Milestones and Goals

So I am very happy to announce that I made it past my first milestone of 50lbs lost today.  

WooHoo!!!

Yippee!!

Woot !!

etc

This got me thinking that a good topic for blogging could be about the importance of goals and milestones.

Someone on one of the message boards I frequent said she vowed to loose 1 pound 36 times.  

This person subscribed to the philosophy that smaller achievable goals are the better way to go. 
One lb at a time.
Inch by inch, everything's a cinch etc.

This works for many people but I know it doesn't work for me.   I think one of the secrets to my success so far has been to understand who I am and what games I tell myself and then find methods that don't allow that to happen.


A goal that is too easy for me would lead me to complacency.   Taking it one lb at a time would allow me to cheat too much.

For example, I am the type of person who didn't believe in weighing myself each day because one of two things would happen: 

1. Either I would be down a few pounds and then I would justify eating poorly by saying "I have been good and a little bit won't hurt me". 
2. Or I would be up or the same and I would say "well what is the point, I don't loose anyway so I might as well eat this"

Either way I was using the scale to eat poorly. 

So, for me to say that I am going to loose 1 lb 150 times wouldn't work. I would loose and gain and loose and gain and justify it because I had lost one pound x times.  It was the same lb over and over but hey. 

I believe that goals should be S.M.A.R.T
Specific
Measurable
Atainable
Realistic
Timely

Just saying, "I am going to loose weight" is not trackable, it is not speciic enough, how do you know when you are done?

A goal does need to be attainable and realistic so even though my ideal weight is 160 and I started at 402, I am not saying I plan on loosing 242 lbs.

Even with weight loss surgery the average person only looses between 40% and 60% of their excess weight. I need to be realistic.

My total goal is 150lbs lost which is slightly more than 60% of my excess weight. I may change this when I get closer to that but for today that is my realistic attainable goal. 

The good news is even 5lbs weight loss makes a difference.   I will be thankful for every lb lost.

I have structured my goal around milestones.

Wikipedia says this about milestones:

A milestone (from the Latin milliarium) is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. ...
Milestones are constructed to provide reference points along the road.

So, using that expression,  A milestone is not the end, it is just a mark along the journey to let you see your progress.

• My first milestone was the one I reached today.  50 lbs lost or 352 lbs. This (50) was a milestone because of it being half of a hundred and also just to prove to myself (and others) that I can do it. 

• My next milestone is 82 lbs lost.  This will put me at 320 lbs so this is a very significant milestone to me for 2 reasons:  
  

1. 
   
   

   First; I weighed 320 when I got married 16 years ago.

2. 
   
   

   Second: my goal weight is 160 so this is exactly twice my goal weight.  After this point I will no longer be able to that I am two times what I should be. 

• My milestone after that is 100 lbs lost or 302 lbs

• Then 280 lbs because that is what I weighed when I met my husband. 

• And for now, my last milestone is my ending goal today which is 150lbs lost or 252lbs. 
  

Being milestones, I can not see any on the road I am on beyond this.  Once the road gets close, the rest of the milestones will come into focus. 

I would love to say that I will be my ideal weight of 160 lbs.   Who knows, maybe I will.

But, keeping with the SMART philisophy. 150 lbs lost for a new weight of 250 would be 62% of my excess weight lost so that is within the norm of possibility of 40 - 60% for my current end goal and that is as far ahead as I can see right now.

I also have physical goals:

• My Daddy was a mountain climber and he took me a few times to climb a local mountain Mt. Pilchuck.   I have a goal of climbing that mountain next summer.    
• I also have a goal of sitting in a theater seat that doesn't have armrests that go up.  
• I would like to be able to sit in my own dining room chairs with armrests.  I am now able to fit in them but not comfortably yet.  
  

Today I was able to sit in one of the stuffed comfortable chairs in Starbucks for the first time.

I hope you will think about what goals and milestones you want to set.

And remember as you pass the milestones to celebrate your successes.   I plan on making cookies (low carb of course) to celebrate.  My first attempt at baking cookies with nut flours. I will let you know how it goes.