Tip #9: Set goals!

Set goals - long term and short term. I used to always read that "tip" and roll my eyes. Setting goals never used to help me for some reason. But THIS time around, they were everything to me. I wouldn't just set a goal to lose 15 pounds by a certain month. Instead, I would identify an EVENT that I wanted to lose a certain amount of weight by. For instance, I wanted to lose 50 lbs by the time I went to King's Island. I wanted desperately to ride the rollar coasters comfortably!!! In addition, I wanted to be able to buy some smaller clothes to wear on my trip. I focused on that goal soooooo much. Everytime I was tempted to overindulge, I would think about my goal and remind myself that if I do in fact overindulge, I will not meet my goal!!! After reaching that goal, I identified other events that could continue to motivate me!! Think about what is coming up in your life where you would LOVE to sport a new outfit in a smaller size! Mark in on the calendar. I lost on the average of 2 lbs/week. Get the calendar out, find the event/date you're striving for and figure out your weight loss goal based on a maximum of an average of 2 lbs for week!!! Just like you would map out your vacation travels - you need to map out this weight loss journey!! Once you do that, reaching your "goal weight" will not be nearly as daunting as you originally thought!!! You'll see that it is COMPLETELY possible AND in a much shorter time frame than you may have originally thought!!!