How Much Weight Should I Aim To Lose?

Are you making the commitment to lose weight and get in shape? Then, you are probably trying to decide how much weight should you try to lose. Setting goals are very important. Setting the right goals for you may be one of the hardest things to do. Not making goals for yourself is to invite failure to your weight loss goals. So what kind of weight loss goals should you set for yourself? In order to set the best goals for yourself you need to know where you are, set a long-term reasonable goal for yourself, and give yourself rewards for meeting these goals.

Take A Look At Where You Are

It isn’t just a matter of how much you weigh, it is a matter of taking an accurate assessment of where you are right now. You should go visit the doctor to make sure that you are healthy enough to stress your body. There are many people who can get started in a weight loss program only to find out that they can’t finish it because their body can’t handle the strain. Also, find out your true weight and get your body mass index (BMI) number. Get some measurements like your hip-to-waist ratio and your body fat percentage. It isn’t necessary to have all of these, but it will help you to know where you started.

Decide Where You Want To Go

Make sure that you have reasonable goals set for yourself. Going from a size 40 inch waist to a 30 inch waist probably isn’t very realistic for you. Going from a 40 inch waist to a 34 inch waist is fairly reasonable, but still ambitious. Losing 20 pounds is a realistic long-term goal. Losing 20 pounds in two weeks probably isn’t a realistic one. Try to do aim for a goal that is realistic. Make sure you have a planned date for you to reach that goal that is realistic as well. Don’t try to do the impossible. Try to do what you are capable of doing. When you reach that goal, set a more ambitious one for yourself. Plan on setting for yourself short-term goals along the way to break it up a little.

Reward Yourself Plan on doing something nice for yourself for reaching your long-term goal. Make it something special. Keep reminding yourself of it as often as possible. Don’t just have one reward for yourself, though. For each little milestone you reach along the way, treat yourself to something special. Give yourself little prizes for being such a good hard worker. This will also make the long-term goal easier to reach.

If you are truly serious about losing weight, give yourself the best shot by being realistic about where you are and where you are going. Don’t forget to reward yourself for the hard work you do. Figuring out how much weight should you lose is a good goal, but don’t let that be the only goal you have.