Do you set yourself time limits for mini goals?

jmgj27
jmgj27 Posts: 531 Member
edited November 29 in Health and Weight Loss
As above really. I've lost 23lbs with another 77 to go so I need to keep motivated and having had a cough/cold for about three weeks now, it can be hard on the odd day. My weight loss is going fine but I wondered about setting time limits for my mini goals (next one is 237.9 and I'm currently 241.2)- do you guys do that? Does it help or does it set you up for failure and demotivate you if you don't get there?

Replies

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    I set goals, but all goals are goals, not mini ones.

    The world won't end if the goal needs to extended or god willing I happened to meet early. I am more motivated by the goal in general, cause if I do not have a mapped plan to begin with, how will I ever know if I reached the destination?
  • QueenofHearts023
    QueenofHearts023 Posts: 421 Member
    I don't set time limits. I get obsessed and resort to unhealthy things to get there before the limit.

    I'm this way with everything. I always finish things waaay before the deadline. Otherwise it gives me tons of stress. But that can't be done with weight loss healthily.

    So its better if I just don't set a time limit. Then I don't stress and I keep my sanity and my health :)
  • lorib642
    lorib642 Posts: 1,942 Member
    I haven't set time limits, but I am breaking the long-term goal into smaller goals. I am going to reward myself when I complete them. I have decided on a mani-pedi for my first reward.
  • ziggy2006
    ziggy2006 Posts: 255 Member
    I set goals for behaviors that will help me become healthier, such as bringing lunch from home each day or running a challenging yet attainable number of miles during the week or month. I know that if I am incorporating those kinds of behaviors into my life, that will lead to me being able to achieve a healthier weight.

    To me, goals to weigh a specific amount by a certain day are arbitrary. I can't fully control the number that shows up on the scale because my weight loss does not occur with mathematical precision. I trust that incorporating healthy and sustainable behaviors will lead to my achieving health and fitness. I don't worry so much about on which day that occurs, I am more concerned that it lasts for a lifetime.
  • kettiecat
    kettiecat Posts: 159 Member
    I think of mini goals as goals not related to the weight in a scale. I have a mini goal to fit into an old pair of pants. I have a mini goal to finish a 5k.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    no. just like with any goal... when i get there i get there
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    Nope. I don't have time-based weight-loss goals.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Absolutely not. It only sets me up for disappointment. I'd rather get there when I get there and feel a sense of accomplishment than to strain myself trying to meet some arbitrary goal and feeling disheartened and depressed when I don't reach it and forget to celebrate the success I did have along the way.

    The time is going to pass anyway. Whether I hit my goal in a month or a year, it doesn't matter, so long as I get there.
  • melonaulait
    melonaulait Posts: 769 Member
    I have been juggling these same pounds for some time now... I would go absolutely mad if I had a deadline on my mini goals. All I can do to speed up my weight loss (and keep me more motivated) is strictly eating less calories than right now.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    I don't mind time-based goals, but I set them at levels that are good but achievable. I'd like to reach a healthy weight this year, for example - something that I'm likely to hit by the end of summer. I've extrapolated out some weight progressions that would put me on track to meet that goal, as well as more aggressive progressions. Then I can see how my actual progress compares to those, and get a sense for if I'm on track or not.

    I don't obsess over it, though. If it took me 15 months instead of 11, I'd reach the same point eventually. I just use it as a tool to observe progress.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
    I might say something to myself like "at this pace those next 5 lbs might be gone by mid next month" but I do not set goals that I try to adhere to, because then my habits will go off track by trying to push harder than I should. Having habits that I can sustain is the goal and weight loss is a by product of that. Hence the good eating and exercise habits are the key.
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