So... I am relatively new here struggling with the same 10 or 15 for the past 10 years or so...

right now I want to lose 15 - 17 lb in the next 3 months...will be happy with 15. I am goign to greece on July 14th so starting on monday that leaves me with 13 weeks to lose it.

My question is how you guys set your mini goals. I know it should be fairly easy mathematically (15 divided by 13, roughly 1lb a week LOL ) but it doesn't work that way, as I know well. I know I can lose 5 lb in the first two weeks... but does it really "count" ?

what would be reasonable goals based on where I am now?? I would very much appreciate your input. in the past focusing on the big goal has derailed me at the first turn ( "can't do this too much" ) but having too long to do it makes me complacent and here is where the realistic mini goals come in.. enough to be motivating but not so little or big that I lose courage..

Help appreciated and Happy Easter to all

I think everything "counts"!

I have mini-goals in 5 lb increments, but only ever have a timeframe for the next one on the list. So if you are thinking you can easily lose 5 lbs in the first two weeks - then set that as your mini-goal, then plan the second one when you get there.

I take one pound at a time now. I work really hard at keeping off every single pound, but I have 9 pounds to go for my ultimate goal.

Thanks ladies

I lose the first 5 to 8 in a snap. But then it goes slo....wly. Usually I sort of give up by 140 or so. This time I am vowing it will not be the same...

I think the problem is that the closer you get to your goal, the harder it is. You still need a certain amount of food to survive so short of starving yourself, it is harder to get enough of a deficit to make a reasonable amount of weight loss.

My goal at the moment is just half a pound a week. Slow and steady. I see any weight loss as a success. So if at the end of April I weigh a pound less than I did at the beginning - that is a success. So what if it's not as much as I wanted, it's going the right way and that's all that matters to me. I have all the time in the world to get down to my 126.

Also if you set a goal that only requires you to lose a little weight a week, if you lose more than that, you get a little psychological boost.

Also running is good - it has made the world of difference for me.

Yes I am going to work on the "all or nothing" mentality. After easter I was actually up to 152 and I am down 6 just this week... not realistic long term I know. I run quite a bit but I have to say for me it has always been the food.... I actually am doing fitday.com now and boy is it easy to get to your daytime intake if you ACTUALLY record what you eat. I never knew it was possible to take in a 1000 calories before the day even really started...

I am the same, Linniet - I've always been a regular exerciser, even at my highest weights. Weight loss, for me, is 100% about food!

glad to hear I am not the only one, su-bee - it's like breastfeeding, I am the only person I know who GAINS weight and doesn't lose. In fact, with exercise I sometimes have to be careful because I can gain, too - I find for some reason aerobic exercise will dampen my appetite while doing a lot of weights makes me starving.... I guess in the pre-historic times I would have been the one who made it through the 1000 mile journey over the frozen ice-caps with some curves left to show while everybody else keeled over around me. Trying to put a positive spin on it...

I totally agree. When I first started exercising, back during my undergrad days, I put on a ton of weight. I convinced myself I was building muscle, but the reality is that I wasn't watching my diet, and the exercise was making me ravenous, so I ate and ate.

I have a better understanding of how the pieces work together now, but it is still a big challenge for me to keep my huge appetite in check enough to lose weight. I try to do a volumetrics sort of thing, making my stomach as full as possible for the fewest calories, but sometimes I don't think I'm actually fooling my body all that much. Even if my stomach is completely full, my body will remain hungry, as if it knows full well that all that volume of food was a mere 150 calories!

well I think there is the adaptation thing too. I have exercised all my life so I think I have to really ramp it up to make a difference - I guess my body no longer burns that much when I exercise....but I have to say I primarily do it for the stressrelease and mental benefits at this point. Took me 20yrs or so to figure out it is 80% food and 20% exercise..

You're right about the adaptation. Even after a really good workout, I hardly ever feel just thrashed, you know? I mean, I love my body for what it can do. Sometimes I wish it just didn't do it all so efficiently, calorie-wise!

Hi ladies!!!

Glad to find this thread. It seems like we're all in the same ranges. My mini-goal is to reach 147 by the time my finals are over, which is May 7th. So, that's basically 5 pounds in two weeks. That's actually a pretty ambitious goal for me. I feel like I'm the kind of person who needs to be on top of my food for at least 3 weeks before I see the scale move. But, we'll see.

I really do think it's 90% about the food. ****, maybe 95%. If I have a hard core work out, I may burn 500 calories in an hour. Two days ago, I inhaled 500 calories while walking down one flight of stairs as I ate a Reeses Pieces.

One of my main life goals is to get my sugar addiction under control.

sounds like we have a lot in common. The sugar thing is the same for me. I was actually wondering if my milk consumption adds to my sugar cravings.. I have about 4cups of skim milk a day. I account for it in my calories but right now I can just about eat the paint off the walls.

Getting back to the exercise bit. I plugged my running into the calorie counter and it told me I burned 500 calories. Yeah right. 200 if I am lucky.....Same here with weight loss too. No matter what I do, I don't seem to break the 5/6 lb per month ceiling. That can be frustrating for me...

Have you read Potatoes not Prozac? It's all about dealing with sugar addiction. It insists on having protein with every meal, and then a small potato before bed. I think it's a good read for a lot of people with sugar issues.

mini goal #1- drop down to 125 lbs by 1st of July
mini goal #2- drop down to 120 lbs by 31st of July
mini goal #3 - drop down to 115 lbs by 31st of August
i hope the weight loss will be more of fat than water and muscle.