Time frame goals

ItsJordanNicole

So, I have my first mini goal set to be reached by July 9. I am about 5lbs away and I'm afraid that I don't have enough time to reach my goal. Do you think that it's a good idea to set time frames by which to reach your goals, or should I just set goals and let them happen? I'm concerned that if I don't reach my goal in time, I will be feeling some major disappointment.

BigT555

id advice against goals with time constraints. like you said you set yourself up for disappointment more often than not since people tend to set the bar pretty high. i would just set the goal as 5 lbs to lose, and if it happens by July 9th then thats just a bonus

leon0897

It might be a little aggressive to lose 5 pounds in roughly 3 weeks but I don't know your overal weight so it's hard to tell. Also depending on water weight you may be closer to that goal weight then you think. I would first say congrats on your current weight loss and I would also suggest not getting to caught up with "finish lines" dates. You are almost there and as long as you keep monitoring your calories and or working out, you will lose those 5 pounds quicker then you think.

WalkingAlong

I think time is ok in goals but I would leave out the scale part. Make a goal to hit your calorie deficit goal on average across the week or log every meal until July 9th or hit your activity goals or all three. Make goals something only you directly affect. The scale is sometimes on its own time schedule.

Mbierschbach

Sure your goal should have a time frame associated with it, and a target weight. It needs to be reasonable though. This goal is no different than any other goal in your personal or professional career. It should be smart....and by smart I mean S.M.A.R.T.

SPECIFIC
MEASUREABLE
ACHIEVABLE
RESULTS based
TIME focused

You need the actual weight target to be measureable, you need the date to be time focused. You shouldn't throw everything out the window if you don't meet that goal - if it was ACHIEVABLE then you need to look back and course correct if you didn't make it. I've made an effort in career planning at work and goal setting in life to make every goal S.M.A.R.T. Google it for additiional examples but I fully believe weight loss should have a time component associated with it. Now, if I see another "Can I lose 30 lbs by my vaca in 3 weeks?" post.....I'm gonna lose it. That is not ACHIEVABLE.

segovm

Yeah the official rule for goals according to me is that you only commit to goals that you can be responsible for accomplishing.

My goals tend to be fitness and nutrition related. I can dictate how often I workout or how much food I put in my mouth but the number on the scale is dependant not just on those factors but my metabolism and water weight which I have little to no control over.

In general the scale follows the fitness and nutrition goals but not directly and not to the point where I am going to be happy or sad because of the correlation.

As long as I eat well and get off my butt every day I know I am doing well for myself and the scale is sort of a silent member of my plan.

Nedra19455

I set a weekly weight loss goal and then have some general long-term goals.

Ex: I want to lose between 1-2 lbs per week -- as measured by a trend weight calculated from daily weigh-ins. As long as I am in that range, I am meeting my goal. It is time-based, but it is based on an achievable pattern that I have already observed.

Ex: By the end of the summer, I would LIKE to be down 40 lbs from my starting weight. This is a bit ambitious for me, so I set a more reasonable goal of 35 lbs. In reality, though, I don't really care what the exact number is, as long as I'm headed in the right direction and am losing at least 1 lb per week through the end of the summer.

Ex: By this time next year, I would like to be at my goal weight. That's not unreasonable, but I am aware that things slow down a lot towards the end, so I am pretty sure I will re-evaluate this as I go.

I don't think weight loss goals have to be time-based. I think it's a bad idea for your goal to be "I want to lose ____ pounds....someday." (Because that's just too open-ended for most people.) But once you have committed to a plan and are seeing results at a healthy rate, I don't think I would worry about it if you don't meet your goals "on-time." Just as long as you're headed in the right direction and are seeing positive results!