As someone who struggled for a lot years ... 20 years between getting to lifetime the first time and getting to lifetime the second time, I agree that tracking really really helps. I have tracked for years without missing a day (over 4 years now!) and it has really helped me. Yes, at time it is difficult when I've gotten off track. But, I mind myself that my body keeps track regardless of whether I write it down or not. Given that, I like to make sure my mind knows what I ate and not just my body. I often looked back at what I did in the past and it can really help me to pinpoint problem areas.
I personally don't set weight loss goals as I go along because weight loss is not a behavior. It is the result of the cumulative behaviors that I engage in. I can't directly choose to lose X pounds in Y period of time. Yes, of course, I have a goal weight that I want to get to. But, I don't set a goal to lose a particular amount of weight in a particular time period. I try to make my goals things I can control which are thing that will hopefully lead to weight loss. So, I might have a goal to track every day (I do have that goal) and to stay within my points or to earn X number of FitPoints each week or walk Y number of steps each day. Those things I can control. And, if I do them then in the long term the weight loss will follow (if it doesn't then I have to rethink my behavioral goals). But, in any given week I can absolutely do all the right things and may not have the loss I want (often when I do that the loss shows up the next week).
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