goals

I set myself a goal not weight wise but using other means ie to fit into a certain size pant. I was an 18/20 UK, I am now a 16. I have set a new goal of 14. I don't really care about the number on the scale. It's also little things like if you're exercising how many minutes you can run, number of reps you can do comfortably if you lift. My current weight goal is listed, but it's the little milestones I celebrate more

Definitely smaller goals.
First of all I set myself a final goal and then I set mini ones e.g. I wanna lose 5kgs by the time I visit home for Christmas, I wanna lose 2kgs before my trip next month, etc.
Also I found it helped to take part in different exercise programs such as Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Ripped in 30, etc. You could also use Insanity or the Couch to 5k programs. It gives you a fitness goal as well as a weight goal and if you complete 1 month of a program PLUS lose 5-6lbs from it, you'll feel good for that month for more than just the loss and you will be closer than you were before.

I also experiment with styles of eating e.g. low carb for 1 month, no carbs for 1 month, low fat for 1 month, clean eating for 2 months, etc. to see what works best for me and to see the differences it makes to the way I look and feel.

Definitely, give yourself small goals/experiments.

I have minigoals to keep myself motivated and to remember to give myself (nonfood) rewards for making progress! I was told it's best to have different kinds of minigoals so that if you stall in one area you are still seeing progress in another - so I have lbs lost goals, pant sizes, running times, yoga stances (the arm ones), finishing the c25k program, etc. It's a lot of fun and has really helped me - a few weeks ago I didn't lose anything on the scale but I had dropped 3 inches in the waist down to a new pair of jeans - made what would have been a disappointing day a really excellent one!

My goal is to go to sleep every night knowing I ate a proper amount of calories and got some exercise. I goofed on 2 days but got it right on the other 35 or so. I'm down 12 pounds and already feel better.

My goals are all fitness related. Currently:

Finish Zombies 5k (Only recently started running again for the first time in 4 years)

I think rewarding yourself for hitting small goals is so important! It gives you something to look forward to that's not going to take a year or so to accomplish. I'd recommend rewarding yourself for every 25lbs lost. I'm planning on getting another ear piercing when I reach 25 lbs lost. So excited!!

Process goals are best for me at this point. Process goals are different from product goals in that they are entirely dependent on what I do, not on how my body responds. My goal for this week is just to track my food and exercise. From there, I plan to set other process goals based on what I find out. The number on the scale is likely to change when I do these things, but I really don't have control over that, so I'm not making short-term goals based on weight.

It's also worth remembering the SMART goal-setting model. Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-limited. So instead of just saying "I'm going to start writing down what I eat," I'm going to say "I will track everything I eat and drink for one full week. I will do this by taking a picture of everything I eat before it goes in my mouth, then logging it in MFP by the end of the day." It's specific, because I know exactly what I need to do. It's measurable, and I've set up a way to measure success (the tracker on MFP). It's achievable, but still challenging. It's definitely relevant to weight loss, and it's time-limited to this week.

Cheers!