Healthy Tip - Personalize Your Weight Loss Goals

Did you make a public pledge last week? Last Monday's Healthy Tip was to set a short-term goal and make it public by posting it on Facebook or sharing it with friends, family or coworkers, and using the public pressure in a positive way. If you didn't make a pledge last week, make one now. But for those of you who made a pledge, here's what you do with your results.

Personalize Your Weight Loss Goals in 3 Steps

Assess your success. Regardless of whether or not you succeeded in keeping your commitment last week, the information you gathered will help you set personalized weight loss goals.

If you succeeded in doing whatever you set out to do for a week, then you know that a seven-day time frame is a good short-term goal duration for you. Use this time frame for your next goal.

If you did not succeed in sticking to your goal, don't worry. This information is helpful. To set and reach goals successfully you need to use a shorter time frame. Try setting a goal for three days instead and see what happens.

Set a new goal. Successful weight loss is all about setting and reaching goals. Now that you know which time frame is likely to work for you, set a new goal for this week. For example, add an additional workout to your schedule, commit to eating at least three veggies every day, or promise that you'll eat lean protein at every meal. If you were successful with last week's goal, can you continue to maintain that healthy habit as well?

Build on Your Success. Once you find a time frame that works for you, continue to set short-term goals for several weeks then start to build on your success. After a few successful weeks, begin setting longer term goals, but continue to use short term goals as building blocks to reach it. For example, your longer term goal may be to exercise every day, but you'll get there by setting short-term goals to add one workout to your schedule each week.

And don't forget that you can still use friends and family to help support you in your endeavors. Add me to the list of supporters, as well. Post your goals on my Facebook pageand I'll check in with you periodically to see how you're doing.