The reason I regain weight after weight loss is not because I can't sustain it, but because I end up pregnant (then eat like I'm still pregnant afterwards). Before I've never used mini goals or even forums. Now that I am, I find having a small chunk of weight to look forward to losing a great motivator. I met my first goal a week later. My second one is 14 by valentines. I've lost 13, so unless I hit a plateau (which I did for 3 wks in January), I should make that one too. I made my long term goal with some padding. I also made my goal weight with padding. My lowest ever was 125 but I was 19 so I added 10 more to be more realistic.

I am making good time...I only have one pound to lose for valentines day...and my long term goal should be met...

I'm not sure if I'm average or what but it has taken me a year to lose 55 lbs. I just lost 1lb this week which was great cause I plateaued for awhile.
I try to not focus on the time and just enjoy this process

It's taken me 13 months to lose 44 lbs.

I don't set "deadlines" for myself. I just want to be a healthy weight. However long it takes. One year would be nice, but even if it takes two years, that's OK too. It is not a race for me.

I guess it's yes and no for me. I told myself that if I kept going at a good rate, I'd be near 200 by now but it was never a specific goal. However, plateaus being a part of weight loss, I maintained for about 6 weeks, give or take a pound here and there. When the scale started moving again, I gave myself a very reasonable goal just for fun and reached it this week. But if I hadn't, it wouldn't have mattered much because I know I'll get to my goal eventually. If it takes a bit longer than I want it too, so what? I'm healthier than I have been in a long time and that makes it all worth it. The weight loss is a nice bonus to getting healthy hehe

I set mini goals to motivate me. The goals give me something to work toward and actually make me excited about getting fit. I am committed to this lifestyle change so it doesn't bother me if/when those mini goals aren't met by the set date. I actually decided to do away with setting a goal date, just as long as the mini goals are met I am happy. It is also a way for me to focus on losing small amounts of weight. The task doesn't seem so impossible if I say I'm trying to lose 5, 10, or 20 pounds at a time.