Anyone Have Small Goals Set on Here?
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Hotdawgnothotdog
Posts: 179 Member
I have been on and off here many times and usually I set my goal to be my ultimate goal so right now if I were to do that it would show a goal of 150 pounds lighter. I've decided to try something different and set my ultimate goals as little goals. Right now I'm 299 and my goal is 296 (that will be 10 pounds lost) ans after that itll probably be 290. Usually I see people have these big goals set for themselves and there's nothing wrong with that, but does anyone on here set small goals? How small and has it seemed to work better than setting massive goals?
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I have found setting behavioral goals way more effective than weightloss goals, because my behavior is something I can directly control, whereas my weight is only indirectly in my control - of course it's directly controlled by my behavior, but not instantly measureable, no matter how "good" I am, so I have to be patient. When I have simple, easily attainable, daily goals, I can be patient, and the whole goal (which is for me, now, "maintain my weight for the rest of my life") stops being overwhelming, and I can just go about my business with only a small daily effort, which is some awareness of food choices and choosing to be active whenever possible/practical, in the back of my head.8
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I have an old school scale with a dial--it's a good scale and I like the dial. I set my mini goals by putting a piece of tape (shiny red tape) down three pounds when I hit the tape for three days. I also journal a monthly review and set small reasonable fitness and food goals for the next month.
I had 40 pounds to lose and am on my last ten, so not that massive, but this has made things very easy for me.1 -
My big goal is 160, my weekly goal is 2. My daily goal is 3 miles3
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There's a lot to be said for setting small, attainable goals. It can really do a lot to help keep you motivated.1
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I set my ultimate goal to set up MFP daily calorie limit. But along the way, I'd basically do a happy dance when I reached my mini-progress-goals. That is, every 5 pounds I lost, I'd reward myself with a new shirt from a thrift ship, new running shoes or exercise clothes. I like your idea of breaking down your goals into manageable parts.1
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Goals ?
My only goal is to have 'No Goals'; so far, so good.
Goals often interfere with happiness.
I prefer to just Go Zen.
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I just started doing this strategy earlier this month myself, and it's going very well!2
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I totally understand where you are coming from. As I too have a big goal. But really have not stated it, as it seems overwhelming. Instead I have broken it down other ways. My bigger small goal is 8%. I took my starting weight and said I will loose 8%, and I did so. Then I said ok I will loose 8% again, and I have made it. So I have hit reset again, just starting on it. This is making me feel like I have moved if not a mountain a good size hill. The other one I have done is the monthly mini challenge on here of lose 5 lbs each month since I joined. 5 lbs is very doable, and I have done more. But cheer others on, and they do the same for all who join in each month.
And the other thing is changing my behavior, my thoughts around food. I now eat on smaller plates like picnic size no more dinner size plates. I have relearned how much I really different types of nuts, so I snack on them. As a diabetic I needed to tell myself you need to change your whole outlook with food from this day forward, get over yourself. I still have those conversations often. But I am winning more often. But totally agree need to break big obstacles into little goals that we can whip into shape. Good Luck!2 -
Not set on MFP as my weight loss goal, but I have a list of (sometime rather silly) interim goals, which help keep me amused and motivated. I've recently reached a BMI of less than 45, and celebrated no longer being “super" obese. And it's about time to try on all my Size 26 clothes and see which ones "suddenly" fit again.
Some of the future goals are sillier:- Lost 14 lbs = Lost one British Stone! (I'm still trying to decide how to celebrate this - maybe put $14 towards that jade stone necklace I've been wanting for a while...)
- 289 lbs: 289 = 17 squared! (not sure how to celebrate 17 squared, but I'll think of something)
- Lost 28 lbs = Two British Stone! (...that jade necklace is a wondering carving of a tiger/cat...)
- BMI = 42! I'm planning to geek out and buy myself some nice new towels.
- 15 to 20 more pounds lost = try on Size 24 clothing, and probably start get rid of anything over Size 26 :
- 271 = 3 stone gone (...and I was born in a Tiger year...)
- BMI < 40! I'll no longer be "morbidly" obese.
- 40 pounds lost. Minus Forty is the temperature that's the same in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. Celebrate by finally watching "Nanook of the North."
- BMI = 39! Celebrate by watching and/or re-reading “The 39 Steps.”
- Lost 70 lbs = Five British Stone. (...and $70 is the price of my jade tiger necklace
) - BMI < 35! I'll no longer be “severely” obese.
- 233 lbs. Math geekery: 233 is the 13th number in the Fibonacci series, so I'll celebrate by doing something elegantly proportionate.
- BMI = 34. Science geekery + etymology geekery: 34 is the Atomic number of the element Selenium, and "selene" is the Greek word for "moon." "Luna" is both the Latin word for "moon" and the base for the word "lunatic." So I'm gonna celebrate BMI = 34 by doing something loony.
- Lost 84 lbs = Another British Stone. Celebrate by wearing my jade tiger necklace to the sand-&-stone garden within my local Japanese garden.
- 225 = 15 squared! (again, I'll think of something)
- 220 lbs lost. 220 Voltage is what's used by major household appliances in the US. I'm celebrating this by something shocking (although not literally in the electrical sense)!
- BMI = 31.4. More math geekery: 3.14 = Pi, so I'll celebrate by doing something circular, maybe with a pastry crust and a fruit filling
! - BMI = 30. I won't be obese for the first time since (well, sometime after God talked to Moses), and can celebrate being merely overweight!
- BMI = 30. (This one gets two celebrations.) There are 30 of Bach's Goldberg Variations: I'm planning to buy myself the 1955 Glenn Gould album on CD
- 199 lb. Find a $1.99 store and go nuts buying 199, er, make that 19 items.
- 190 lbs = Average weight for American women my height (5'9"). Will have to think of something average to do to celebrate .
- 185 lb. = Maximum weight for a 5'9" to quality for joining the Coast Guard. (I don't want to join the Coast Guard, but I'll celebrate having a weight that wouldn't disqualify me if I did.)
- 169 = BMI < 25 = GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAL!!! Celebrate by, among many other things, imitating a soccer/football announcer.
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To cut 5 seconds off my 5k time. Did my 5k run this morning in 36:04.... So close. Hopefully next month I'll get there.2
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I agree with your approach. To attempt to lose a large amount of weight in one effort, is overwhelming and sets a person up for failure.
I have reached my weightless goal. I've enjoyed my summer and have done pretty well holding steady, so now I'm back on my reduction plan, and I want to lose a few pounds under my now goal weight. After I get that done..it will be toning time. I feel I can achieve these things by breaking them down and taking breaks along the way. If I had tried to do it all at once, I would have burned out..and now I feel confident I'm going to achieve what seemed impossible when I started.
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elisa123gal wrote: »I agree with your approach. To attempt to lose a large amount of weight in one effort, is overwhelming and sets a person up for failure.
I have reached my weightless goal. I've enjoyed my summer and have done pretty well holding steady, so now I'm back on my reduction plan, and I want to lose a few pounds under my now goal weight. After I get that done..it will be toning time. I feel I can achieve these things by breaking them down and taking breaks along the way. If I had tried to do it all at once, I would have burned out..and now I feel confident I'm going to achieve what seemed impossible when I started.
What is toning time? If you mean starting to incorporate weight training into your exercise, why wait?0 -
When I started off I set my goal at 15lbs - I needed to lose at least 20 but I actually didn't think I would even be able to see a 15lb loss, but I did and went on to lose 30lb in total.2
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Maybe because she has had success with achieving these things "by breaking them down and taking breaks along the way;" and that if she "tried to do it all at once," she might burn out.elisa123gal wrote: »I agree with your approach. To attempt to lose a large amount of weight in one effort, is overwhelming and sets a person up for failure.
I have reached my weightless goal. I've enjoyed my summer and have done pretty well holding steady, so now I'm back on my reduction plan, and I want to lose a few pounds under my now goal weight. After I get that done..it will be toning time. I feel I can achieve these things by breaking them down and taking breaks along the way. If I had tried to do it all at once, I would have burned out..and now I feel confident I'm going to achieve what seemed impossible when I started.
What is toning time? If you mean starting to incorporate weight training into your exercise, why wait?
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