Here’s why you can never follow your weight loss plan

Goal setting is usually not paid much attention when you plan to lose weight. However, the goals you set for weight loss are crucial because it serves as a roadmap for your entire journey. Without a map, you will constantly get lost along the way and possibly even quit. Research and experiments have found that setting realistic goals increases weight loss in the long term. Setting goals could be the difference between success and failure in your weight loss journey. SMART goals are goals that you set for yourself that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results focused and Time bound. When you set up SMART goals, you will always have a road map with an end result and you can always refer to it along the way. 

Setting SMART Goals

You should start your weight loss journey on the right track by setting up SMART goals. First of all, your goals should be specific, you can do this by choosing specific exercises and the duration, for example, “I will walk for 30 minutes every day”. Instead of simply saying that “I will exercise everyday.” This will help give you a better idea of what exactly you have to do to achieve your target.

Your goal should also be measurable, if your goal is not measurable then you cannot objectively determine if you are meeting that goal or not. A goal of simply “eating healthier'' is not measurable so there is no objective way of knowing if you are meeting your goals or not. But if you set your goal as “eating no more than 1,200 calories per day” you know exactly how much you should eat to make sure that you are on track to achieve your goal of losing weight. Your goals should also be attainable, if it is not then it is impossible for you to achieve your goal of losing weight.

This is one of the biggest problems when people attempt to lose weight, they set unrealistic or unattainable targets that they have no time or resources for, such as going to the gym for an hour everyday. Their schedule might not even allow them to spend an hour at the gym everyday so they will end up not going to the gym and falling off track.

Set deadlines and plan ahead

Relevance is also a very important aspect of setting goals. You must set goals that YOU WANT to achieve and not what others want from you. If your goals are not relevant then it will be very hard for you to motivate yourself. You should always ask yourself questions such as “is weight loss a priority at this point in time?” by defining why weight loss matters to you, you will get more motivated if the goal matters to you.

Every goal should have a deadline, without any deadlines or timeframes, it is difficult to get things done when they should be and it is harder for you to plan ahead if you do not know the timeframe that you want to achieve your goal. For example, “I want to lose 10kg in 3 months” that way you will have a deadline to work for and you will have the will and motivation to carry out your weight loss plan to lose all that weight within the timeframe you gave yourself.

If you are really serious about losing weight, you also may want to identify possible setbacks in the future and how you can avoid or solve them before you actually start losing weight. This will help guide you around setbacks in advance and eliminate or minimize your chance of falling behind or quitting.

By setting SMART goals when you plan your weight loss journey, there is a much higher chance of you to follow your weight loss plan. Most of the time, the reason you can never follow your weight loss plan is that the goals you have set are not realistic and attainable for you, so you are bound to have issues and setbacks. If you need help to set up your goals or weight loss in general, please contact Dr. Narindr at any one of the links below.

We all know how it feels, you spend so much time researching exercises, diets and so on and you finally put a plan together, but a week or two later, it all goes out of the window. It happens way too often and it takes forever to start following it again. 

Goal setting is usually not paid much attention when you plan to lose weight. However, the goals you set for weight loss are crucial because it serves as a roadmap for your entire journey. Without a map, you will constantly get lost along the way and possibly even quit. Research and experiments have found that setting realistic goals increases weight loss in the long term. Setting goals could be the difference between success and failure in your weight loss journey. SMART goals are goals that you set for yourself that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results focused and Time bound. When you set up SMART goals, you will always have a road map with an end result and you can always refer to it along the way. 

You should start your weight loss journey on the right track by setting up SMART goals. First of all, your goals should be specific, you can do this by choosing specific exercises and the duration, for example, “I will walk for 30 minutes every day”. Instead of simply saying that “I will exercise everyday.” This will help give you a better idea of what exactly you have to do to achieve your target. Your goal should also be measurable, if your goal is not measurable then you cannot objectively determine if you are meeting that goal or not. A goal of simply “eating healthier'' is not measurable so there is no objective way of knowing if you are meeting your goals or not. But if you set your goal as “eating no more than 1,200 calories per day” you know exactly how much you should eat to make sure that you are on track to achieve your goal of losing weight. Your goals should also be attainable, if it is not then it is impossible for you to achieve your goal of losing weight. This is one of the biggest problems when people attempt to lose weight, they set unrealistic or unattainable targets that they have no time or resources for, such as going to the gym for an hour everyday. Their schedule might not even allow them to spend an hour at the gym everyday so they will end up not going to the gym and falling off track.

Relevance is also a very important aspect of setting goals. You must set goals that YOU WANT to achieve and not what others want from you. If your goals are not relevant then it will be very hard for you to motivate yourself. You should always ask yourself questions such as “is weight loss a priority at this point in time?” by defining why weight loss matters to you, you will get more motivated if the goal matters to you. Every goal should have a deadline, without any deadlines or timeframes, it is difficult to get things done when they should be and it is harder for you to plan ahead if you do not know the timeframe that you want to achieve your goal. For example, “I want to lose 10kg in 3 months” that way you will have a deadline to work for and you will have the will and motivation to carry out your weight loss plan to lose all that weight within the timeframe you gave yourself. If you are really serious about losing weight, you also may want to identify possible setbacks in the future and how you can avoid or solve them before you actually start losing weight. This will help guide you around setbacks in advance and eliminate or minimize your chance of falling behind or quitting.

By setting SMART goals when you plan your weight loss journey, there is a much higher chance of you to follow your weight loss plan. Most of the time, the reason you can never follow your weight loss plan is that the goals you have set are not realistic and attainable for you, so you are bound to have issues and setbacks. If you need help to set up your goals or weight loss in general, please contact Dr. Narindr at any one of the links below.