Motivate Yourself: The Power of Personal Weight Loss Goals

November 2012

Motivate Yourself: The Power of Personal Weight Loss GoalsEveryone focused on weight loss in Beverly Hills has an ultimate goal they’re striving for–that weight you hope to reach by the end of your medical weight loss program. This is likely a figure you discussed in the initial consultation with your bariatric doctor and will remain an important number throughout your weight loss journey.

Yet that goal weight won’t do much in the way of keeping you motivated. The number on the scale is rarely a good indicator of how you’re actually progressing, and paying too much attention to it can become frustrating. To keep yourself focused and on track, it helps to have smaller, incremental goals that encourage you to push on towards that ultimate weight loss goal.

Weight loss in Beverly Hills is about so much more than just losing weight. By committing to your program, you can create a more active lifestyle and get more out of every day. As you lose weight, you may find your energy levels and just about every aspect of your health improving, and this is certainly something to celebrate.

Creating personal goals around these benefits is simple, but can make a big difference in your motivation. To get started, try coming up with a few SMART goals:

  • Specific. Try to plan out every aspect of your goal and how to reach it before you get started. Vague goals are seldom good ones, so plan your goals in detail. It’s great to focus on exercising more, but try to look deeper by figuring out when you’ll exercise, what you’ll do and what you’ll need to do it. Instead of “I will exercise more this week,” try “I will walk for one hour four times after work this week.”
  • Measurable. Without a way to measure your goals, it won’t be easy to know when you’ve reached them. Make sure your goals are quantifiable and easy to record. Exploring healthy new foods while cooking may be a good goal, but you can make it more precise by tracking things like calorie counts and fat content. You should also have something to track your goals with, like a journal.
  • Attainable. We may hope to shoot for the moon, but reaching it is easier said than done. If your goals are unrealistic, they will only frustrate you.
  • Relevant. Your goals can focus on anything that has to do with your weight loss program, but should be based on your progress. Think about why you hope to reach each goal—if you want to exercise more, is it because you enjoy trying new workouts, or perhaps because it helps you reduce stress?
  • Timely. You’ll need to set time constraints to ensure that you don’t pursue a goal for too long. Set a specific start and end date to your goal. It helps to make your goals short-term, but remember that you can always give yourself more time if needed.

By making SMART personal goals, you can keep yourself motivated and focused on the many benefits your weight loss program provides your body. What personal goals have helped you during weight loss in Beverly Hills? Share them in the comments below!