Love yourself...set goals!

I used to set huge goals...at the end of this year I will be 150 pounds.  And January would be fabulous.  I would lose weight and exercise and be so goal oriented.  Then February would come and I would be 10 pounds down...and March would come and I would be 15 pounds down.  And I would realize the goal was unattainable and become totally discouraged.  And the goal would be forgotten.

Finally after years of doing this craziness...I found out I was doing it all wrong.  I learned that my goal was fine it was just I was going about it all wrong.  And maybe my goal was a bit out  there.  I hadn't been 150 pounds since I was in my teens :-)  So I rethought this whole goal thing.  And after much deliberation and reading, I decided to state a goal with steps or sub-goals.

So my new goal was "Change my eating habits in 2016 so I could fit in my skinny clothes and not take liptor"
Well, that was a pretty big goal.  My cholesterol sucked and my skinny clothes were 60 pounds in my past.
But you know what?  I set out to do it.  I had an appointment with my doctor and a nutritionist and I told them what I wanted to do.  They gave me a list of things I had to do...reduce meat intake, reduce sugar, reduce caffeine, cut carb intake, increase exercise to 30 minutes a day, eat on a schedule.  So I started breaking my goal into steps:
By February 1 - weigh myself everyday
By March 1 - have 1 meatless day
By April 1 - only have beef/pork 1 day a week
By May 1 - Reduce sugar by 75%
By June 1 - Cut caffeine by 50%
By September 1 - 30 minutes a day exercise
By December 31 - Reduce carbs by 75%

How did I do?  I found all of them hard.  And I slipped on occasion....the sugar reduction was the hardest due to my intolerance for artificial sweeteners.  But I reached all my goals on a regular basis.  I've lost 50 pounds and can fit into my skinny clothes (skinny for me is a size 16 pants and x-large shirt).  And I never lost my way or felt totally discouraged.  Some days were worst than others...but I am in 2017 and still moving forward.

Be kind to yourself.  Make little goals that you can achieve and celebrate when you do!!!