Written by Jennifer Sill

**Note: I just started boot camp last week. I need to lose weight. Bad. I’m embarrassed to even take you on this journey with me. I think there’s a good chance I will fail. But I think having you hold me accountable will help.

My coach is my inspiration. She writes about her struggles with weightloss and the importance of having benchmarks:

Goal Setting

Written by Rhonda Robison

Editor’s Note: This is part two of Rhonda’s Road to Weightloss.  For part one click here.

 

I had left off in Part 1 with my first step, getting started. I had decided enough was enough, I was tired of being overweight and I started exercising at the YMCA. I took my first class with an awesome instructor named Kerri. Remember, getting started is one of the hardest steps of change, but it is a necessary evil.

So after that great day in January, I took my next steps. I weighed myself, measured different areas of my body and I set three major goals. Taking measurements and weighing yourself is so important to your success this is a step you should not skip. How do you know where you need to go with out knowing where you have been? What a great way for you to look back and see how far you have come.

My first goal was to get under the 200lb mark. I call this goal the “Get Started” goal. It is hard to lose weight without motivation and it is hard to have motivation without losing weight. So having a small goal to start is a great way to get the ball rolling. I also used smaller incremental goals while stretching to my next major goal. For example setting goals of 189, 179, 169 and so on. This kept my eyes on a smaller goal at all times while heading toward my next major goal.

My second major goal was to get to the weight I had been when I got married and at that time it was 11 years ago. This goal is what I now call the “Happiest the Rest of Your Life Goal.” This goal is to help keep you thinking realistically. If you set only one LARGE goal two things can happen. When the goal is so big you find yourself thinking, especially when things start to get tough (AND THEY WILL), “How am I ever going to attain it”, “If I can’t attain it, why should I even try?” or “What is the point?” The other thing that could happen is this, and let me ask you in a question format. What if you never achieve the ONE BIG goal you set? How would it make you feel? Defeated? A failure?

Why would you ever want to put yourself through something like that? Don’t set yourself up. Pick a goal where you would truly be happy the rest of you life.

Then my third goal was to get to my college volleyball weight. This is the goal I call the “Ultimate Goal.” It is the goal you shoot for when you have reached your “Happy the Rest of Your Life” goal and you want to keep going.

When I had set these goals for myself, I didn’t realize the power they would give me, how I would be changed or the tools I had discovered to help change another person’s life.

Goal setting is a great source of motivation, for everyone. Not only have they personally helped me, but have been a great source of inspiration and encouragement to many people in my life. I have used this style of goal setting, time after time, and it has been shown very successful, and honestly I still use them, to this day! I went through so much and have come out on top, and so can you.

Set your goals and aim to be the best person you can be! See you next week with Part 3. Have an active and healthy week!

 

Here’s Rhonda’s assignment:  Set Your Goals

People are 50% more likely to achieve their goals if the goal is in writing.

 

Fill out this worksheet with me.

**Remember to make your goals personal. Make them push you to put down that afternoon cola or actually wake up and workout in the mornings:

Goal #1 (Wellness)

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Short-term Goals:

1.

2.

3.

 

Steps to achieve these goals:

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Goal #2 (Nutrition):

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Short-term Goals:

1.

2.

3.

Steps to Achieve these Goals:

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**Add as many goals as you like. Rhonda had at least three but wants everyone to have two. One for eating well and one for moving that body.

(Feature Photo Source)