Last week, WW was all about goal setting. Reasonable v. unreasonable. Outcome v. actions. Very good points. My ultimate goal is to lose 200 pounds. That seems insurrmountable if I look at it as 1 giant chunk. I need to break it down into manageable bites, or I’ll become overwhelmed and give up.

Of course the first step is to decide on where you want to go. Do some soul searching. Think about where you are. Accept yourself as you are. Evaluate the facts and possible outcomes. Then, determine the goal. As I said, mine is to lose 200 pounds.

Why do you need to accept yourself? If you approach the goal from a place of self-love and acceptance, you are being positive. Not punishing yourself or hating yourself. Neither of those is maintainable over the long haul, and let’s face it, reaching a major goal is a marathon not a sprint. If you can see it as doing good for yourself, and accept that you are human. You will have slips and points where you take a side journey off the path. It will be easier to find the path again, if you accept yourself and love yourself. That doesn’t mean that you can’t want to change, it just means that you know yourself and where you are and where you want to go.

Once you identify the objective, it is necessary to determine how you will get there. First, break it down into achievable pieces. I’m aiming at 5 pounds a month. I know it will take a long time, but it will also mean that the new habits and lifestyle will have time to become my new normal and comfortable to continue with through out my life.

So, we have the stops along the way, now, how do we get to them? You have to decide on the actions you are going to take. Just setting the outcome won’t get you there. You have to make the progress. Your goals are more meaningful if they are things you will do at a certain time in a certain way. I know I have to handle several angles if I am going to get to my destination. First, I am working on my mental health and self-love/compassion through journaling and therapy. I journal daily and do therapy as needed. Second, I need to change my lifestyle. I am adding vegetables and fruit and whole grains and lean protein. I drink 64 oz of water a day. I track what I eat with WW. Third, I am increasing my activity. I am working on walking more every day, at least 3000 steps (I was averaging 1000) a day. I am using workout videos on WW and YouTube and my large DVD collection. The goal is 3 work outs a week. So, I have concrete, measureable goals.

Using my steps to get to my destination, I can see success and feel that I am making progress, even if the scale doesn’t do what I want. As my WW leader says, the scale is not the most reliable indicator of success. How you feel and what you can do are the best ways to know if you’ve reached your ultimate goal. As a side effect, you’ll reach the weight goal too.