Goal Setting and Weight Loss

Weight loss and Goal SettingAre you a rebound dieter? Are you constantly trying to lose weight but fail in your fitness efforts? Perhaps your weight-loss journey has just begun and you want to ensure success at the weight loss game.Setting a solid foundation for a healthier lifestyle through weight loss takes dedication with purpose. The following six tips will maintain your motivation so you can share your success story about changing your body and how you were able to reveal the fit and fabulous you.Importance of Goal SettingRegardless of how you envision the better version of your body, goal setting is necessary for success. You can shrink your belly fat by increasing your metabolism and improve your health if you set attainable goals. The benefit is you will also improve the look of your body after your healthy habit become rituals.Keep in mind, change has to happen in your mind first. Dedicate yourself to change and your actions will follow. Results will eventually be visible in a slimmer, stronger version of you.Goal setting is important to a sustainable healthy life style. Research reveals people experience greater success if they combine long-term and short-term goals for healthy weight loss. Be reasonable with yourself and stay dedicated. This way you will stay in action long enough to see and change and gain momentum from visible results.Guidelines for Weight Loss Goals1. Trade in the Scale for a Measuring TapeTrade in the scale for the measuring tape. A decrease in inches is more motivating than a decrease in the numbers on the scale. Set goals specific goals to decrease your measurements. For instance, "lose one inch from my waistline in one month". Create a body map to maintain an accurate record of progress.A body map is a record of your measurements of your body. A body map allows you to set specific goals. Draw a simple stick figure, or you can find one online. On this stick figure record at least these four measurements: neck, waist, belly, and hips. You can add more measurements if you want to really see results one inch as a time. Record these measurements monthly on the same body map.2. Set Appropriate ObjectivesUsing a fat reducing plan just for vanity's sake is less helpful psychologically than losing weight to improve health. Many people want to make changes for the reason of wearing smaller pants. This goal lacks a purposeful reason for your actions. Build your weight loss goals around meaningful reasons supported by your belief system.Your goals must be attainable and logical with respects to your life. Your life is unique and so your plan must be tailored to your needs. Of source you must include the logical: Good nutrition and increased exercise. But the key is making every desired change one small step at a time.Avoid intimidating yourself with goals that are out of reach. Small incremental changes developed on the foundation of purposeful reasons are more effective than lofty goals that remained dreams.3. Focus on Doing, Not LosingRather than telling yourself you are going to lose 2 pounds this week, quantify the amount of time you're going to dedicate to exercise this week. Be specific down to the minutes.Or specifically outline what exercises you will be doing and how many repetitions you'll be doing. This would definitely make up of a sensible weight loss plan. Manager activity level and focus on your actions so weight loss becomes a byproduct of your focus.4. Make Logical ChangesShort-term weight loss plans driven by "pie-in-the-sky" goals set dieters up for failure. If you have never exercised at all, a productive action towards change is to find three different one-mile routes that you can walk this week. If you're already active and take one step up and increase the amount of activity in small increments.For example if you already go to the gym two days a week boost your activity level to three days a week.If you try changing your habits too severely in a short time frame, you're only going to frustrate your self. This will end your efforts before you even start making an impact.5. Keep up Self-EncouragementAn all-or-nothing attitude only sets you up to fail. Learn to judge and evaluate your efforts objectively. If you fall short of some goals, just look ahead to next week. You do not need to have a perfect record. After all, self-encouragement should definitely be a part of your weight loss plans. Otherwise, you will fall short of your goals.Give yourself credit for the action you have taken. Increasing activity week by week is the goal. Increase your intensity in small increments and recognize your forward momentum. Recognizing your positive change will help you stay dedicated in the long run.6. Set Quantifiable Exercise TargetsIn order to maximize your efforts and reach a goal, identify specific and quantifiable actions. Stating your intention of merely improving this week is not a measurable goal. Log the time dedicated to weekly exercise. Count the number of repetition of given exercises each day. Record the foods you each at each meal. These are quantifiable.Set a specific target such as: walk a 16 minute mile three days a week. Or include half hour Pilates sessions four times this week. Perhaps you're already active so you're already going to Zumba class twice a week, then perhaps your goal is to include one day of weight training for a half-hour. A solid weight loss plan is quantifiable. Count up the minutes of exercise and log your time.What Does Goal Setting Mean to Weight Loss?As in all other areas of life, if you fail to plan you plan to fail. The same is true for weight loss. If you want to boost your metabolism make sure to make a plan and get into action by incorporating your goals so you're motivated and educated to your weight-loss progress in relation to the achievable goals you set for yourself.