Focus on Goals

In order to lose weight you must set goals. Without goals this won't be a journey it will be a struggle and you will continually focus on the negative instead of the positives. This will cause you to give up again. You must set realistic goals too. You cannot expect to lose 25 pounds in 8 weeks because realistically you will end up gaining more weight back. Healthy weight loss is 1 -2 pounds per week and that's it. You need to also realize that your body weight changes several times throughout the month, you will see the scale go up 1-3 pounds in a day. This is not physically possible! What is it you ask? Well most of the time it is water, salt and a lot of hormones. You just need to realize that being a women we sometimes get the raw end of the deal. I'm kidding! Just realize that our bodies change a lot and your weight will fluctuate don't sweat it.

Instead of focusing on the number focus on goals. Here are a few examples of some goals you should be trying to achieve right now.

1. If your waist measures over 35 1/2 inches you have a much higher risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Set a goal to lose those inches and focus on getting below 35 1/2 inches try setting a goal for at least 30 inches to get you started.

2. Keep a calorie journal for 7 days. Can you set a 7 day goal? Sure you can! I hear a lot of my challengers say, "I just don't know what happened, I worked out really hard". Well maybe it was the food. Count your calories for a week and lets see what you might be doing wrong.

3. Set a goal to lose 5 -10 % of your weight. If you don't want to focus on the numbers on the scale focus on the percentages. Just remember if you have lost 2% great job! Think positive!

4. Eat breakfast every morning at least 1 hour after waking and drink two 8 oz. glasses of water. This should be your first little goal! You'll be amazed what your body will do if you just feed and re-hydrate it when you get up in the morning. I know, I know you say, "After I eat breakfast I'm always hungry." Really? You should be! It's because you have given your metabolism a jump start. At least 2 hours after eating breakfast eat a healthy snack, then 2 more hours eat lunch. You should be consuming most of your calories between breakfast, snack and lunch. Do not hold onto your calories till the end of the day and do not eat less calories then you need. Your body will keep all of your fat and eat up all of your muscles if you do this. Saving calories until the evening will cause you to graze and eat more calories then you are allowed. These calories will then be stored as fat. Focus on healthy breakfasts and lunches.

These are just a few simple goals you can set for yourself and achieve within the next 3 weeks. Focus on setting goals for the holidays. Just because it's the holidays doesn't mean you will need to go hog wild when you see all the wonderful food. Make healthy choices, use portion control, and most of all STOP eating when you feel full. Drink lots of water before you eat then you want tend to eat so much food.