Should I set BIG GOALS or MINI GOALS?

It really depends on what works best for you.

For me, fitness needs to be my primary goal and weight a background project. Because losing weight is a limited process but fitness and being healthy is a lifetime thing. Then again, food logging and eating at a deficit (when I make the commitment to plan for it) is easy. Being consistent week after week with strength training is a challenge. Cardio comes easily enough, as long as I don't 'let' myself slack off too much!

Rannoch3908 wrote: »

I am a very goal oriented person and result oriented person. I need to see results to stay motivated.

Right now my goal is to go from 316lbs to 225lbs (no time limit).

- But maybe I should be setting my goal to more like 275lbs so I can achieve a major goal faster.

- Or maybe my goals shouldn't be about weight - they should be about measurements?

- Or maybe something else like fitness goals, activity goals, wellness goals, blood work goals?

Perhaps you should make it a goal to ask if you have areas of your life that being process driven is enough for you. The problem with saying that you must have goals and you must have results is that you are forcing yourself down one track. This is a track that does not seem to have a great record of results here and it never worked for me.

I doubt anyone's goal is to fail. So if everyone's goal is to succeed at losing weight what is that worth when 95 percent either won't get to goal or stay there if they do?

Ultimately your goal has to be to eat the correct number of calories to manage your weight properly. It starts by eating slightly less than your body requires so that weight loss occurs. After you have gotten to a healthier weight then you try to eat the full amount your body needs to keep your weight there for the rest of your life.

My big goal is to be at a healthier weight and fitter. That is a goal I constantly achieve and will continuously renew until I achieve maintenance.

My specific goal is to live today in a calorie deficit and be as happy as possible doing it. Happiness is my motivation.

To add a little sauce I will add short term goals when I see the potential ahead. I am challenging myself to my first multi-day hike next month. It makes it fun to have a challenge and it converts weight loss and exercise into preparation and training for a period of time. While I only have vanity pounds left each amount I lose does take more pressure off my knees.

I am 315 and wanting to get to about 210 to start. My first "big goal" is 275, then I'll get myself new jeans. I'll need them.

I personally find it easier to focus on good habits and fitness goals.
I ran a marathon last week, that achievement means much more to me than the number on the scale.

The weight loss comes alongside it, and if there's a continued downward trend I'm happy.

But that is entirely down to my priorities, how my brain works and what I find works for me.

I think not having weight goals for short term, but diet and exercise routine goals will be more beneficial for people starting out. This will prevent you from getting frustrated after the weight stalls after the first few weeks. It's good you know what your long term goal is and you didn't set a time limit. Since you don't have a time limit, your intermediate goal should be, your weigh in or body fat should be less than what it was 2-3 months ago.
Don't forget to adjust your diet and exercise though out your journey as the requirements will change just like the clothes wear.

Why does it have to be an or thing? As with all project management the end goal is divided in time and deliverable into minigoals/deliverables.
For example my first minigoal on this journey was to fit back into my favourite pants, Then I went on to log for 100 days. Next up was an old skirt I had not fitted for years.
The end result I was striving for was always a healthy BMI
Once there my goals changed again but always little goals to get to in the foreseeable future

I agree with those who say this is not either/or, but both and. Knowing what you are aiming for ultimately is a good thing, but you will need to break that down into smaller steps. I have never had to lose as much as you, but I set myself weight/scale related mini-goals which marks kgs and lbs, and also goals of a certain percentage of what I am hoping to lose. This means that the mini-goals come quite often. (It's not linear: I often hit a mini-goal and bounce back from it, and that is entirely normal.)
Alongside that, setting goals that are entirely in your control (like logging food, exercising a certain amount each week) alongside the goals that are less in your control (like those related to your weight) is (s others have also said) a good idea. You might have a read through the NSV thread (non-scale victories) nd see what kind of things people find themselves celebrating. Once you reach your weight goal I suspect that these goals are what will keep youm maintaining. (That's what went wrong for me last time; now I am approaching goal again, I am thinking much harder about how to stay there...)

I have an overall goal of 162 in no set time period and a short term goal of 210 by new years Started at 284 in April. Sitting at 230 now.
I like to do 3 month realistic goals.

I have lots and reset them regularly, I also have a spreadsheet that I just love, it converts all my weights and tracks everything.

I started with 7lb loss, then 14lb, 21lb and 2 stone. I also have a goal from obese > overweight and overweight > healthy.

I find what works for me is doing 20 pounds at a time!

If you’re goal oriented-maybe try lots of goals- big and small!! Sounds like you have a big one already.

Maybe focus on some process goals. E.g. I will only eat X once a week or I will eat 5 servings of vegetables per day or whatever is important to you.

What worked for me- set my big goal at first to be in the “healthy” BMI range. But my intermediate goal was sort of jokingly to be “overweight.” I promised myself some (well really lots of) fried chicken when I was simply “overweight.” When I got there I didn’t even want it!

To get there some process goals helped e.g I will only eat chips once a week and never more than 2 oz. and I will workout at least 3 hours per week for three months. Later it was- I will only exceed my daily calories once per week and never by more than leftover calories from the previous 6 days. Recently I added that I will get 70,000 steps per week in addition to working out 5 hours minimum.

I also have some physical goals around weightlifting, exercise and running. These help too. Especially since one of the exercise ones focuses on pull-ups which are way easier when you’re lighter.

For goal-oriented folks- goals help!!