Weight Loss and Exercise Are Usually Bad Goals to Set

Image by The Library of Virginia via Flickr

Every year millions of people set goals to exercise or to lose weight. A multi-billion dollar industry supports this national obsession with goals related to moving our bodies and slimming down. Gyms count on the fact that most of the people who purchase memberships will not show up. Were everyone to do so, there would not be enough room to hold all of the sweaty bodies. Diet product companies are supported by their repeat customers who had some measure of success that was not sustainable. The yo-yoing we used to do with toys as children has been replaced with an even more pervasive yo-yoing of our weight and waistline measurements.

Queen Latifa recently started Jenny Craig. She has been known in the past to say that she did not have a problem with her weight, she thinks she is beautiful, she likes to eat, and she thinks the skinny people look hungry. This opinion that she holds of herself is not one that she holds alone. This full-figured beauty “queen” has graced the cover of several magazines and full-page glamour advertisements.

So why would she go on Jenny Craig and why will she be successful in her efforts? Because her goal is not to lose weight. On one of her first commercials, she stated that she heard that by losing a small percent of one’s body weight, just 5-10%, the risk of diabetes and other heart related diseases dramatically decreases. That sounded compelling enough for her to take some action. Reducing health risks and increasing her energy levels became the goal. A change in diet and increased exercise became supporting habits she was willing to establish in order to accomplish her real goals.

There are a whole host of motivating goals that someone might establish, some more serious than others, that would require healthy eating and routine exercise as supporting habits for their realization:

• Preventing or recovering from disease or injury
• Achieving a certain weight class or performance level in sports
• Meeting the requirements for a job
• Being able to fit into an existing wardrobe
• Reducing stress levels
• Increasing and sustaining energy levels
• Feeling better
• Having clearer thinking

Goals such as these are linked to either our values or life’s desires. It is much more likely that our motivation levels will be maintained when there is a high level of internal alignment with our goals. Self-discipline and will power are supported by a genuine desire to accomplish something that is important to us.

Some things to remember when setting goals related to weight or anything else are:

• Don’t set goals to do or accomplish something just because people say you should
• Don’t set goals to do things you don’t like doing
• Set a goal to accomplish something that is important to you
• Identify the supporting habits, things you may or may not enjoy doing, that are necessary to accomplish your goals.

Have a powerful day!

Cecilia