Long-Term Goals for Weight-Loss Success

I love setting goals – for myself and for others. In fact, it’s one of the first things I tell my clients to do. I ask them to consider their ultimate goal, along with smaller goals along the way. Some think of it as a fun exercise that doesn’t really affect how successful they’ll be, while others fill two or three pages. In the end, my most successful clients are the ones who have a clear image in their minds of what they’re aiming to achieve and what it will take to get there.

All goal setting is great, but in my years helping people achieve their goals, I’ve realized that long-term goal setting is especially beneficial to weight-loss success. Short-term, event-specific goals – like trying to drop a few pounds before your high school reunion – don’t set you up for long-term success. After all, if all you’re working towards is looking great for that one event, you’ll likely backslide as soon as it’s over.

Long-term goals have multiple advantages over their short-term counterparts and can be invaluable in achieving healthy-living success. Keep the following tips in mind when setting your fitness goals:

1. Be realistic. When setting your weight-loss goals, remember that The Biggest Loser – while a reality TV show – is still a TV show. You don’t have dietitians telling you exactly what to eat (or stocking your kitchen), and you don’t have personal trainers spending eight hours a day in the gym with you. Barring surgical intervention or some truly unhealthy choices, you won’t lose 100 pounds in four months. If you want to lose weight, be realistic about how much you want to lose and how much time and effort it will take to lose it.


2. Be specific. "Exercise more" and "eat healthy" are both great goals. But they’re pretty vague. If you’re a couch potato, exercising more could mean simply standing up to change the channel rather than using the remote. If you want to lose weight, break it down: How often will you exercise and for how long? How many servings of fruits and vegetables will you have each day? What foods will you cut down on or remove from your diet completely?


3. Be bold. Give yourself something aspirational to work towards. If you want to be a runner, first find a 5K to train for, then eventually work your way up to a marathon. Just don’t try to go from taking a leisurely walk a few times a week to trying to qualify for the New York City Marathon. Setting goals in the distance gives you the opportunity to come up with a plan to meet them, creating healthy habits that last long after you’ve achieved your short-term goals.

Consistency Is King

I love riding, but there are days where my motivation wanes, especially if I’m only heading out for a short spin. The excuses start early as I try convincing myself that missing an hour-long recovery ride won’t derail my fitness. Once that happens, I rationalize how I could better use my time—for cooking or to get an extra hour of sleep. Before I know it, my window of opportunity has passed.

I doubt I’m alone in this. Many of the riders I know can at times find it hard to motivate themselves to go for training rides. I brought this up recently and was reminded how important those short rides can be. Skipping one ride can easily lead to missing two or three days of riding. Whether the reason is physical or psychological, getting out for that ride could turn into an ‘hour of power’ where your legs feel great or it just could be an easy spin to release tension, consistency is king.

There are mental benefits, too. I always feel more calm and balanced after a ride, and reminding myself of that is one way I can talk myself into getting out the door. It’s important for athletes to have alone time each day where they can reflect or simply take a break from the chaos of daily life. Research has shown that exercise and sunlight help with enhancing mood and even some of the mental health issues associated to clinical depression.

Riding offers a rare opportunity for me to reflect on where I’m at in my life, what I’m doing, and reassess my goals. The key is to make
riding just as important as brushing one’s teeth.

With that, I set out to stop making excuses and get some things done. First, I stopped hitting snooze on my alarm clock. Now, when it goes off at 6 a.m., I get out of bed before I can mentally run through all the reasons I should go back to sleep. I also stopped procrastinating when it comes time for core-strength workouts. Now, I’m motivated by Nike’s “Just Do It,” slogan. Those mountains of excuses (which can spread the like the plague into other areas of my life) are gone.

As we roll into 2014, I’m taking a hard look at everything I’ve been putting off, procrastinating over, or avoiding with excuses. When something needs done, I’ve promised myself I will do it. I’ve even twisted Nike’s slogan into something more meaningful. Do it Now! I say it often these days, and if the question of whether I should go for a short ride ever arises, I have a ready-made answer: Do it now. Do it now. Do it now.