Now at maintenance, what goals do you set for yourself

[dae_tona]

from month to month, year to year, etc. - especially when you don't have a weight goal anymore?

I was pondering this the other day. One goal I have set for myself-which is long term-in the fact that it is a 2.5 year goal-is to be in the best shape of my life by the time I reach the age of 40. Why wait till 2 months before I turn 40? Why not start now?

So that has been one of my long term goals. It's 2.5 years away but I know-by starting now-I'll reach it by then. Probably sooner but knowing that it's a 2.5 year goal, I won't give up if I don't see results in ten days. (which is something I've been knowing to do before...but hey, that's the past. This is a brand new day)

I decided to have this goal because-in about a year or two-I will probably be living closer to my family who has a ton of health issues when it comes to weight, high cholestrol levels & diabetes. I want to be the epitome of health to them. And I also know I have to start now to achieve that goal-so they can see it is possible to have a life outside of obesity. I want to be living proof of that.

So that is one of the goals I have set for myself.

Dyan

[Loretta V]

Dyan, congratulations on that 40 pound weight loss you have accomplished. That is self is quite and accomplishment.

I am wondering how you will judge that you have reached your goal of best shape of my life and what that constitutes? I think that good health and feeling well are just a given with exercise and low carb eating. Of course we do have our genes that might deter us.

Maintaining is not all that easy and I find that seems to be my daily goal to keep those extra pounds from returning. Being a part of this support group really helps and I am still excited about the fact that I CAN maintain even after 7 years at it. Goal enough for me.

[BellaHMB]

I'm with you Loretta! Keeping those pounds from multiplying is my goal at this point
I do have ongoing commitments to myself including exercise 5-6 days per week and staying on track with my food plan. For instance, I tried on my smallest pair of size 8's yesterday and the waist was a bit snug. I could wear them, but this told me I needed to
check what I was eating. So I did, and I found that I was snacking on nuts which aren't a bad thing but add a TON of calories! So this week I simply made a goal of no extra nuts (10 almonds per day ok), no walnuts in my morning greek yogurt with blueberries.
The other thing I had started doing was if I was out and about and in the later afternoon got hungry, I would eat an Atkins Bar. That's ok for maintenance for me,
but if I also had 1/2 a Lara Bar at home then that's too much for me.

Snacks seem to be my trouble spot!

So staying on top of things with my woe- that's my ongoing goal!

Bella

[Tecnokitty]

Nice to see all of you. I have been away from the boards but not away from LC. No weight gain just been busy with work and we are thinkingof buying a home and things have been nuts. So happy to see all of you doing so well!! I still do not really do any fruits other then the LC SF Straw. jam I make and now I rarely eat that but my little one LOVES it. I haven't made any lc bread in forever. Just too busy and trying to save money. I swam for hours yesterday and SO wanted to EAT and EAT afterwards so my goal is to keep to what I did. Which was eat something lc but still be happy and not gain anything! It was harder then normal cause I think it was just so busy doing everything for everyone else, daddys day and all. I also need to quit eating so many lc wraps..I just LOVE those things! I have not been good with my work outs either but we will be away in Colorado for a week coming up so I guess I will try and be better with that once we get back.

[dae_tona]

For me, I guess you could sum up 'best shape of my life' by going what they say to be in good, physical shape-they say a person in good, physical shape should be able to run a mile in 10 minutes or less...I used to could do that but now am running it at 13.5 minutes...so I know once I get to running a mile in 10 minutes or less-I'll be on my way in that area. I could accomplish this probably in about 3 months but I'm in no hurry so that's why I gave myself such a long term goal.

Too often, I'd jump in quickly, wear myself out & quit within a week because I was so worn out. This time-I am taking it more slowly & doing baby steps.

I'd love to be able to run for 30 minutes straight. But if I can only run for 15 minutes straight, then I'm okay with that & I don't stress over the other 15 minutes that I can't run. I'd love to accomplish this, too-in the next 2.5 years. All baby steps for me now.

I used to be an all or nothing person so I am aiming to get away from that mentality.

Since I am in maintenance & no longer have a weight loss goal-I had to change my focus to another goal. So I chose fitness goals to replace weight loss goals.

Dyan

[Charski]

I guess I'm just not a goal-oriented person! LOL!

I'm more a "one day at a time" type.

If I HAD to lay out a goal - I'd say to maintain my weight loss (which I've done pretty well for 5 plus years) and increase my activity levels (which Wii Fit is helping me do) and be the healthiest I can be through eating well and properly, and staying active.

Watching my Mom deteriorate with osteoporosis, which has led to 3 stress fractures of the vertebrae (so far) and MUCH pain - my goal is to avoid the same fate by taking my supplements, getting some weight-bearing exercise every day (Wii Fit, walking, gardening) and a little sunshine and fresh air.

I slightly envy those of you who ARE goal-setters - you probably get more accomplished than I do!

[sugarless4life]

Fitness is my number one goal.

Right now, I'm 5.5 years below goal and maintaining easily with rigorous exercise. I have logged over 8,000 running miles since 2003 and still going strong. I lift weights 3 days a week and run the other 4 days, so I exercise in some form or fashion every single day. I love the results and I love setting goals for myself.

I'm not a fast runner, but I am competitive ... mostly with myself. I push myself beyond my comfort zone on a regular basis. Its amazing how the body will respond when challenged ... even at age 52 !

I just signed up for my 3rd marathon which will be in March, 2009. 26.2 miles ... imagine .. sometimes even I can't believe that the body/knees/hips that used to be wracked with pain from non-use are going to do that run for a THIRD time !

Betty

[Lil Red]

I've been on maintenance about 2 years and it's really difficult most days. I have to keep my carbs really low (at just over induction level) or I'll gain. I up my carbs from time to time to keep from burning out but then have to go on induction to drop back down.

I've been doing a strict induction the last 2 weeks trying to get under 125. I want to actually see 123 on the scale. LOL

[dae_tona]

I just recently returned to a goal I had set for myself but lost focus of once I started back with my busy work schedule. But now that the season is over, I decided it was time to focus on this goal once again: fat loss.

Since Thursday, I've been plugging away at writing down everything I intake & making sure that I stay in a calorie deficit for fat loss or I guess you could say, I am making sure I eat to my BMR with a calorie deficit which pretty much equals body weight x 12. (that's the ideal way to do it for fat loss)

I figured I had to have some kind of goal. I was trying to do way too much cardio together with weight training so I backed off on the cardio & decided to do cardio intervals 2x a week & weight training 3x a week. So that's my other goal: to just keep doing that & be consistent with it. After all, sporadic actions produce sporadic results. Consistent actions produce consistent results.

Dyan