Most of the time I think we need to keep our Goals and plans to ourselves. Not that we should hide them or treat them like state secrets, but sometimes we know that it’s better to just go about our business and do the work without having to listen to other people’s opinions about it. Whether it’s the sort of well-meaning brother-in-law who knows more about what you’re doing than you do or the people who don’t like to see others m0ve beyond them. It happens. You know and I know. We usually know who the people are that we want to avoid.
That said, there are times that we absolutely should tell the whole world what our Goals are. Sometimes it’s just one Goal we need to publicize, because we need that extra pressure to help us over the hump. We need the expectations others will have to motivate us. Why? Because we don’t want to fail publicly and spectacularly.
That’s where I am today. You see, I have struggled to get my weight down to the healthy level it needs to be at. I have tried lots of different methods, diets and exercises. I’ve lost a lot of weight and put a lot of weight back on. It’s been a battle. I hate the way I look when I look in the mirror. I hate to see how I look when I sit and the weight spreads. I hate that this one part of my life has been so hard to get under control.
So, I’m adding a new thing to my Goals. As part of my goal to get down to 170 pounds from where I am now (about 253 pounds when I decided on this path), I am going to blog the process. I’m putting it out there for the world to see and for everyone to track my progress with me. For me that’s a huge incentive. You see, one of the things I fear is humiliation. It’s a fear that is irrational, as most are, but there it is. So as part of my Goal Setting I am add the pressure of possible public failure and humiliation. That’s a strong incentive to stay the course.
My goal is to weigh 170 pounds as of December 31sr, 2019. That’s 14 months from now. From the date I started this plan, I calculated the number of weeks to go and the amount of weight to lose each week. I started at 253.6 pounds. I need to lose 83.6 pounds in about 14 months. That means I need to lose approximately 1.35 pounds per week. That will get me to exactly 170 pounds on the last day of 2019.
1.35 pounds per week. Five and four tenths pounds per month. That’s a healthy and realistic goal.
Sounds easy. Should be easy. Heck, most people will fluctuate more than that each week. So why is it so hard to get from here to there? Probably because it IS so easy. When we break down a goal too small, we often don’t give it the importance it needs. So for me, I’m telling you about it. I plan on posting my weekly progress each Friday. First update is Friday, November 2. The target weight is 252.3 pounds.
Let’s see where I am in four days.
