I have decided I want my first goal to be losing 10% of my weight which is 21lbs. Does anyone have any advice on what I should aim for in terms of a time line? Or should I just focus on the goal and not so much on the time it takes to do it? I just really want to get to my goal weight in 2009 and I have a lot of weight to lose so I really want to get going on setting goals!

I personally am not much into time deadlines. Weight loss just isn't that predictable, even if you never miss a step. And, we're all human, we all miss steps . That's why I'm really into the 5-Pound Challenges. It doesn't really matter to me that someone else always wins (I lose to slow at this point). It's just that it keeps me focused on one small, reasonable goal at time ... just the next 5 pounds. And even if I don't lose 5 pounds as fast as someone else, I still see my start and goal weights going down over time, and that keeps me excited.

OTOH, I do participate in a couple time-related challenges. On the Vegetarian forum, we've been doing holiday related challenges. But that's OK because at this point, I can handle it if I don't reach that goal on time. It's just for fun and support. It's just an extra thing I participate in, not my major focus. You have to decide whether that would work for you, or just set you up to be frustrated and unhappy.

Rather than a timeline, I'd would just make a goal of 10lbs at a time. Time frame goals tend to be discouraging as you have no real way of knowing if your body will cooperate the way you hope. You might lose inches before the scales catch up or lose little or nothing on some weeks, then have a big loss all on one week.

I don't really like time goals either. I have some but they are definitely realistic goals. I go by the idea 10lbs a month for me is healthy. So it should take me atleast 2 months to lose 20lbs. But slip ups happen so my goal for 20lbs would probably be 3 months. I don't wanna feel like I'm a failure if I don't lose 10lbs a month. Cause its not a matter of it, but when its gonna happen!

Thanks for the advice! I don't think I will set a time line, I think I will just stick to my goal and whenever it happens great!