significant training volumes needed to succeed in marathon, triathlon, cycling and other endurance sports.

My execution is far from perfect, but certainly much better when I'm training for an event.

gkingbr

yes

pondee629

onefortyone wrote: »

My overall goal is to be 141lbs lol so definitely nothing specific there.

My performance goals are to exercise 4x a week (running & walking), and do at least 10 miles per week. When I exceed these goals for 3 weeks straight, I will up my miles to 12 or 13 miles a week, and still do 4x workouts a week but have them 30 mins at minimum. So they are more structured goals.

I do better at having more definite goals, as my workout log looks AWESOME but my weight loss is paltry! So I'd like to incorporate weekly goals specific to weight loss, but not sure how to frame it except, 'stop binging on cookies, fatass, and maybe you'll lose weight' lol.

You could try a daily goal; like, "I will faithfully and accurately log all my food and I will stay under my calorie allotment today". ;- )

jahillegas_51

Tweaking_Time wrote: »

I was wondering you you set definite goals?

Not like - I really wish, someday, I could lose 50 pounds
But rather a definite goal like - I want to lose 50 pounds in the next 8 months...and then you write it down, track it, and measure your progress.

I find setting goals keeps me accountable.

I set definite goals when it comes to lifts, like I am a powerlifter so a current goal is deadlift 550lbs by April 4, 2017.

When it comes to weight, that is more grey. As its a number, the tendency to focus on the scale, is weight loss. Like if you want to lose weight stop eating and drinking...you will hit that goal. I know its a crazy a** idea!

Focus on fat loss, thats more healthy. Because during your fat loss journey you have a good chance to gain some muscle mass, so your weight may not change if your losing fat at a similar rate at which your gaining muscle, but your looking better in the mirror.

The scale is a good monitor of progress, but it should not become your God. Use progress photos on a monthly basis at a minimum to measure results and progress too.

MeanderingMammal

Tweaking_Time wrote: »

I was wondering you you set definite goals?

Not like - I really wish, someday, I could lose 50 pounds
But rather a definite goal like - I want to lose 50 pounds in the next 8 months...and then you write it down, track it, and measure your progress.

When I started losing I had a weight loss goal, but no real time bounding as I had no idea what was reasonable.

Once I started running it became much easier to define performance goals, largely distance related. I'm a trail runner so comparison of time goals for distance is a bit meaningless.

To structure it I use races, but clearly injury or other factors play in. For example I had to downgrade from a full to a half marathon in March due to injury, I just had a marathon on Saturday so my next goal is an Ultra in August, then another marathon in October.

rileyes

"Without a plan, plan to fail"