Mini Goal, Mini Goals, Mini Goals!

I have said it before, but I think it bears repeating.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, set mini goals to reach along the way. Each mini goal will seem much more attainable than if you just set your sights on the bigger goal, and having these mini goals will help keep you motivated.

Mini goals do not have to be only about how much weight you've lost. You can set goals to reach different clothing sizes, to increase your cardio exercise intensity, time distance or speed or to be able to lift heavier weights. There are so many other benefits to losing weight and all of them can be used as mini goals.

The mini goals I set for me are all about how much weight I lose.It's what works for me.

Here are my mini goals, reposted today because so many more of them have been achieved now.

May 12th Starting Weight: 272.5 Weight Now - 190 (March 16th)
June 16th: 1st mini goal - 257.5 - 1st stone lost - REACHED (257)
June 30th: 2nd mini goal - 252.5 - 1st 20 lbs. lost - REACHED (252)
July 28th: 3rd mini goal - 245 - 10% body weight lost - REACHED (244.5)
July 28th: 4th mini goal - 244.5 - 2nd stone lost - REACHED (244.5)
Aug. 18th: 5th mini goal - 240 - Weight on wedding day - REACHED (238.5)
Sep. 29th: 6th mini goal - 234.5 - less than 100 pounds left to lose - REACHED (234)
Nov. 3rd: 7th mini goal - 230.5 - 3rd stone lost - REACHED (229)
Dec. 1st: 8th mini goal - 222.5 - 50 pounds lost - REACHED (220)
Dec. 1st: 9th mini goal - 220 - weight after Gabby's birth - REACHED (220)
Dec. 8th: 10th mini goal - 216.5 - 4th stone lost - REACHED (209.5)
Jan. 26th: 11th mini goal - 204 - 25% body weight lost - REACHED (203)
Feb. 2nd: 12th mini goal - 202.5 - 5th stone lost - REACHED (202)
Feb. 16th: 13th mini goal - 199.5 - ONEDERLAND!!!! - REACHED (199)
Mar. 16th: 14th mini goal - 190 - weight when met Robert - REACHED (190)
: 15th mini goal - 188.5 - 6th stone lost -
: 16th mini goal - 177 - weight after Kayla's birth & 35% body weight lost -
: 17th mini goal - 174.5 - 7th stone lost -
: 18th mini goal - 172.5 - 100 pounds lost!!! -
: 19th mini goal - 166 - weight after Angelica's birth
: 20th mini goal - 160.5 - 8th stone lost -
: 21st mini goal - 155 - weight after Victoria's birth
: 22nd mini goal - 148 - high weight in high school
: 23rd mini goal - 146.5 - 9th stone lost -
: 24th mini goal - 140 - average weight in high school -
: 25th mini goal - 136.25 - 50% body weight lost
: GOAL WEIGHT - 135 (9 stone 11.5 lbs. lost/9 stone 9 pounds weight reached) - healthy BMI of 24.7 -

How To Stay Motivated

Finding motivation is easier than it looks! It all comes down to starting it! Once you start taking the steps toward fitness, you start to notice the differences in how you feel and how you look and you start to feel a sense of accomplishment. Each success brings you more motivation.

For me, because I have such a large amount to lose, I set myself a bunch of mini goals that are more easily achieved. It feels great to reach one of those goals and in turn, it helps inspire me to keep at this, because not only am I seeing my success, but it's not too far to get to the next mini goal.

I think that was where I failed the first time I tried to lose weight (many years ago) - I kept my eyes on the long-term goal and had no in-between goals to keep me feeling good about my success in the meantime. Eventually, it all just seemed so overwhelming that I stopped, after losing 50 pounds, trying.

If you don't have a lot of weight to lose, mini goals don't have to be weight loss ones. You can set goals for things like having more energy, how your clothes fit, going a week without having anything processed and bad for you, seeing your legs get more toned, gaining more confidence, feeling healthier, improving things like blood pressure, fitness levels, etc. There are lots of rewards to weight loss that are in addition to the actual weight loss itself. And each small difference your new healthy lifestyle achieves for you is another mini goal reached and another success for you to celebrate along the way!