One of the most influential books on my weight loss journey was Atomic Habits by James Clear. His take on setting weight loss goals blew my mind and helped me to set my weight loss journey up for success. Basically Atomic Habits says that goals (including weight loss goals) suck and don’t help you achieve lasting results. Here are four reasons why weight loss goals suck:
Winners and losers have the same goal
Millions of people set the goal to lose weight each year. Some of them are successful and many are not. It’s not the goal that makes you successful. But we often see the people on the Today Show, Instagram or Facebook that set a goal of losing 100 pounds and actually did it! We can often credit the big goal and their why being big enough as the reason they were successful. But that’s not true. Like I said, millions of people set the same goals and often have the same meaningful (or more so) reasons why they want to accomplish that goal and still fail.
Achieving a goal is only a momentary change
How many times have you or someone you know achieved a weight loss goal only to put the weight back on and then some? Want an example? I wanted to lose 30 pounds for my wedding. Did I do it? I sure did. I also put the weight back on and then some after I said “I do” because the goal had been attained and I stopped doing the things it took to maintain that weight loss.
Setting and achieving the weight loss goal did not change how I normally lived my life in an overweight body. It only provided a temporary period of time where I made different choices to achieve a specific result.
Want another personal example? I ran a full marathon in 2015. It was my goal to just cross the finish line. I found a training plan and religiously stuck to it. I did not think of myself as an athlete or even someone that loved to run. Honestly, I identified as someone that does hard things…but just once and just to say I did it. So once I crossed that finish line, I quit running. I did the hard thing and now it was time to go back to my normal programming of eating a bit too much and being sedentary. Cue no more running and putting on close to 80 pounds.
Goals restrict your happiness
Especially with weight loss, many of us think that we can only be happy when we’ve achieved our ideal weight. This even seeps into our weekly and sometimes daily lives as we weigh ourselves. If I reach my two-pound weight loss goal this week, then I can be happy. If I don’t lose at least two pounds then I will wallow in shame. Goals create a very restrictive “either-or” situation. You either get to feel happy for achieving the goal or miserable because you didn’t.
What’s a girl to do? James Clear suggests that instead of setting goals, you should fall in love with the process that produces the result of the goal you wanted to achieve. For me, this meant that I fell in love with make a daily food plan and journaling each morning. I came to value that time as the way I set my day up for success. It was my me-time. It was the best way to start each and every one of my days.
Goals are at odds with long term progress
The purpose of a goal is to achieve it. Or in other words, win the game. Once you win the game, what’s left? Time to pack up your things, go home and relax. And that’s exactly what many of us do. We achieve the goal, only to stop doing the things that helped us achieve the goal. There is nothing left motivating us or driving our actions.
Remember the marathon example? I stopped running. I had already won the prize. I had my marathon medal and it was time to pack up my running shoes and go back home to be my pre-marathon self.
Instead James Clear says the magic is changing how you perceive yourself. Start identifying as the type of person that achieves the goal you want to complete. In the marathon example, if I started identifying as a runner, I would set up a running routine because running is important to me and I love how I feel when I run. I would crave hitting the pavement after a long day. I would think of my runs as my me-time and maybe even become besties with the other runners in the neighborhood. When you start identifying as a runner, you start doing the things that runners do. This enables you to attain the goal AND continue with the habits and processes you put in place because that is now a part of who you are.
Instead of setting a weight loss goal, think about who you need to become to be a person that maintains a healthy weight.
- How do they start their days?
- What do they eat?
- What thoughts do they think throughout their day?
- What makes their days enjoyable?
- How do they enjoy moving their body?
- What do they do that allows them to enjoy vibrant health each day?
If you would like help in evolving into the person that effortlessly maintains a healthy weight, I can help you.
Sign up for a call with me and let’s get started.
Your Coach,
Andrea