Defining Your Holiday Weight Loss Goals

Defining Your Holiday Weight Loss Goals

One of the biggest mistakes people make going into the holidays with weight loss in mind is never defining their goals.

They just say they want to lose weight during the holidays and that’s it. Without defined goals your chances to succeed are low, so take the time to plan out exactly what you want to accomplish.

Start out by having a clear end goal for your weight loss. Before the holidays start, sit down and decide. Do you want to lose weight or are you happy with maintaining your weight and getting back to real weight loss after the holidays? If you plan to lose more weight, how much do you want to lose?

Be realistic. Understand that it’s going to be harder to stick to your goals during a time where many activities are centered on delicious, calorie-filled foods.

Once you know what your goal is, grab a pen and paper to write it down. Trust me, this step is important. Write down your specific goal. “I want to weigh the same in January as I do today.” “I will lose 1 pound a week from now until Christmas.” Have an end date so you can measure your progress. Your goal needs to be measurable or you’ll never know if you’ve actually accomplished it!

Now that you have your goal, come up with a visual representation. You can create a checklist with boxes for each half pound or pound so you can check them off after you weigh. You could create a link of paper chains, one for each pound, and every time you lose a pound remove a chain. Get creative. Think about something that will have significance to you.

The next step is to plan out some rewards. If you do this ahead of time it’ll give you extra encouragement to succeed. Your rewards should NEVER be food. It creates bad habits and an unhealthy relationship with food.

How about that new thing you want for your house? Or that show you wanted to see? If you reach your goals, reward yourself with things that make your life better instead of extra calories.

Lastly, buckle down and stick to it. If you need to, hang your goal sheet on your mirror. Put a copy in your wallet. Remind yourself along the way. If you get off track, look at that goal sheet and get back on track instead of wasting the rest of the day, week, or season.

It’s not going to be easy but boy will it be worth it when January comes around and you look at the goal you planned in October and say you did it!