Introduction and Question: Small goals or big goals?
 

Hello all. I used to use Fitday and just returned. I have never used the forums tho.

I am trying to get my weight back in control after having gained weight over the last 2 years due to Homeschooling my kids. Time to exercise got pushed aside while I taught lessons and ran fieldtrips. We would stop and get snacks and icees on the way home from some function or another. The kids would want a candy at the checkout and mom would get one too :(

I put myself on the back burner and was focusing on being teacher mommy. When the kids were in public school i spent an hour or more a day exercising.

Recently i started taking bellydance classes. I love belly dancing its my passion! It is my motivation to lose this weight. I hope to try out to preform with a local troupe next spring.

Now i am commited to getting from 170lbs back down to 145lbs. I am 5'8" and medium build. My goal is to lose the weight before my 33rd birthday in Aug. And maybe another 10 before Spring try outs. (May just tone up depending on how I look in costume)

Do you all make smaller goals (say 5lbs a month) or one big goal. Currently I have my goal set at 145lbs by Aug 23rd 2010. That is 1.79 lbs a week. But I am wondering if smaller goals are more motivating?

I have both. My final goal is to be 135 lbs, give or take 3 lbs. I started at 182, right now I'm at 152. I don't have a date set to hit that goal, for the sake of fitday's goal graph I picked 140 lbs by my birthday, July 21. For minor goals, I have the "decade" marks (170, 160 etc) which is nice because the gym scale is a good 4 lbs heavier than my home scale, so I get to break those twice. I just hit a minor one with 30 lbs lost, I also had 158 marked off as my halfway point, and at 149.9 I am going to dance nekkid by the scale. The reason is at that point, I will officially be out of the overweight category for my height. I also have rewards set for certain goals, I had promised myself a shopping trip for 149.9 but I went early, I got tired of having no clothes that fit. I'm really looking forward to 135 because I am going to buy myself some leather motorcycle pants :D

The big goal keeps me focused that there's a point to all this. The smaller goals and rewarding myself is important, because if I just had the 'one big goal', it becomes an all-or-nothing overwhelming mountain. Having little goals tick by on the way there keeps me motivated.

I'm totally with lizzy on this one. I too have the decade marks, and then I have all these weirdo ones in between. I passed 62 pounds a while back, that was a big deal because it was my 1/2 way point. Last week I weighed 170, which is what I weighed the day we got married. I passed another weird goal this week, at 167 I weighed exactly the same as when I started architecture school and consequently a diet - way back in the day, and it's what I weighed when I met my husband. I set weird goals and sometimes they come with gifts of clothing. I was supposed to get new bras at 70 pounds, but I had to buy them at 65 because it was very necessary. But you get the idea, many of us here on the forum use both. My next goal is to get to 163, which will drop me from "obese" to "over-weight", and maybe I'll dance nekkid by the scale too. Actually I was thinking of having a few friends over and making a "big fat announcement", with cucumber sandwiches and Perrier.

Small goals work best for me!
 

At first, I started with a large goal, but found that I became less motivated when I didn't lose as much weight as I thought I could. I started out 170 lbs and wanted to get back to at least 155. It took over a month for my body to become in sync with my new intense workouts and eating better, and fitday does not count that time to sync. I barely lost one pound because my body was just starting to raise it's metabolism and getting used to all this new routine. So after much disappointment, I decided a smaller goal might be a better idea. I said 5 lbs in two weeks. My reward? Getting my hair done at my favorite salon. It's a small thing, but rewards really help motivation. In this way I felt I could focus better by thinking in smaller terms...

For example, I'd be tempted to pick up that candy bar at the grocery checkout, but I'd say nope- 1 week and 2 more days to go...

And guess what! I lost the weight in two weeks...I actually lost a total of 6 lbs. Now I have no desire to even look at a candy bar because I'm addicted to being more healthy...once you lose those first few lbs, it really really helps! I think this way is healthier mentally and physically as well. Hope that helps!

So my "Big goal" then will be 145 by Aug 23rd 2010.
Smaller goals will be:
164lbs : My official "healthy weight mark"

159 lbs : My Official "I will never weigh more then this weight" (a weight I have always had for myself not anything new)

155lbs: Because i need a small step

149lbs: Because i will be so happy to be Under 150!

145lbs: The end goal!

Rewards will be:
164lbs Dance nakkid by the scale :) A workout outfit
159lbs and a hip scarf for dance class.
155lbs a new purse
149lbs a new dress
145lbs the materials for my new bellydance costume and pictures in my bellydance costume

I do both, but only have a nebulous short term goal, that being about 1-2 pounds per week. My long term goal is 120 pounds lost by my 43rd birthday in June of 2011!

i guess mine would be:

130 never to weigh more than this ever again
128 entering a healthy weight zone
125 GOAL (have to think if it's enough or if i need to lose more, since i'll be still too close to bmi of 25 at that point)

I also use both ...my end goal is 140 (depending) by New Years Eve.

Along the way, I have "mile markers" I want to reach:
July 1, 2010 185 lbs...new tat
August 15, 2010 175 lbs...sky diving
Sept 15, 2010 164 lbs..."healthy"
Oct 15, 2010 155 lbs...
Nov 3, 2010 150 lbs...My anniversary
Dec 31, 2010 140 lbs...New Years Eve at Niagara Falls

This is if all goes according to plan cause we know that always works out well.

I found that using the weight goal tool here on Fitday helps me with the short term. It tracks my current weight in relation to my weight loss goal. If I am on target the two lines match. If not I know I need to make some adjustments. I don't have any rewards built into my goals, just having my clothes fit better and the scale read less continue to motivate me. (Almost time to buy a new belt, current one is on its last notch!)