I know I posted the January update yesterday, and even though I technically met the goal on the 24th, I was honestly a little bit disappointed at the result when I had gained back weight and didn't meet my goal on February 1st. The first few weeks are always the easiest to drop weight (mostly water, whatever, it still counts) so I really wanted to see myself beat my goal for the month. So I set myself a higher goal for January (9 pounds instead of 6 pounds) and when I didn't meet that, I didn't feel good about it.
I think this is why I've gotten discouraged a lot in the past. People have told me that because I'm young, I should be able to easily lose 10 pounds a month, averaging about 2.5 pounds per week. When I wasn't able to meet that, I'd get frustrated with myself and eventually lose faith that I could do it. I’d mess up a couple times during a month and think, well now there’s no point, cause there’s no way I’m losing 10 this month! I have to remind myself that it's a lot of hard work and commitment for a very, very slow payoff. But I’ve been overweight my whole life; why wouldn’t it take a while to change that? It only makes sense.
That's why my goal system right now is going to work for me and help me get over the 10 pounds a month mindset. With the exception of January, my goal for each month is to lose 6 pounds, or about 1.5 pounds per week. When I think about that, my automatic reaction is that the pace is too slow. It’s a self-imposed guilt trip. I think to myself, "You're supposed to be able to lose 2 pounds a week. Why wouldn't you want to do the best that you can?"
I have to remember to answer with reason. I picked a specific weight I wanted to be at by my birthday this year, September 30th (-57 pounds total). Then, I worked backwards and set my monthly goals, just evenly distributing the weight I need to lose over nine months. I set the goals low on purpose – so I could realistically meet them. I can't argue with math. If I only need to lose 6 pounds a month to meet that ultimate goal, then that's all I need to do. I can take it easy on myself a little bit. I can have a Mexican dinner complete with chips and a margarita and not blow my whole plan out of the water. I can work out on the Wii Fit and actually enjoy it instead of dragging myself to the gym for an hour-long, 600 calorie-burning workout. I can be normal at a Superbowl party and have a beer instead of wine so I don’t lose any street cred with the boys.
With all that, and at the risk of wiping out everything I just said, I weighed in today 2 pounds less than I did yesterday, so I'm already well on my way to meeting February's goal and .2 away from getting another charm for my bracelet! The important part is that I only missed January’s goal by a day, and I’m okay with it.
