Setting Goals When Dieting Is Essential

By Mary Westhoff


As with most all health plans, dieting and setting goals is very important and go hand in hand. When you look at things realistically and objectively you have to notice that many of the things you want to accomplish in life have usually been accomplished because you not only had a solid well thought out goal but that you also had a clearly planned and well thought out process for achieving that wanted goal. That being said here, why is goal setting mandatory when it comes to dieting?

First of all, it is difficult to achieve a goal if you do not have a clearly defined goal. There are times in life when it is almost impossible to tell whether you are succeeding or failing because you aren't certain exactly what the desired outcome should be. Identifying your dieting goals before you begin eliminates this particular possibility.

Second, having dieting goals gives you a measuring stick by which you can judge your process. This is important so that you know when your efforts are failing behind and when you're moving along schedule or ahead of schedule. In other words, you will know when to celebrate and when to give yourself a swift kick to the rear.

Now that we know why we set weight loss goals, let's discuss how we should go about setting those goals that are so important for dieting success. You need to set goals that are obtainable without being impossible for you to achieve. If you set goals hap haphazardly that are beyond your ideal reach you will discover that frustration will be your best friend or dieting partner until you reach the time where you give up all together and have no results to show for it. In order to avoid this type of failure you should take well care to insure that your goals are possible for you to achieve.

When it comes to weight loss be specific when setting your goals. Rather than setting a total goal of 40 or 60 pounds start with a specific goal such as 10 pounds in one month. Then you can extend the goal to the next month until you've reached the overall goal of 40 or 60 pounds. It is much easier to lose 10 pounds four times than it is to lose 40 pounds at once. It's a trick of the mind but it works. Ten pounds sounds simple and achievable. Forty pounds sounds like an insurmountable obstacle.

Another thing about goals you must consider is that you want to hold yourself accountable but you shouldn't call the whole thing off if you only lose 9 pounds instead of 10. Instead, find out where you dropped the ball for the final pound and set your 10-pound goal for the next month.

You should also take great care that you are working with your personal goals and not the goals that someone else is pushing on you. The real fact of the matte is that if it's personal to you, it will be more rewarding to you than if you are doing this for someone else desires. If your heart is just not in it, there are few goals that are going to motivate you at all.

Finally, you should establish small (non-food) rewards for accomplishing your dieting goals. Perhaps your reward will be a new accessory for your new (or new old) wardrobe or a pedicure for your new look. Make your reward something fun and frivolous and teach yourself that accomplishing your goals can be accomplished by something other than food. This is a key to dieting successfully.




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