I've set my final goal weight which may change as I get closer to it depending on what happens. (I really have more of a goal "size" than anything.)

I just haven't gone to the step of setting mini-goals and I'm hesitant about doing so. For those of you who have....

What benefits or detriments have you seen from setting mini-goals?

What are some examples of goals you've set?

Do you set a time limit on your goals?

Do you reward yourself after achieving one?

Any other advice on setting goals would be useful! Thanks in advance!

I know that some people here have really excellent goal setting advice with acronyms and official sounding names. I can give you my personal experience in the mean time though. I started by setting 10 pound mini goals, and every time I reached the mini goal of another 10 pounds down, I got a healthy reward, like new workout music on my itunes, new workout clothes, new running shoes, things like that - no food rewards. I have recently been at the same weight for about a month, seemingly regardless of what I eat, so now I'm changing up my goals. This month I'm going to do 500 situps, 500 pushups, and 500 squats, and do cardio at least 3 times every week. If i succeed, I will get a reward that I haven't determined yet, and a cuter butt.

I am a strong beleiver in mini-goals. It says it in my signature down below. The thought of me having to or ever losing 100 pounds is just too overwhelming. But, I take it in five pound mini-goals along the way. I usually reward myself with a new lipstick, or socks, or lotion etc. (not food). I can't think of any negative things associated with mini goals.

The one thing I probably do not do very often is give myself a time frame. (ie 2 pounds a week, 50 pounds by xmas etc) - Losing weight is affected by so many things...I just like seeing that scale go down when I have been eating healthfully. Of course, that doesn't always happen. But - my five pound mini goals work for me.

Of course - I can't say I never give myself a time frame weight loss goal - but, not real often.

The benefits? Well personally I would never try to lose weight because the amount I had/have to lose overwhelmed me. By breaking it up it makes it a lot easier just mind-wise. Some goals I've set are to be down to 226 by my birthday (May 20th). I honestly don't know what I weigh atm so I can't say for sure if I won't hit it, but I might not but that's okay! I try to set time limits but if I don't get in within that limit, that's okay too I won't get down about it. I think that rewards are nice, too! Getting your hair done, your nails, a nice new top whatever it is it's nice to give yourself something for working so hard. It's all really what your comfortable with doing.

I don't set weight/pound goals--rather, I set behavior goals. For example, my main behavior goal for April is to get up every morning, even weekends, at 6:15 am and exercise vigorously.

Setting behavior goals is what has done it for me and created weight loss at every step of my journey.

I don't tend to attach rewards to my goals, because simply achieving the goal is such a reward in and of itself. How awesome is it to know that I am a person who can quit sugar completely? Or to know that I am a person who is capable of committing to exercising early every morning and then doing it? Pretty awesome.

I think I agree with WarMaiden on this...but, never thought of it as mini goals. But, clearly these are my behavior mini goals. Every morning, in my journal, I write down the following things: eat seated, no seconds, fork down between bites, mindful slow eating, lots of water, exercise, taste the food, plan and log food, daily gratatudes, etc. Usually before I go to sleep I check off or make a mental note of what I did do or what I need to work on. I don't, however, give myself any reward except self satisfaction.

I am glad you pointed out behaviors being mini goals, warmaiden. I agree - these behaviors have made the difference in my journey.

I've set a mini goal to get myself started. However that's as far as I've gone. I'm hoping that once I knock off the first five pounds, it will be easier to get in the habit of better eating and exercising.

Thanks for asking this! My weight loss is going very slowly and, even though I'm excited and proud of myself for what I have lost, I find myself feeling like it's nothing because I still have 20+ pounds to go. So rather than look at it like that, I think it'll help me to set mini-goals to break it down and help make my small losses seem more like achievement.

Mini-goals, whether its a number or a behavior, are a great way to make the lifestyle changes you need. Rewards are up to the individual, I think.

I actually made a mini-goal list. I broke it into 10% increments, so starting at 305, my first goal was 30 1/2 lbs. That put me at 274 1/2. 10% of that gets me down to 247. Looking at the weight loss like this made it only 6 or 7 steps to my goal. That definitely feels more attainable to me!

I am the worst goal setter ever.

In my ticker, I have a long-term goal, but not my secret final goal.
I don't track calories or keep a food log, but I obsessively get on the scale every morning and have an Excel spreadsheet with weekly mini-goals against which I track my progress.

It's pretty disordered - LOL!

Recently, I've had some personal issues that have made my eating a bit *more* disordered, but generally speaking, it was working for me.

I have a weekly goal and then I mark the actual goal and how close I came. I also track overall weight loss and average weekly loss. It's nice to see how if I miss the weekly goal that the average weekly loss is still tracking on target with the weekly goals.

I like seeing the total weight loss on my signature tracker because it motivates me, but the weekly minigoals keep me honest.

I like to take my long term goal(this time 80LBS.... YIKES!!!) and break it up into smaller ones because the idea of JUST losing 80LBS is daunting and seems IMPOSSIBLE.
So for me, personally, I've broken it into eight sets of 10LBS. I just want to take it 10LBS at a time, and sure I'll probably reward myself with each step I make... But not with food, as that kind of defeats the purpose.
In the end it's all about what makes YOU happy with your weight loss. What works for you might not work for me, but in the end if we're both losing weight... Then kudos to us for finding things that work!