How important are specific goals?

krisg71

Other than a general goal of losing 89 pounds, I haven't set anything specific. I don't even have a timetable in mind. How important is it that I get more specific? What kind of smaller goals should I set? Do I need a time frame to achieve my overall goal? Should I make specific goals regarding nutrition and exercise?I suck at goal setting which would explain why I am where I am and could use some input from people with better goal setting skills. Thanks and good sweatin'! Kris

Hiker_Rob

I find setting goals to be extremely important for myself. I have my 2 main long term goals of course but in between I have (and have had) lots of short term goals to keep me focused on getting where I want to go. Short term goals can change and you can set more than one at a time. Maybe this week you want to really work on eliminating pre packaged food from your diet, that can be a goal. Maybe you want to work to adding another 10 minutes to your exercise time, that can be another, so can setting mini weighloss goals - like for myself I have a weight I want to be by the end of this month, these 'little' goals keep me focused and let s face it, it feels good to accomplish them and move on to another! Set goals, big and small, let friends and/or family know them to help keep you accountable and just do it! Don't just reach your goals and then forget about them either, don't go back to old habits - instead build on each accomplishment and take things up to a new level.

MBrothers22

Here's what I have. I started at 351, and I have ~13 more pounds before I'm below 300. That's goal #1. My next goal will be 233 which is what my ticket is set at. 233 would get me out of an obese BMI.

Don't set time goals for yourself, those just set you up for disappointment. They'd also be really hard to calculate because your weight loss will slow down as time goes on.

I like clothing goals. For me, I started with a 2x, sometimes 3x shirt and 46 inch waisted pants. My shirt size doesn't concern me much as I have a pretty long torso at 6'2". However dropping pant sizes keeps me very motivated. My goal is to wear a 36 inch pant, right now I'm a comfortable 44 and could squeeze into a 42 if I had to.

Nutrition goals? Be accurate with your calories. Having a food scale and weighing your food is VERY important. You can get one for less than $20. If you want to get more in depth, hit your protein and fat, it'll keep you more full for a longer time period. Carbs are important too but going low on them won't make a difference. But just know unless you have medical reasons, there's no NEED to go low on carbs.

Exercise how you want, all up to you. Use it to create a larger deficit so you can eat more, or use it to get stronger by weight training or cardio to improve heart strength.

MBrothers22

I find setting goals to be extremely important for myself. I have my 2 main long term goals of course but in between I have (and have had) lots of short term goals to keep me focused on getting where I want to go. Short term goals can change and you can set more than one at a time. Maybe this week you want to really work on eliminating pre packaged food from your diet, that can be a goal. Maybe you want to work to adding another 10 minutes to your exercise time, that can be another, so can setting mini weighloss goals - like for myself I have a weight I want to be by the end of this month, these 'little' goals keep me focused and let s face it, it feels good to accomplish them and move on to another! Set goals, big and small, let friends and/or family know them to help keep you accountable and just do it! Don't just reach your goals and then forget about them either, don't go back to old habits - instead build on each accomplishment and take things up to a new level.

Ughh there is almost no reason to eliminate pre packaged food. This person is going off of "sodium is bad" I'm assuming which a lot of packaged food has. Unless you have HBP or consume too little water, there's no reason to be afraid of sodium.

I've lived on pre packaged, high sodium food while on MFP and I seem to be doing just fine don't you think?

ClassicStyle45

Hi Kris - Goal setting is very important - not just having a goal in mind, but actually writing down your goal. People who write down goals are 10 times more likely to achieve them (yup, you read correctly - 10 times more likely!).

You've already started by setting your overall goal of 89 pounds - so you are well on your way! Now you need to "chunk it down" - set small goals with timelines - example: I will lose an average of 2 pounds per week. Pick a day to weigh yourself & focus on your weekly goal - don't worry about your daily fluctuations. Visualize your results - have a picture of your results firmly embedded in your mind. Have a hard copy visual of what your results will look like - keep it by your bed & look at it when you go to bed & first thing when you get up. Track your results in a place where you can see it. Celebrate your successes - small & big!

Remember, small successes equal big results! Much success on your journey.

Llamapants86

I find setting a time line to my goals to be kind of difficult. If you do just make sure they are reasonable. Weightloss isn't linear so it isn't as easy to predict as you would think. I give myself an extra month for any timed weightloss goals due to how my cycle is and the impacts it has on my weightloss.

I find small goals much easier to stick to and I like to have goals that are more behaviour based. For example hitting a certain macro or getting 10,000 steps. Things that I am completely in control of.

Wisperingvoice1

Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools SO FAR SO GOOD 3 WEEKS IN...........

hummingbrdhrt

I have over 100 lbs. to lose. If I didn't set smaller goals and celebrate those along the way, I'd become discouraged with the length of the process and give up. Those smaller goals keep me motivated.

GreenIceFloes

In my opinion planning and goals are very important in this process (like in most others). Here's what I think might help you a little:

Set your main long-term goal, which I suppose you have.
Set a couple of short term goals - e.g.: goal 1 can be 20 lbs lost, or however many inches lost, or a smaller pants size etc; goal 2 can be 40 lbs lost, and so forth.
When you meet a goal, reward yourself, preferably with non-food items (at least that's what I do). I find this provides me with incentive to continue.
As far as nutritional goals are concerned, I'm sure the goals MFP provides you with are good enough. I would advise you to not cut out any kind of food completely, as this is not sustainable long-term, as I have come to find after some yo-yoing. And it is usually redundant as well, because as long as what you eat is within limits (macros as well as micronurtients), and you sustain a reasonable (i.e. not too steep and not too small) caloric deficit, you will continue to lose weight. As for exercise and fitness, a mixture of cardio and lifting (compound) never hurt anybody - it is in fact essential if you want to get in the best of health.
A time limit is important to some people as incentive to stay on track, but for others it just adds unnecessary pressure, so this aspect is completely up to you. If you religiously follow the nutritional goals set by MFP, in my opinion a time limit or time-related goals are not important.

Hope this helps. Good luck to you!


Edited to correct typo.

lemurcat12

This is similar to what others have said, but I also find having various goals important. I think it's the difference between the times I've started with a general goal of "I want to eat healthier and lose some weight" and a vague idea that I'd like to get back to 120 and this time, where I started by setting my long term goal but also a bunch of short term ones--goals for the week, for the month, and for three months is I think where I started, as well as a smaller weight goal of just getting below 200 to start.

Generally I find it helpful to be really specific about the goal and also not to make your goals solely weight-specific, because you can't completely control how fast you lose weight. Once you start losing you will be better able to predict, but I wouldn't put too much on the specific time line, and focusing on stuff like exercise and nutrition allows you to feel committed to a positive change even when the scale bounces up and down as it will sometimes for most people. It's also good to start with changes you feel like are possible for your first steps, and then when they feel easy move on to something else. Trying to make too drastic a change can feel impossible, just like focusing on losing 89 lbs might feel too abstract and far away to motivate action now. But thinking about being down 10 and being more active in specific ways is entirely achieveable and will give you that good feeling of accomplishment when you do.

LoupGarouTFTs

I think small goals are very good. The human brain is goal oriented and we just naturally gravitate toward setting them. Like others said, I don't thing setting a weight loss over time is particularly helpful. I wanted to reach my 80 pounds lost by next April, about one year after starting, but some very wise people here talked me out of it due to the variability associated with weight loss and the inevitable slowing down of weight loss as we approach our goals. I decided to set other, smaller goals, rewarding myself after every ten pounds with something I really wanted, instead, and not worry about how long it took to get to those ten-pound goals.

Here I am, 35 days into this new lifestyle and I have lost my first ten pounds! I am so proud of myself that I can't stand it, considering it's taken me YEARS to accomplish any weight loss at all. I bought myself a nice riding helmet (equestrian) and after I reach 20 pounds I'll buy either breeches (if I've lost a pant size) or boots to go with it. At 25 pounds lost, I'll start my riding lessons, which is something I've wanted to do for AGES.

Once I've lost 30 pounds, who knows? Maybe I'll sign up for agility lessons with my dogs again. I miss doing agility, but I've gained so much weight and been so depressed that I just stopped doing them. Or maybe I'll buy myself a nice new outfit for conformation shows. I'm eager to keep losing weight just thinking about it!

So yes, I am a big believer in goals. I also think they should increase in size/value as you go on, so the riding helmet sets the baseline. By the time I finish, I think my final reward will be a doozy! LOL I'd better start saving for it now . . .

Hiker_Rob

I find setting goals to be extremely important for myself. I have my 2 main long term goals of course but in between I have (and have had) lots of short term goals to keep me focused on getting where I want to go. Short term goals can change and you can set more than one at a time. Maybe this week you want to really work on eliminating pre packaged food from your diet, that can be a goal. Maybe you want to work to adding another 10 minutes to your exercise time, that can be another, so can setting mini weighloss goals - like for myself I have a weight I want to be by the end of this month, these 'little' goals keep me focused and let s face it, it feels good to accomplish them and move on to another! Set goals, big and small, let friends and/or family know them to help keep you accountable and just do it! Don't just reach your goals and then forget about them either, don't go back to old habits - instead build on each accomplishment and take things up to a new level.

Ughh there is almost no reason to eliminate pre packaged food. This person is going off of "sodium is bad" I'm assuming which a lot of packaged food has. Unless you have HBP or consume too little water, there's no reason to be afraid of sodium.

I've lived on pre packaged, high sodium food while on MFP and I seem to be doing just fine don't you think?

High sodium is not good for most people but I was not making the comment for that reason. It was an example of what a goal could be, it was for me "sodium is bad" as I had high blood pressure. However, I should point out, you are only 19, high sodium may not make a difference to you now but you might think different when you are 30, 40 or 50. Given the choice I would hope most people would choose to cut prepackaged foods over natural ones. I have packaged stuff occasionally, it's pretty hard not to in this society. Back to the point though, that was set goals, it doesn't matter whether others like them or not :-)