A goal without a plan is just a wish

BRaye325 · January 2015

I started on MFP last July and I've lost 72 pounds so far with about 53 to go. I've learned so much about myself, my health and fitness, that I thought sharing it here might help others.
When reaching for a goal, we all know that in order to succeed, we need to have a plan.
Here's part of my plan:

My Top 10 Guidelines:
1) "Visualize the journey" - I created a visualization to help me stay on track. I picture myself lying on my basement floor, fat, heavily medicated, and unhealthy. I need to crawl up the basement stairs, walk up the stairs to the second floor, run up the attics stairs to climb out on to the roof to gaze at the stars with my grandsons. It gives me ongoing perspective and really helps put me quickly back on track when I falter.
2) "Liar Liar" - be honest with myself. Many of my past attempts have failed because I cheated on myself. Log everything that goes in my mouth - everyday.
3) "Me" - this for me. Give myself permission to be selfish when it comes to my health and fitness. I am always the guy that does anything for everyone else. I deserve this.
4) "Old dog, new tricks" - never stop learning and sharing my knowledge. Use MFP's community daily to find help and make sure to give back at least as much as others give me.
5) "Keep it simple" - don't complicate the process by doing unnecessary tasks. They will drive me crazy and make me fail. Example, I've learned that I am very good at estimating portion sizes, so I just spot check with the scale and measuring cups. As long as I keep hitting goals, that's the big picture.
6) "Small steps with patience" - Pick a best place to start and then see where I am after a month. Make adjustments one at time and then give it 2-4 weeks. It's "my plan".
7) "Don't panic" - the scale is just an instrument, it's not the enemy, it doesn't have anything against me. If it's not showing what I expect, give it more time and then re-evaluate what I'm doing and adjust if needed. It took me many years to get where I am, it isn't going to change overnight.
8) "Commitment" - step on the scale every morning to remind myself of my commitment to make each day a positive step forward - log my weigh-in on MFP once a week to get the big picture.
9) "Roll with it" - I can't predict what challenges are ahead, just do the best I can when they arise. Pre-plan and log ahead of time whenever I know I will be in a difficult environment, like going to a restaurant, get-together, or during a holiday.
10) "LIVE" - I'm in control, do not deprive myself of the things I enjoy. Most things I want to eat can be managed with pre-planning and portion control. A few will just need to wait until I'm at my goal and on maintenance.

We are all coming from different places, with different needs and likes. I had at least 120lbs to lose and a handful of medical issues I'm dealing with. Don't let anyone tell you what should be right for you.
My guidelines are working for me, they may not be right for everyone. Feel free to take these and modify them so they work for you.

I'd be interested to hear from some of you that also have a written plan.

ErinK09 · January 2015

Congratulations!

Holla4mom · January 2015

Awesome job and great perspective! Thanks for sharing your story and lessons learned!

subversive99 · January 2015

Very nice list. I like it all. Great work!

Greeneyedgrl_24 · January 2015

Love this!!!

BRaye325 · January 2015

subversive99 wrote: »

Very nice list. I like it all. Great work!

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

MaryGoals2015 · January 2015

Congrats and keep it moving forward with your journey

fdfallie · January 2015

Great list. #7 really resonated with me.

BRaye325 · January 2015

Here is the complete write-up of my visualization:

It has to begin with your commitment to reach a destination at some point in the future - Decide, who do you want to be?

- I created a visualization to help me stay on track. At the beginning of my journey, I pictured myself laying on my basement floor, fat, unhealthy, and badly wanting out of that basement. My goal is to crawl my way out, climb the stairs up to the second floor, run up the attic stairs, out the window to sit with my two grandsons on the roof to gaze at the stars - a healthy slim medication-free new version of myself.

- Now as I am progressing it helps me tremendously. The 100 times a day I need to remind myself why I am making the tougher decision, I picture both that end goal looking at the stars with my boys and exactly where I am on my journey. So far I have climbed the basement steps and I'm standing on the 11th step more than halfway up to the second floor. Still a long way to go, but I've come so far.

- When I do stall on a step and even take a step or two backwards, I remind myself that I started on the basement floor and I'm a long way from there. I brush myself off, decide again - who do I want to be? and move forward.

- You can do it too! - Decide

BRaye325 · January 2015

fdfallie wrote: »

Great list. #7 really resonated with me.

Yes, I have been seeing a lot of comments in the forums about those that have been at it for a few days or even few weeks and are already frustrated that the scale isn't moving. It really doesn't work that way. Most of us took years to get this fat and don't want to hear that it will take a long time for it to come off.

BRaye325 · January 2015

Putting #9 to the test this weekend by hosting a Super Bowl party. Everyone coming is bringing their favorite dish and it's certainly going to be interesting. But I have a plan to have a selection of healthy, low calorie options and I am pre-logging most of what I plan to eat and drink for the day. Wish me luck!

Athos282 · January 2015

So much awesome in this post that applies to much more than fitness and eating well. Thanks for capturing some important principles so succinctly!

Topsking2010 · January 2015

Great list!! Congrats on your loss.

BRaye325 · January 2015

Here is the detail on each stage:
This is based off the visualization above.

Stage 1 - Emerge from the basement

Crawl up 15 steps to reach the first floor

13 steps earned by losing 3 pounds each + 1 extra pound = 40 pounds lost

2 steps earned by eliminating 2 prescriptions

* Completed in 11 weeks

Stage 2 - Walk up to the second floor

Walk up 15 steps to reach the second floor

13 steps earned by losing 3 pounds each + 1 extra pound = 40 pounds lost/80 lbs total

2 steps earned by eliminating 2 prescriptions

* Currently on the eleventh step - down 32 more pounds/72 total and 1 more prescription gone

Stage 3 - Run up the attic stairs

Run up the final 15 steps to reach the window to the roof

13 steps earned by losing 3 pounds each + 1 extra pound = 40 pounds lost/120 pounds total

1 step earned by eliminating last prescription

1 last step earned because of all I've given back to my MFP friends to encourage each of them along their journey.

* No deadline to get there, just keep making progress. Eye on the prize, but just keep taking it on, one step at a time.

Stage 4 - Out onto the roof

Step out that window, proud of my accomplishments!

Continue to earn the right each day to stay out there by exercising all of the lessons I've learned to stay fit and healthy.

Allow myself +/- 5 pound weight range from my decided final goal weight. Gain more than that and it's back into the attic to earn it over again.

yasmine334 · January 2015

amazing advises, thank you

BRaye325 · February 2015

Athos282 wrote: »

So much awesome in this post that applies to much more than fitness and eating well. Thanks for capturing some important principles so succinctly!

Glad you found it helpful.

PandoraGreen721 · February 2015

This is great! Thank-you for sharing; #3, #7, and #10 could've been written for me. Congrats on your success so far!

BRaye325 · February 2015

pandora721 wrote: »

#3, #7, and #10 could've been written for me. C

Thanks, I find that the # seems to vary greatly on which one jumps out at someone. I think it just shows how quickly we can all bounce from one place to another and it's good for me to see that the people on MFP have a lot of differences.

BRaye325 · March 2015

I completed stage 2 today with my weigh-in, more than 80 pounds down and down to 1 prescription. Time to start running up that last flight of stairs.

BRaye325 · May 2015

I just hit the 90 pound mark, I'm on the 3rd step to the attic. Look out 100, here I come!

BRaye325 · September 2015

1000 Posts / 100 Pounds Lost

So here I am on the day I just hit the 100 pound lost mark. I'm contemplating what the key items are that continue to help me be successful with my fitness. I am a firm believer in paying it forward to share whatever works for me so perhaps it can help others that may be where I started last year. Here's my thoughts:

Focus, Track, Move - that's it!

Focus - I'm a numbers nerd and it hit me as ironic that on this day, I also tallied my 1000 post on MFP. If last year someone told me, just start posting comments, questions, suggestions, encouragement, and positive feedback on a fitness website and for every 10 posts, you'll lose a pound, I would have laughed at them. However that's exactly what happened to me. Plugging myself into the social circle here on MFP is what keeps me focused daily on my own goals. It keeps my priorities in line. My health & fitness is something I need to pay attention to every day!

Track - Just do it and do it honestly. My mind can get very creative when lying to myself and tracking my calorie intake needs constant vigilance. It's really almost second nature now that I've been doing it for 419 days. I can recite the calories and macro nutrients on 80% of my diary. Eyeballing portion sizes I'm good at, as long as I want to be, but I find measuring needs to be a pretty regular thing to make sure I stay honest. I need to track everything, everyday.

Move - It doesn't matter if you're only up to picking up one arm and waving it in the air or dancing the chicken dance - do whatever you can do. Last year I struggled to even walk, but I did. Now, I'm riding my bike, lifting weights, gardening, and wrestling on the ground with my grandsons. It means so much to your health to just move!

My initial plan started as just - Track. Then after a couple months it changed to - Track, Move. The last element of adding Focus really happened by accident and has turned into the best thing that could have happened to me. I've made many friends, gotten a great education, and helped others. I'm truly blessed to have the opportunity to learn about how others deal with their health and fitness issues. It's made me more open-minded. I feel like I finally have a mature plan for my continuing good health.

A goal without a plan is just a wish

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