A major stumbling block that many people face when trying to lose weight is setting unrealistic goals. This creates a cycle that makes it difficult to stay on your diet. What often happens is that people become discouraged when they don’t reach their goals.
This discouragement eventually leads to giving up on the diet. But instead of giving up, most people would benefit more from actually setting more realistic dieting goals and being clear about their expectations.
Free Report: How To Stick To Your Fitness ResolutionsWhat Are Realistic Dieting Goals?
From the beginning of a weight loss journey, you need to make sure you set goals you can actually achieve. This helps to build success and motivates you to continue further. Slow and steady wins the race.
Here are a few things to consider when setting goals:
- Weight loss goals should be reasonable – 1-2 pounds per week
- Goals connected with behavior are also successful. For example, set a goal to drink 8 glasses of water each day for a week.
- You shouldn’t try to change more than one or two behaviors at a time.
- Don’t compete with others when setting goals.
As you go about setting goals, you’ll find that the more small successes you have, the more likely you’ll be to keep going. Many people who try to lose 5 pounds a week find that they can’t do it and it only makes it harder to keep going.
Your goals need to be very specific and very measurable. To have the goal to “lose weight” isn’t enough. You must set smaller goals such as losing 1 pound per week for 52 weeks. This is very specific and each week you can check in to see if you’ve met your goal.
When you make goals that are too large or too vague, you set yourself up for failure. You’ll have a problem before you even begin your work. Don’t set yourself up for failure by being too broad with your goal setting.
Chart Your Progress
Keeping a journal and making goals are great first steps for getting your diet in gear. But you also want to make sure you chart your progress as you diet so that you can see both your successes and your failures.
Charts and graphs offer visual representations of your progress. You can make a line graph of your weight loss in pounds and in inches. You can also make graphs that show your goals and your achievements.
When you see your success visually, it can be a huge motivator to keep going. And when you see the line on your graph start to dip, you can head off further declines by kicking things back into gear.
Many people who have achieved dieting success have found charts and graphs to be critical to that achievement. You’ll likely find that you have the same results when you begin to make graphic representations.
You can make charts by hand. Or if you’re comfortable with spreadsheets, you can plug the numbers in and let the computer do all the designing. Then you’ll have it stored and you can manipulate the data to make the kind of graph you want.
Reevaluate
You’ve been plugging along and your diet started out okay, but now you’re finding that it doesn’t fit your lifestyle or your budget well. Don’t let this be a reason to give up or quit. This is just a time to reevaluate.
Sometimes you need to make changes in order to continue with your success. You may find that one diet may not work very well, but you can try a new program to keep going with your progress.
Every month or so, you’ll want to ask a few questions about your diet:
- Am I having success?
- Can I afford this program?
- Do I have enough time to follow this diet?
- Am I enjoying the food I am eating?
- Do I have more energy than I had before?
- Am I happy on this diet?
- Can this diet work for me long-term?
- Is there another diet that would work better for me?
If you’re finding that you don’t have energy, you’re always hungry, and/or you hate what you’re eating, it may be time for a change. Even if you’re losing weight, you don’t want to be miserable all the time.
Likewise, you may be feeling okay with the diet, but not losing any weight. If this is happening, you may need to find something that’s more appropriate for you. However, if you’re losing 1-2 pounds per week, you’re on target.
Sometimes people get discouraged because they want to lose 5 pounds every time they step on the scale. But you need to go back and remember to set realistic dieting goals. A diet that causes more rapid weight loss may not be healthy.
If you find it’s time for a change, don’t hesitate to do what will make you more successful. Look for another program that works for you. Maybe one that fits your budget, schedule, or food preferences better.
There are hundreds of diets on the market and there’s no reason to stick with something that isn’t working for you. It may take several tries to discover what really works for you. The key here is to not give up.
Free Download: How To Stick To Your Weight Loss Goals
Diets are notoriously prone to not being fulfilled. Making a resolution, a promise to ourselves that we’re going to do something different than we’ve done in the past can be a challenge. Statistics show that by the end of the first week, 25% of people have given up and gone back to their pre-resolution ways. But it doesn’t have to be that way. To help you stick to your weight loss goals, download this free Fitness Resolution Report to see how sticking to your promise doesn’t have to be like a prison sentence.
