Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. When you’re at the starting line of your journey, the finish line can seem so distant that you may begin to doubt your ability to cross it. That’s where mini goals come in. Think of them as fun size goals for success! Mini goals will not only give you more opportunities for achievement, but will also help you stay on track to reaching your big goal. Here are 5 tips for creating weight loss goals:
1. Break Up Your Weight Loss Goal by Months
You didn’t gain the weight overnight so you’re definitely not going to lose it overnight either. After establishing your weight loss goal and deadline date of when you want to lose it by, break up your goal by months. For example, if you have a goal to lose 50 pounds in 10 months, set a weight loss goal of 5 pounds a month, and 1 to 2-pound weight loss per week. By breaking down your weight loss into months, you’ll be able to focus on smaller and shorter achievements and tackle your larger goal with a more positive and productive mindset.
Healthy Tip: Join a Jackpot challenge where you’re automatically a winner and get a share of the cash prize pot if you achieve an individual weight loss of at least 6% in 12 week, or a Fast Track where your goal is 4% in 40 days!
2. Practice Healthy Eating Habits
Nutrition plays a crucial role in your weight loss success…as in 75%! Unfortunately, it’s also the hardest part of weight loss for many. We have to eat but how and what we eat can be stressful and confusing. Whether you have your nutrition plan finalized or still figuring it out, start off with small steps. Begin by aiming to get your recommended daily water intake. Then the next week, commit to adding a veggie to at least one meal per day. The following week’s goal can be committing to your water and veggie goals from the previous weeks. You want to develop healthier habits that are realistic to your lifestyle and ones you can maintain even after your weight loss journey has completed. Need ideas? Check out these healthy eating habits for weight loss success.
Healthy Tip: Keep meals simple with these meal services and get cash back in the form of HW Points when you purchase them in the HW Store!
3. Get Physical
While nutrition is key to your weight loss success, physical activity is important as well and has great benefits that go beyond the scale (endorphins, anyone?). If exercise is not a common term in your vocabulary, that’s okay — you don’t have to be a triathlete to see success! Start small, whether it be going for a 15-minute walk at least once a day or reaching a daily step goal. Plus, with a wide variety of fitness programs available online, you can break a sweat and and trim down without having to leave your home!
Healthy Tip: Get motivated to get active with a Step challenge, where you’re automatically a winner and get a share of the cash prize pot if you increase your daily step count by 25% over the course of 60 days!
4. Create Visuals
Your weight loss goals and accomplishments can go unnoticed and quickly be forgotten if you’re not being reminded of them on a consistent basis. Create a visual that displays both your current weight loss success, as well as big goal to help keep you motivated in your journey and remind you of where you want to be. You can draw a thermometer and color it in for each weight loss milestone you hit. Set up two jars, one full of marbles each representing a pound of weight you want to lose and one empty one. Transfer a marble to the empty jar for every pound lost till you have no more left to lose! Check out these creative ideas for visually tracking your weight loss.
HealthyTip: Utilize HealthyWage’s Progress Tracker to easily track your weight loss progress and confirm you’re on target to reaching your goal!
5. Celebrate with Non-Food Rewards
One common mistake people make is celebrating their weight loss accomplishments with food. Yes, you should be able to enjoy that cocktail or slice of cake, but it can be a special treat and not a weight loss reward! Instead, reward yourself with non-food items. Maybe a new workout outfit or piece of clothing since you’re current ones are getting too big? Or pamper yourself with a facial or manicure. Your reward doesn’t have to be costly or even cost money for that matter. It can be as simple as an afternoon escape to the beach or exploring a new trail to hike. Pick something you want or want to do, and then reward yourself with it when you hit a mini goal!
Healthy Tip: Treat yourself to new fitness apparel and products as a reward for all your hard work. Plus, when you purchase them through the HW Store, you get cash back in the form of HW Points!
Now that you have the top 5 tips for creating weight loss goals, here’s a tip for for weight loss motivation and accountability: start a HealthyWager, the individual weight loss challenge customized to you! You pick your weight loss goal, the timeframe you want to lose it in, and prize (up to $10,000)! Ready to get started? Enter your information in the HealthyWage Prize Calculator to find out how much you can win!
