I've mentioned a few times how I've been setting up TINY goals for myself. Not "lose 1lb this week" or "stay on plan all week" or anything like that. Smaller and more specific. Things that are completely objective. Every night, I choose 3 or 4 goals for myself for the next day. And then I reflect in my journal (another new habit that I'm really enjoying) about how I did with my goals among other things. Putting a big X next to the goals I completed successfully might be a silly motivation, but kind of a fun one that seems to be working. And I hate having to write in my journal that I didn't meet one of my goals.
Here's just a list of some of the goals I've been making for myself. Like I said, they're very specific. Either I did it, or I didn't. A lot of them are kind of silly, but that's kind of the point. It's giving me my confidence back by making "on plan" fun and easy again. So here are a few:
- Make X amount of posts on 3FC.
- Don't eat any cookies out of the cookie tin at work.
- Don't eat one single unplanned bite.
- Go for a 30 minute walk in the evening.
- Drink 1 gallon (about 120oz).
- Make a fancy on plan meal for myself (I'm doing this tonight...excited!).
- Eat an indulgent treat without going overboard or eating anymore. (I had a planned candy bar).
- Get up 20 minutes earlier than usual to make myself especially gorgeous for work.
Those are just a few. I try to keep them different and interesting. It's definitely working for me. And it's all adding up. Once I meet a goal, I tend to do that goal again the next day even if it isn't on my list for that day because I liked how the success felt from the first time I achieved it. Like not eating any cookies, haha. Even though not raiding the cookies was only one of my goals one day this week, I only had one cookie from the tin all week. Last week, when I hadn't figured out how to get a grip yet, I was literally eating about a dozen cookies a day!
Anyways, just thought I'd share. It seems to be a common problem among maintainers (I know it was for me!) that weight control gets boring. You see about the same number on the scale, you eat on plan everyday, nothing changes, the new-toy excitement of your new body wears off. Weight loss is exciting because your body is changing and you want to get to the finish line. But maintenance can get dull. This new trick is keeping my mind in the game. Even the act of thinking about goals and writing them down is helpful, and then accomplishing them is obviously helping me stay on plan. I probably won't keep this habit up forever, but it's helpful right now while I'm practicing staying on track again. Maybe eventually I'll do weekly goals or just keep track of it all mentally and just do these things habitually.
<-- this is about how I feel about my itty bitty mini goals, haha.
I'm LOVING my itty bitty goals!
