Anyone else aiming for 10%?

WouldYouEva · Post by **WouldYouEva** » Thu May 07, 2009 2:27 am

WW makes a big deal about losing 10% of your weight but I could never stay on WW long enough for it to happen. But I decided that in the spirit of having modest goals, I'd shoot for losing 10% this year.

I made a spreadsheet in Excel, did a formula figuring out how much 10% of my weight was, and how much I had to lose per month to meet it. So when I get discouraged about how slowly I'm losing, or that I gain some weight back, I look at my 10% goal and feel better. Right now I'm at my July 2009 goal.

I'm almost 54, and my goal has me at my lowest adult weight by the time I'm 60. Don't know if I'll make it, but it's been 4 years (and 3 months) since my DH died, and THAT doesn't seem long, so I think I can manage this for 6 years and change.

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:37 am

It's always nice when you are ahead of your goal

http://www.weightchart.com/default.aspx

This site is also a good way to document your weight over a long period ...

You enter your starting weight and then you set your goal and you see a line on there ... you enter your weight from time to time to make sure you are right on track ...

I didn't have a plan that was a percentage ... my plan was to lose 85 pounds within a year ... that's 30.4% ... starting weight, 280 ... I've lost around 21.4% so far a bit over 6 months in.

I'm more extreme but being younger, 37, it makes it easier too of course, I can work out harder and for a longer period of time, etc. Plus men lose weight more easily then women too. It's all good to have a plan and stick to it though.

Cheers !

Marc

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Thu May 07, 2009 12:01 pm

I'm aiming for a 10% weight loss by September 8, which is the one year anniversary of starting the diet. My starting weight was 215, I was at 201.4 this morning, and my 10% weight loss goal is 193.5! While I haven't lost weight in the past three months, I'm very encouraged that I will make that goal because I came into the sudden realization that moderate eating is pleasurable! That's why I encouraged you to stick with the diet a little longer rather than try lap band surgery. It took to Day 240 before I had gastric bypass on my brain.
Kathleen

guadopt1997 · Post by **guadopt1997** » Thu May 07, 2009 12:19 pm

I think it's difficult to adjust to the slow weight loss on no-S after being on so many other diets where the weight loss is so much quicker. But at least with no-S you know you won't have to lose the weight all over again. And the process is enjoyable. The longer it takes to get to goal (don't really have one at this point), the longer the weight that has come off will stay off.

So far my weight loss has been fairly quick (average of 8 lb a month), partly because I was eating no refined carbs for a total of six weeks (including weekends where I snacked on nuts), partly because of having quite a bit to lose (starting weight 235.

I do wonder whether I'll be able to accept a lower weight loss in the coming months. But with the mindset that this is for life (in more ways than one), and with no deadline for no particular goal, I think I'll be able to stick with it, no matter what the scale says.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Thu May 07, 2009 12:28 pm

10 percent is a great goal..! But I'm 150 so that would be 135 and I haven't been that in a looooong time. Since I was 18.

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Thu May 07, 2009 1:16 pm

Nichole wrote:10 percent is a great goal..! But I'm 150 so that would be 135 and I haven't been that in a looooong time. Since I was 18.

The way WW does it (speaking as a veteran) is that you can't set your final goal at the beginning if you have a lot to lose - people set very unrealistic goals, and get discouraged. 10% is enough to make a health difference, plus each 10% gets smaller!

Once you're within "spitting distance" of your BMI (less than 10%), you can set your final goal weight. So, Nicole, you wouldn't lose 10% at this point, you'd just set a goal.

I think the 10% increments are one of their better ideas.

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Thu May 07, 2009 3:37 pm

I have a hard time going for the smaller goals. I tend to see the big picture and I "should" loose around 85 lb... 70 from where I am now. I would be happy loosing 40 from now. But then I've done it twice, fast, and gained it back. No S already has a maintainance plan built in. When I set short goals, I go lax once I meet them. What's with that? That's why I'm now going for month by month goals. I try to go green on my habitcal instead of try for a certain number of weight loss. It seems to be working for me... for the time being. And there is always another month coming. A deadline.

As far as the 10% goes... I'll try to keep that in mind. Maybe plan a non-food reward for the goal met. Hmmm... I'll do it, thanks guys for your help once again!

Post by **reinhard** » Thu May 07, 2009 5:23 pm

I lost about 20% (210->170) but it was never a "goal."

I just ate and moved moderately and that's where I wound up.

I'd be cautious about results goals like this. I think more often than not, they are counterproductive. They take your focus off behavior, they are difficult to come up with realistically, and then often (unnecessarily) discouraging when you don't reach this unrealistic goal.

Also a goal implies "you're done!" But you're never done, when it comes to eating moderately. Setting a goal can mess you up even if you succeed in hitting it, because you inevitably think, on some emotional level at least, that you're done, you can relax, game over. I think this is one of the main reasons (beside sheer boredom and misery) that so few successful dieters are able to maintain their weight loss.

I try to go green on my habitcal instead of try for a certain number of weight loss.

THIS is a goal I can wholeheartedly get behind!

Behavior goals have the short term motivating power of results goals (it is fun, after all to pursue goals), without the long term negative side effects. They're even more motivating, because they're completely within your control (your control is precisely what you're measuring), not subject to the whims of genes and digestive oddities, and their side effects are positive (and even more important than their direct effects): good habits.

Reinhard

WouldYouEva · Post by **WouldYouEva** » Thu May 07, 2009 6:42 pm

reinhard wrote:
Also a goal implies "you're done!" But you're never done, when it comes to eating moderately. Setting a goal can mess you up even if you succeed in hitting it, because you inevitably think, on some emotional level at least, that you're done, you can relax, game over. I think this is one of the main reasons (beside sheer boredom and misery) that so few successful dieters are able to maintain their weight loss.

Behavior goals have the short term motivating power of results goals (it is fun, after all to pursue goals), without the long term negative side effects. They're even more motivating, because they're completely within your control (your control is precisely what you're measuring), not subject to the whims of genes and digestive oddities, and their side effects are positive (and even more important than their direct effects): good habits.

Reinhard

Good point! Well, I'll continue to keep track, but make my goal something like "go water walking at least twice a week."

davestarbuck · Post by **davestarbuck** » Fri May 08, 2009 3:05 am

My only goal is to weigh less on Jan 1 of every year until I get to my optimum weight. So far I've gone from 280 lbs to now holding at 216. That is 64 lbs in the last 2 years. More than 10%. And I've never felt any pressure to meet my goal. I just cleaned up my eating, and started exercising more....

-dave

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Fri May 08, 2009 11:03 am

I've had several months of not losing weight, and the 10% goal in one year has more been a way for me to defer debate about whether or not I should change the diet. It's helped me to be patient If I don't get down 10% in one year, then I might consider changing the diet. That's still four months away. In the meantime, no changes...
Kathleen