Weight Loss Tips: Let Your Goals Shine Brightly!

Anyone who had done weight loss knows that to lose weight you need to set a goal. Or two. Or several if you have a lot of weight to lose.

And anyone who has read anything about success knows that good goal setting is essential. If you don’t know where you are going you will not know how to get there. You may take a long-winded route. You may not even recognize it when you arrive!

So we can probably all agree that goal setting is important when we want to lose weight.

But so often it doesn’t seem to work. Oh, it’s great at the beginning you get out the height and weight charts, work out that to have a healthy BMI you need to be 8 feet tall, you calculate the weight loss you need to do, divide it by how many weeks you have till the big night out/the wedding/the jury trial and then you set to with the diet and the exercise.

And at first it all goes swimmingly but then gradually you lose sight of why you are doing it. Dieting becomes a bore or a chore. You have to eat this and you mustn’t eat that. You didn’t lose enough last week so you have to starve this week. You want to eat the chocolate cake and lose the weight. You convince yourself that this is impossible and your healthy eating habits gradually slide away.

And why?

Because you have forgotten your goal.

Oh you might remember the weight loss goal the 30 pounds or so that has to go, that is etched on your memory, written into every cookie and embellished in frosting on every sweet you ever eat. No, you can’t forget that goal. And it makes you angry, frustrated, anxious or despairing, which just encourages your emotional eating.

But the real reason for your desired weight loss, that has been forgotten. What was it? Did you ever really know what it was? Were you attached to the emotions of that goal?

The weight loss figure is just a number on the scales. That, in itself, will not make you happy, but there is something attached to that weight which will make you happy. And once you have found that something, you can begin to keep the goal in mind all the time, even when faced with the most calorific temptation known to mankind (or womankind, usually involving chocolate).

So how to find this magic weight loss goal?

Try these simple (but thoughtful) steps to get you on the road to slender

1. Decide on a target weight, it can be an intermediate weight if you have a lot of weight to lose or if weight loss is just plain scary to you.

2. Picture yourself at this weight what are you wearing, what is your hair/make-up/jewelery like? Where are you and what are you doing?

3. Is there any sound with this picture? Imagine people cheering, hearing compliments from your friends, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy playing or your favorite heavy metal band doing a gig just for you. The sillier the better, really, as long as it makes you feel great.

4. How do you feel? Imagine the texture of the fabrics of the new clothes you are wearing. Feel the strength/poise/chic elegance in your posture. Enjoy the sensation of diving into the pool or paragliding off the cliff with your slender body.

5. Now enjoy all these sensations and say