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You are about to go through
a program that has been personally designed by Dr. Steelman. A program that
has taken him 25 years of medical practice to prepare. This
program is different! Why? Because the standard fare
hasn't and doesn't work. 96% of all dieter's that have lost
significant amounts of weight...gained it back within five
years.
There are only two reasons
that we ever get motivated to do anything....one is to seek
pleasure, the other is to avoid pain. Unfortunately
exercise isn't pleasurable for most of us and in fact
may seem unpleasant or produce pain, especially if we overdo
it. There are rewards though! Many of the rewards
do not appear immediately and may not even be detectable by
the individual. Being more active and exercising
makes us more fit. This allows us to be more
efficient on the job and to get more work done with less
time spent and more energy left at the end of the
day, to spend doing things we truly enjoy.
Goal setting is one of the
most critical and vital parts of any weight loss program.
Let’s take a little trip down memory lane with Alice in
Wonderland.
In the story of “Alice in
Wonderland” young Alice once finds herself at a fork in the
road. She is not able to see very far down either of the
two paths she faces and stands with a harried expression on
her face when the Cheshire Cat happens by. The dialogue
between them goes something like this:
Cheshire Cat: Can I help you?
Alice: OH! PLEASE DO! Tell me which road to take. I don’t
want to take the wrong one.
Cheshire Cat: Where do you want to go?
Alice: I don’t really know.
Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t really matter which road you
take!
One
point this story illustrates is that in order to succeed we
must have a goal. If Alice had had a clear-cut
destination (goal) in mind, the Cheshire Cat would have been
able to tell her which road to take.
Many
dieters stand in frustration at a fork in the road to weight
control. They start a weight control program with good
intentions but, after a few excess pounds are shed, progress
stops. For many of these people the problem is that they
have not set an effective goal. If you are one of these
people perhaps you can get back on the “right road” by
establishing your weight control goals and plans.
Goals
are important for several different reasons. First, they
act as motivators-carrots dangled in front of our noses.
Secondly, goals foster commitment to our plan. They are a
formal statement of our best intentions. Thirdly, goals
help us make “right” choices when faced with decisions.
They serve as a standard against which our actions can be
measured.
Goal Statement:
1.
Make your goal as specific as possible. DO NOT say
“I want to lose some weight.” That’s NOT specific
enough. Instead, pick an exact figure such as 130
pounds, a “7” dress size or a 32” waist.
2. Write your goal down.
WRITING a goal makes it concrete, achievable and
forceful. It has been stated that writing a goal makes it
over 100 times more likely to be achieved.
3. State the goal as if
it is certain to be reached. An example would be, “I
will weigh 130 pounds”.
4. Give yourself a
deadline. I will weigh 130 pounds by xx/xx/xx
5. Make your goal
reasonable. Many dieters refuse to accept this very
important principle and are, therefore,
destined to fail in
their weight control efforts. They set an unrealistic goal
based on a report they recently read in
some gossip
magazine. Perhaps they decide to lose 30 pounds in a month.
Then in reality, they lose 8 pounds in
that month, they
feel frustrated, angry, and cheated. They then return to
their old ways of eating and (not)
exercising. Soon they
have regained the excess poundage instead of using it as a
solid foundation around which
to build a sensible program.
Few people will be able to consistently lose more that 3-8
pounds of fat per month.
The closer you are to your ideal
weight the slower you should expect to reduce. Keep your
goal reasonable.
6. Your goal should be
broken down into 4 or 5 small tasks for you to accomplish
daily, weekly, or monthly. This list of tasks is your
“plan” for success. It will keep the goal more
“active” in your mind and prevent you from feeling
overwhelmed. You may want to write your goal and plan on an
index card in a fashion similar to the following:
I. .
I will weigh 130 pounds by
xx/xx/xx.
II.
In order to achieve this
goal I will:
a.
Walk 30 minutes daily
b.
Keep an accurate food diary.
c.
Limit snacks to one per day.
d.
Eat desserts no more than 3
times per week/
e.
Etc.
7. Review your goal
statement and task list once or twice daily.
8.
Reward yourself periodically for performing the tasks. As
you see yourself doing those tasks you’ve set
out for
yourself, do something nice to reward the hard work. Go to
a movie. Buy a new book, a plant or a
sweater. You deserve
it! It will help you keep motivated
For most overweight people,
weight control is very difficult. Without a definite,
reasonable goal and a plan of attack, it is virtually
impossible. Why not take a few minutes this week and set
your weight control goals for the future?e?
As psychologist David
Campbell reminds us “If you don’t know where you’re going,
you’ll probably wind up somewhere else”.
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