Defining goals...

Why do you want to lose weight?  Before you give me the "DUH!" answer, stop and think about the question for a minute.  What are your goals? 

Too often it's easy to get caught up in the wrong space mentally and to forget what your goals are.  I have been guilty of this many, many times in my journey, and I think that I am just now starting to "get it".  I think that when you are in the midst of trying so hard to make this life altering change, it's easy to get caught up in NUMBERS and to forget what your real goals are.

You are not a number!  So, again, what is your goal?  Shouldn't a goal be something more substantial then a number?  After being caught up for far too long in NUMBERS, I am now thinking that there is more to life then that!  After all, who wants to thin but MISERABLE?

So rather then, for example, saying that you MUST get down to 125 pounds, what other goals, both long and short term can you have?

For me, my main goal is to be HAPPY and HEALTHY.  This morning I weighed in at 118.7.  That's up from the 117.9 I weighed at the same time yesterday morning.  Am I less happy or less healthy today then I was yesterday?  Um... NOPE!  Could I live a happy and healthy life if I even gained a couple of pounds from where I am now?  Um.... YUP!

So there is a fine balance between striving to meet a weight loss goal and being realistic and not getting discouraged when things don't exactly go perfectly.  It is not an excuse to get lazy in your efforts, but it is permission to cut yourself some slack!

I think I've mentioned before that I really broke my journey into short term, rather then long term goals.  When you weigh over 300 pounds, having a goal to weigh 120 is incredibly overwheming.  So I set short term goals and the long term goals took care of themselves!

So, what are some short term goals?  When you get up in the morning you can list some short term goals - if you are a list maker like me, you'll stay goal focused and it feels so good to cross out that list at the end of the day!

How about an example?  Some of my goals for today are:

1) Eat a healthy breakfast

2) Organize my paperwork at work for tomorrow's meeting.

3) Do a workout DVD at noon.

4) Do not eat the Halloween candy (that my co-workers have on their desks)

5) 45 mintes of weight lifting when I get home.

6) Make a healthy dinner.

7) Clean the master bathroom

8) Tell Marc that I love him.

9) Get everything ready for tomorrow before I go to bed (clothes, workout bag, dinner)

For some of you out there the stakes are higher - you may have goals of getting your blood sugar down or your cholesterol in the normal range.  One of your goals may be to get to the point where you can play outside with your child without getting winded.  So, begin incorporating the short term goals and the long term goals with follow.  For example, if your goal is to lower your cholesterol, if each day you have a short term goal of eating healthy meals and exercising for 30 minutes daily, that long term goal will most likely have been achieved the next time you see your doctor!

I hope for everyone your main goal is to be happy - please keep that in mind with every single choice you make - and be good to yourself.  Ask yourself whether fighting with your spouse or child over something like a wet towel on the floor is worth it today.  Ask yourself whether eating 3 donuts is getting you to where you want to be in life.  Slow down, think things through, remember your goals but also LIVE A LITTLE. 

This is what I'm working on, how about you?