How to Set (Weight Loss) Goals for a Happy, Healthy New Year!

New Year’s Eve is upon us, and for many people, it’s time to think about what you want in the new year. If you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve tried to lose weight (or accomplish other goals), but you struggle to stay on track, you’re in the right place!

Today we’ll explore how to set weight loss goals for a happy, healthy new year. These tips also work for setting goals in general, so whether or not you're looking to lose weight, if you want to make positive changes in the new year, let’s jump right in!

1)     Let go of resolutions and “goals” that are statements of desire

Have you ushered in the new year with the thought that “This year, I’m going to lose 20 pounds!” or “I want to get back into my favorite jeans!” While you may think these sound like goals, I can’t emphasize enough that these aren’t goals…at all. These are what I refer to as statements of desire.

A statement of desire is exactly what it sounds like – something you’d like to have, but have no plan to attain. There’s no difference between saying “This year, I’m going to buy a house!” and “This year, I’m going to lose 20 pounds!” While you might desire these things, there’s no plan to make either happen, and these things aren't likely to happen without a plan.

More importantly, whether or not you can achieve these goals is outside of your circle of control. You may be able to influence someone to sell their home to you, but you can't control whether or not they will.

And despite what the diet industry would have you believe, you can influence weight loss, but you cannot control it. As anyone who’s ever hit a weight loss plateau can attest, you can control your actions, but you cannot guarantee that your actions will result in weight loss.

In my online weight management class, I carefully spell out the difference between a statement of desire and a SMART goal. Nevertheless, in every class, many students post statements of desire like “I want to lose 10% of my current weight” or “I want to get back into a size 30 waist.”

Don’t fall into this trap! To make these into SMART goals, you need to focus on what you’ll do to reach these endpoints. The plan is to create healthy lifestyle goals that will benefit your mind and body, no matter what happens with your weight. If you're eating healthy, moving your body through space, drinking water, getting rest, and managing your mental health, you'll look and feel better, regardless of what the scale or tape measure says. And ultimately, most people lose weight by living a healthy lifestyle.

So, how do you do it? Keep reading!

2)     Focus on SMART goals based on lifestyle changes you’re willing to maintain

You've resolved to give up statements of desire masquerading as goals. Now what? You need SMART goals based on small, but meaningful, changes that are in your circle of control, and are actions you're willing to maintain indefinitely. (For more on SMART goals, click here.)

Why set small goals? Research shows weight loss is more sustainable if it's evolutionary, not revolutionary. If you want to lose weight and keep it off (and who doesn't?!), remember that whatever you do to lose weight is what you will have to continue to do to keep it off.

Here are some healthy lifestyle suggestions to get you started:

Change up your eating habits

• practice mindful eating at one meal a day

• eat one new fruit, vegetable, nut, seed, or legume each week

• write down everything you eat and drink for a week

• take my online weight management class for a deep dive into weight loss

• follow someone on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube that focuses on good health and inspires you

Be more active

• walk instead of taking the stairs

• park further away in the parking lot

• find a workout buddy and support one another in being active

Drink more water

Get more rest

Take care of your body and mind

• see a doctor, dentist, or therapist

• try (or get back into) yoga, meditation, or massage therapy

• experiment with journaling, drawing, dance, or music to express your feelings

3)     Make sure your goals have a short time frame that encourages you to get back on track

Perhaps one of the most common mistakes people make when they begin developing weight management goals (and other goals, too) is failing to include an end date. At first glance, it makes sense: If you're going to make behavior change for a lifetime, who needs end dates, right?

Wrong! In fact, the opposite is true. Because you're making behavior change for a lifetime, it's crucial that you develop short-term goals. Without short-term goals, living a healthy lifestyle can feel like a grueling, never-ending experience.

In addition, short-term goals also give you plenty of opportunity to reevaluate your goals as you’re working toward them. For example, you may discover that walking 10,000 steps a day is more ambitious than you expected, and you might benefit from setting a goal to walk 6,000 steps, then work your way up to 8,000 steps, then 10,000 steps.

As you're thinking about a time frame, be sure to set up short-term goals that encourage you to get back on track. Goals like "I will drink 2 liters of water daily for a month" sound good, but in the long run, are a setup for failure.

Why? Let's say you set up the goal "I will track my water intake for the month of January." You start on January 1st, and you do terrific for 4 days, when you only drink 1 1/2 liters of water. You haven't even made it through the first week, and you're already falling short of your goal!

For many people, this isn't the first time they've fallen short on a healthy lifestyle goal, and it can be deeply discouraging. It's very easy for a day or two of not drinking 2 liters of water to turn into a week or two (or a month or two) of not drinking 2 liters of water.

And let's be real: There are countless factors that make it impossible to stay on track perfectly. You may get sick, get injured, have to work late, need to study for finals, be exhausted because your toddler woke up sick in the middle of the night, need to drive across town to take care of your parent, or need to travel for work. You get the idea! Life happens, and much of it is outside your circle of control.

So, to keep a lapse from turning into a relapse, deliberately create goals that make it easy to get back on track. Let's say you said "My goal is to drink 2 liters of water every day for 14 days." After you fall short on the 4th day, no big deal! You don't need to start over again with your goal. You get back on track the next day, and keep counting until you get to 14 days. Framing goals in this way allows for all of the things that can (and will!) happen outside your circle of control or influence, while keeping you focused on what's in your circle of control.

4)     Consider building a non-food reward into your goals

If you’re developing a goal for an activity you enjoy, you may not need a reward. But if you’re setting up goals for healthy behaviors that you don’t enjoy, rewards make the journey far more fun. If your goal is "I will walk during my lunch break for 14 days," but you’d rather sit and scroll on your phone, planning ahead for a reward after you've been successful will benefit you in two ways.

First, it'll give you something to look forward to as you’re thinking about following through on your goal, and as you’re out walking. The improvement you’ll see in your mind and body after a single lunchtime walk is minimal. It takes time to reap the rewards of a healthy lifestyle. But in the meantime, you can enjoy knowing you’re walking your way to your reward!

And second, if you choose a tangible, non-food reward, you'll have something to remind you of your successes. Some people are motivated by keeping track on a chart, in a journal, or in their calendar. (This makes sense, since checking things off a to-do list can give you a little dopamine boost.) I’ve worked with clients who enjoy rewarding themselves with stickers they add to their water bottle or journal cover.

Other people prefer to reward themselves with something related to their goal. My online students often reward themselves with a new coveted water bottle, a new workout shirt, or a new non-stick pan. My favorite reward is a carefully chosen, long-stemmed fresh flower.

But my all-time favorite reward story is that of a client I worked with decades ago, who rewarded herself with a little charm for a charm bracelet every time she met a weight management goal. Each charm was carefully chosen to represent the goal she’d reached. After a year, she had a beautiful charm bracelet full of charms that reminded her of both her motivations for weight management, and her many successes.

Of course, your reward doesn’t have to be something tangible. You can reward yourself with setting aside time to do something you enjoy, like researching new music, engaging in a hobby, connecting with a friend, or turning off your phone and enjoying some quiet time. And of course, you can always take a picture or make a note of non-tangible rewards, so you can recall them later.

One last thing about rewards: I encourage you to choose rewards that have an element of specialness to them, so you’ll truly look forward to earning them. Rewards like “I’ll put on some music and dance” or “I’ll go for a walk around my neighborhood” are probably activities you can do every day. Make sure you choose goals you'll look forward to achieving, or they won't be motivating.

5)     Consider working with a mental health therapist (preferably one who specializes in weight management)

For many people, the lifestyle habits that underlie successful weight management intersect with mental health. Depression, anxiety, trauma, and other mental health concerns significantly affect sleep, eating, physical activity, and of course, one’s daily thoughts and feelings.

As a dietitian, I know that how you treat your body affects your mind. As a therapist, I’d argue that how you treat your body begins with what’s happening in your mind. If you don’t love yourself unconditionally, just because you’re you, it’ll be hard for you to treat your body with the respect it needs and deserves.

So, if you're struggling to treat your body kindly, I encourage you to consider working with a therapist who can help you heal from past hurts, and take excellent care of yourself!

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