Some people state a simple weight loss goal. “Lose 25lbs.” That’s a bit better but it doesn’t really have much to sink your teeth into, does it?

If you want to set yourself up for success, you need to set a SMART goal. I’m going to show you how to make a SMART weight loss goal — and I’m going to show you some “tricks to make it stick.”

The acronym SMART stands for:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-Bound

It’s a great way to set goals that have meaning and purpose. Dare I say it’s even a “smart” way to set a goal?

So, let’s take the “lose weight” goal that the majority of people set. How can we make it a SMART goal? (Grab a pen and a piece of paper, if you want to play along at home.)

Specific
A goal needs to be specific. You do that by asking yourself these questions:

• Why are you creating the goal? In other words, what are the benefits? How will it make you feel?
• Who is involved with the goal? (At the bare minimum, it’s you.)
• How will you reach that goal?

Before we make “lose weight” more specific, here’s the first trick to make it stick: turn the goal into a sentence or positive affirmation and say it in a way as if it’s already happened. Picture yourself in the future having accomplished the goal.

I’m going to use an imaginary friend as an example. Wendy is 180lbs and doesn’t exercise much. She gets a lot done, but doesn’t seem to have much energy. She’s tired of feeling tired. She wants to “lose weight” to feel better.

So, Wendy pictures herself in the future and ask herself the questions up above. Wendy’s original goal to “lose weight” is transformed into:

“I feel strong and full of energy having lost weight by counting calories, eating smaller, healthier portions and exercising seven days a week.”

Much better than “lose weight”, right? But Wendy can make that goal even better.

Measurable
A goal needs to be measurable. “I feel strong and full of energy having lost weight” doesn’t really mean anything. There’s no way to measure progress. Is it five pounds? Twenty pounds? Are we measuring pounds lost or body fat percentage?

Wendy decides she wants to weigh 120lbs.

“I feel strong and full of energy at 120lbs by counting calories, eating smaller, healthier portions and exercising seven days a week.”

Attainable
But a goal needs to be attainable, too.

So now Wendy has a specific, measurable goal. But let’s step back for a second and take a look at it. Is this an attainable goal? 120lbs might sound like “fun” to Wendy, but is it realistic? Is it a healthy weight for her? And exercising seven days a week?

“Wait a second,” Wendy thinks. “I know myself. This is way more than I can handle right now.”

Wendy turns her goal into something attainable. This feels “doable” to her. She believes she can do it. It’s challenging enough without being overwhelming.

“I feel strong and full of energy at 140lbs by counting calories, eating smaller, healthier portions and walking for 30 minutes four times a week.”

Wendy’s feeling pretty good about this goal, but there are still a few ways to make it even better.

Relevant
A goal should be relevant. It has to have meaning for you and be relevant to your abilities and interests.

Wendy looks at her goal. The “I feel strong and full of energy” part is relevant. She wants more energy. The weight goal is relevant because she wants to be healthy; she’s not aiming to be a fitness model.

Wendy likes walking, too. But then she remembers she used to love swimming. She hasn’t done it in years because she’s been too busy. The thought of swimming again motivates her. She makes another change.

“I feel strong and full of energy at 140lbs by counting calories, eating smaller, healthier portions and by walking or swimming for 30 minutes four times a week.”

Wendy’s feeling even more motivated now! But there’s one last piece of the puzzle to make this goal a SMART goal.

Time-bound
A goal needs to be time-bound.

Wendy knows a safe rate of weight loss is 1 to 2lbs a week. She has 40lbs to lose. Losing 2lbs a week would take her about 4 months. Wendy remembers a goal needs to be attainable, so she decides to give herself a bit of wiggle room and makes it 5 months. Today is January 1st. So, she makes one last change to her goal by setting a weight loss target date.

“On June 1st, I feel strong and full of energy at 140lbs by counting calories, eating smaller, healthier portions and by walking or swimming for 30 minutes four times a week.”

Wendy is really motivated now to put this plan into action because the SMART goal she created makes sense to her. It’s unique to her. She can always make changes to it, if she needs to — but now she has a solid framework to get started.

More Tricks to Make It Stick

Now, it’s your turn. I want you to create a SMART weight loss goal — and I want you to do it using a pen (or pencil) and paper. Don’t do it using your computer. Studies have shown that when you put pen to paper, you make your brain say, “Hey, something important is happening. I better pay attention!”

Once you’ve got it down into a sentence or affirmation, I want you to write it down on an index card. Carry that index card around with you and read it whenever you need motivation. You don’t feel like exercising? Read that index card. The office vending machine is tempting you? Read that index card.

Read it first thing in the morning. Read it before you go to bed. Make copies and put it up wherever it makes sense: on the fridge, the bathroom mirror, at the office. Wherever you can.

And here’s a mega-super trick, if you really want to make it stick. Remember how teachers used to “punish” you by making you write sentences over and over again? It’s actually a really good trick to make your subconscious aware of your goal. Grab a sheet of paper and write your goal down over and over again. Do this as often as you need to — without cramping your hand, of course! Don’t think of it as punishment. Think of it as a way of communicating with your subconscious mind.

And no, typing it up is not the same. Put pen to paper and really, really concentrate. Take your time and don’t rush it. Make your brain pay attention to your goal — and your brain will then help you reach that goal. It’ll seek out ways to help you because it knows your goal is important to you.

And that, my friends, is the SMART way to set a weight loss goal.

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To this end, having a very organized, functional kitchen will help a lot! You’ll be able to see clearly which ingredients you have, and which ones you need to buy. You will have all of the equipment you need to prepare healthy, delicious meals, without feeling frustrated because it’s taking so long.

Here’s how to best organize your kitchen for weight loss success:

#1 – Make Room for Healthy Foods

If your refrigerator and cupboards are crammed full of fattening foods, it’s time to carve out a little space for healthier options.  Designate at least one shelf and one drawer in your refrigerator for your own healthy foods.  Place bottles of juice, cups of yogurt, vegetables and fruit in these areas, and tell your family members or roommates to keep their foods away from that space if possible.  Do the same thing in your cabinets; create some space for healthy foods that don’t need to be refrigerated.

See: How to Break the High-Calorie Snack Habit

#2 – Get some good storage containers.

A good way to stay on track with your weight loss is to always have healthy, low calorie foods on hand, and those foods need to be stored in convenient containers.  Nowadays you can buy a lot of small plastic storage containers with matching lids, which makes it easy to store cooked vegetables, grains, meat, hard boiled eggs, and even pre-made salad.

See: Quick Fat Loss Tip: Prepare Food Ahead of Time

#3 – Organize utensils and cooking pots.

When you need to cook or prepare healthy meals, you’ll need to have your cookware and utensils handy.  Go through your kitchen and decide which items you’ll be most likely to use in the preparation of healthy meals.  Here are some ideas:  colander (strainer), spoons and spatulas, saucepans, wok, grater, garlic press, and steamer.  Then make sure these items are stored somewhere front and center so you can get to them easily.

See: How to Make Your Diet Wildly Exciting

#4 – Organize spices and healthy cooking ingredients.

You’ll also want to make sure that your healthy cooking components are well-organized so you can find them easily.  Things like olive oil, spices, broth, flavor packets, and so on.

It may seem like a lot of work to do this, but you’ll be so glad you did!  When it comes time to prepare your meals, you’ll do so quickly and easily.

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Today, I’m going to share a no-brainer way to get you on your way to forming healthier habits.

Go grab a sheet of paper and a pen and make a list of all of the habits that you KNOW are bad for you — and are keeping you from your health and weight loss goals. Come on, I KNOW you know which ones they are!

Now, there’s a reason why I want you to put pen to paper: studies show that writing things down activates your brain to pay attention to what you’re doing.

Here are some examples to get you started:

- Eating large portions
- Eating too much fried food
- Eating too close to bedtime
- Snacking when I’m not hungry
- Drinking too much soda
- Adding sugar and cream to coffee
- Avoiding exercise

Keep going until you’ve listed every single bad habit you can think of. Now, look over the list. Are you reasonably certain that all of those things are bad for you? Are you pretty sure that they’re contributing to poor health or extra pounds on your body?

See: 3 Bad Habits That Can Lead to Weight Gain

Now grab another sheet of paper and write down the opposite of each item from your list of bad habits.

The opposite of the previous examples would be:

- Eating small portions
- Eating baked, broiled and steamed food
- Stop eating after dinner
- Eating only when I’m hungry
- Cutting back on soda
- Drinking coffee black
- Exercising daily

And there you go! You’ve now got a list of things you can start doing immediately to form better habits, improve your health and lose weight!  No, it’s not really scientific, and you may still need to figure out a few specifics, but for the most part you KNOW that these actions will do good things for you, and in most cases, that’s all you need to know.

If you stop procrastinating because losing weight and getting healthy is too confusing and just start taking action on the things you KNOW will help, you’ll create some easy positive changes and inspire yourself to keep going in making even more positive changes.

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Use This Method to Stay on Track with Your Weight Loss Goals

First, the benefits of setting weight loss goals:

• You’ll have a clear idea of what you want to achieve.
• You’ll have a clear plan of action for achieving it.
• You’ll have fewer opportunities for excuses.
• You’ll be more motivated to stick with your plan long-term.
• You’ll be able to see your progress clearly along the way.

There are other benefits to setting weight loss goals, but those are some of the best ones.

Next let’s cover how to set weight loss goals and follow through with them:

1) Set a long term goal.

First, consider where you want to end up long term – for example, how much you want to weigh, the size clothing you want to wear, or any other definitive objective you want to accomplish.

See: Estimate Weight at Body Fat Percentage

2) Set some smaller, short-term goals.

Next, come up with some smaller “stages” that you will go through on your way to the big goal.  For example, if you want to lose 50 pounds, you may want to set 5 smaller goals of losing 10 pounds each time.  You may be wondering why this is necessary; why not just set the main goal of losing 50 pounds?  Because bigger goals can be overwhelming and you may hesitate to pursue them, or you may lose motivation and give up long before you reach them.  If you choose smaller goals, you’ll enjoy a sense of satisfaction and pride as you complete each stage, which can motivate you to keep going.

See: 6 Steps to Setting Realistic Goals

3) Create a plan of action.

Decide exactly how you will achieve your weight loss goals.  Will you reduce your daily calorie intake?  If so, by how much?  What kinds of foods do you plan to eat?  Do you plan to allow yourself occasional treats?  If so, what kind of treats and how often?  How often and for how long do you plan to exercise?  Create a very detailed, daily action plan that you can follow.  This is important because there won’t be any questions or confusion about what to do each day – you’ll be able to see it in black and white.

See: Workout Plan/Workout Planner

4) Commit to it.

Read over your plan and make a solemn commitment to stick to it no matter what.  Too often we allow ourselves to slide because we’re tired that day, or because we’ve had a stressful week at work, because the kid are acting up . . .  NOTHING should keep you from sticking to your plan, aside from true emergencies.

5) Follow through.

Each and every day you’re going to have to make dozens of decisions that will help you follow through with your goals, or cause you to abandon them.  Keep this in mind as you face challenges each day.  Say to yourself, “I can eat this donut and fail to achieve my goals, or I can eat this apple and move one step closer to my goal.”  when you make it clear to yourself that every action either moves you closer to achieving your goals or further away, it’s easy to make the right decisions.

See: 7 Ways to Boost Your Weight Loss Willpower

6) Gauge progress.

Every few weeks, be sure to gauge and record your progress.  Are you losing weight at the pace you expected?  Are you losing inches?  Are you sticking to your plan each day and making progress?  Stay clear about your results and how they are affected by your actions.

See: Keep a Journal for Progress

7) Make adjustments when necessary.

Finally, you may need to make adjustments to your plan as you go along.  If you’re struggling to keep up with a rigorous workout routine, you may decide to slow it down a little bit.  If you’re indulging in treats a little too often, you may need to think up some alternative activities that will distract you and keep you on track.

Setting and achieving weight loss goals is really easy as long as you stay clear about three main things:  where you are starting, where you hope to end up, and what you need to do to get there.

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How Many Calories Are Burned…?

First, did you know that in the moment you start ingesting alcohol your body goes to work metabolizing it? That’s a good thing, right?  Well, yes, except that for the duration that your body is busy metabolizing the alcohol you just ingested, it stops metabolizing fat.  That may not be such a big deal if you rarely drink, but if you enjoy a few cocktails every day or even several times a week, it could dramatically slow down your weight loss.

See: How to Repair a Damaged Metabolism

Another important consideration is that all alcoholic drinks and liquors contain calories, and some of them contain a LOT of calories! If you aren’t paying attention, it’s easy to ingest far more calories than you intend to, especially if you are having mixed drinks that contain sugary mixes or cream.

See: Calorie Count for Alcoholic Beverage: Budweiser Beer

See: Calorie Count for Alcoholic Beverage: Coffee with Cream, Liqueur

As if that weren’t enough, alcohol can also stimulate your appetite so you feel hungrier during and after drinking. To add insult to injury, being slightly intoxicated can also lower your inhibitions so that you see no harm in enjoying some delicious, fattening food.  Fried chicken wings?  Cheese fries?  A large pizza with everything?  Sounds good to you . . . until the next morning when you remember casually eating an entire day’s calories in one sitting.

See: Junk Food & Overeating: Here’s Why You Do It

When you put all of these concerns together, you can clearly see that alcohol consumption maybe isn’t a great idea when you are trying to lose weight.

If you absolutely MUST have some alcohol, try to stick to just one low-calorie drink and then follow it with a large glass of water.  Munch on a handful of nuts or popcorn to quiet cravings for more fattening foods, or eat a healthy meal right after you have a drink.  Your metabolism will still be impacted, but not nearly as much as it would be by overindulging on high calorie drinks and foods.

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If you’ve ever been tempted to do this, take a look at the following important reasons why eating less than 1000 calories is a waste of time.

Reason #1

The first and obvious reason is because your body needs more than 1000 calories to sustain itself. Yes, you could technically survive on 1000 calories or less, but you’d be extremely malnourished, weak, and sickly.  Maybe you don’t mind that if it’s only for a short period of time while you lose weight?  Then read on because the next reason might change your mind.

See: Calorie Deficit Calculator

Reason #2

Eating less than 1000 calories also sets you up for a major binge-fest. Did you know that many food cravings are caused by a deficiency in one or more nutrients?  Did you know that many other food cravings are caused by uncomfortable emotions?  Eating fewer than 1000 calories will certainly cause your levels of key nutrients to dip too low, but you’ll also feel irritable, stressed, fatigued, and deprived, which immediately makes you start craving certain foods with a vengeance!  You may be able to deny those cravings for awhile, but they’ll just get stronger until you finally give in – and when you do give in, you’re probably going to eat everything in sight.

Reason #3

If those two reasons aren’t enough for you, eating too few calories is also a waste of time because of the damage you do to your metabolism. When you drop your calorie intake too low, your body immediately goes on high alert and slows everything down to conserve energy and protect vital organ functions.  So even if you are able to drop a few pounds quickly at first, your weight loss will soon stall.  Worse, as soon as you go back to a normal calorie intake, you’ll start GAINING weight because now your metabolism is slower than it was before so you can’t eat as many calories and maintain your weight.

As you can see, it really IS a waste of time to eat less than 1000 calories.  There are many more effective ways to lose weight, like eating moderately and exercising to burn more calories.  That is a formula that has worked for centuries and it will work for you too.

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First of all, eating a balanced diet can help prevent excessive cravings for sweets and other unhealthy foods.

Did you know that many seemingly random food cravings are caused by malnutrition?  If you commit to eating a balanced diet that includes plenty of healthy, wholesome foods, you’ll notice that your cravings for junk food, sweets, and fast food decrease substantially.

See: How to Curb Cravings and Conquer a Sweet Tooth

Another important benefit of eating a balanced diet is that you want to enjoy good health, not just weight loss.

Have you ever seen a person who is very skinny, but also very unhealthy?  It’s not very attractive, is it?  Nothing is more attractive than good health!  When you are healthy, your skin glows, your eyes are bright, you have plenty of energy and you just feel good.

See: Healthy Eating Advantages — Why Should You Eat Healthy?

Eating a balanced diet can give you that and more.  Not only that, but eating a balanced diet makes weight loss virtually effortless.

You don’t even have to work hard at it – you just eat plenty of delicious, nutritious foods and the weight melts off.  Could it get any easier?

See: Foods That Burn Fat: The Top 10 Lists

Last but not least, eating a balanced diet gives you lasting results instead of a “quick fix”.

There are many diet plans out there that can help you lose weight quickly, but most of them cannot be sustained for long.  Either they are too strict, too unpleasant, or too extreme to follow long term.  A balanced diet, on the other hand, is a breeze to stick to permanently.  There is no heavy deprivation or misery that you have to deal with – you just eat foods that are good for you, but also foods that taste good.  Everything in moderation.

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To prevent this from happening to you, set up a daily evaluation process where you can see clearly whether you are still on track with your goals:

The first step in this process is to get an idea of the actual steps you want to take each day to begin losing weight.

Do you need to reduce your intake of fast food?  Cut down on sugar?  Drink more water?  Eat more fruit and vegetables?  Work out each day?  These are all common methods that are effective for weight loss, but you may also have your own unique methods that work best for you.  Write all of these steps down so you know exactly what you’ll be doing each day to move toward your goal.

The second step is to look over your list at the end of each day, and evaluate whether you stayed on track or not.

Do you see any areas that need improvement?  Any areas where you need to strengthen your willpower?  Any old habits that are creeping back into your day?

When you notice areas that need to be adjusted to stay on track, take steps to improve them.

For example, if you have a habit of drinking several glasses of soda each day and you’re struggling to eliminate it, compromise by allowing yourself one 8 oz. serving of soda each day.  Stick to that for a week or two, and then cut it down to 4 oz.  Then eventually eliminate it altogether.  Or go with the old “substitution” method by drinking diet iced tea or lemon water in place of soda.

See: Make Weigh Loss Easier by Creating Daily Patterns

The methods you use to change your unhealthy habits don’t really matter, as long as you are continuously working on creating better habits.  And more importantly, constantly evaluating your progress so you know where your weaknesses are.  This is the surest way to stay on track all the way to the achievement of your weight loss goals.

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Here are 5 good reasons why:

1) Walking elevates your heart rate.

Cardiovascular exercise is an excellent way to elevate your heart rate, boost your metabolism, and burn calories. In order to reap the greatest health benefits, you need to walk briskly – not just stroll along slowly. Starting out at a slower pace is a good idea, to allow the body to warm up and avoid injury. Then gradually increase your speed so you are moving along at a nice pace, not quite running but definitely hustling a little bit.

If you can’t sustain a rapid pace for long, it’s okay to vary your speed so you walk at a slower pace, then a faster pace for two or three minutes at a time.  The slower periods will allow you some time to catch your breath and relax your muscles somewhat, while the faster pace periods will challenge you and help you get into better shape.

See: Top 10 Effective Ways to Get the Most from Your Cardio Exercise

2) Walking helps you tone and build lean muscle.

While walking is not typically a “weight building” exercise, it IS a form of resistance exercise because you are propelling your own body weight forward and forcing your leg and hip muscles to work harder, which does ultimately build some lean muscle.  All over lower body toning is also a welcome benefit from daily walking.

3) Walking boosts your energy.

A brisk walk first thing in the morning is a fantastic way to wake up your body and generate some great energy to carry you through the rest of the day.

See: 3 ways to Boost Your Energy and Lose Weight

4) Walking clears your mind.

Most of us have very cluttered minds that are constantly swirling with all kinds of thoughts and stimulus from outside influences.  Taking a brisk walk forces you to focus on the very simple act of putting one foot in front of the other, over and over again until the walk is finished.  While you can focus on other things at the same time, the very act of walking seems to have a calming effect on the mind.  If you want to intensify this effect, do your best to stay fully present while you walk.  Avoid letting your mind wander onto other things and instead keep bringing your attention back to the feel of your body moving and your immediate surroundings.  Even better, avoid listening to music while you walk and instead just enjoy the peace and quiet, especially if you walk in a natural setting like a park or wooded trails.

See: Fresh Air Does a Body Good

5) Walking relieves stress.

If you commit to taking a brisk morning walk each and every day, you’ll notice something interesting over time: you feel less stressed most of the time.  Even if you typically don’t feel stressed in the mornings, just taking a walk seems to prevent stress from building up within you as the day goes on.  If you do happen to feel stressed later in the day, take another walk!  Brisk walking is a fantastic way to burn off excess tension and return to a nice, calm state again.

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If you are one of these yo yo dieters, you’ll be interested to learn that there is an easy, FAST way to stop yo yo dieting for good. You may not like the way it sounds at first, but I promise it will make a lot of sense once I explain it. Before I do that, let me ask you a question.

What do you think is the one thing that makes a person quit a diet?

There are many possible reasons, but one thing in particular stands out more than most.  And that is, a diet being too strict.

If you’ve ever been on a very strict diet, you are probably nodding your head in agreement right now.  Strict diets are awful; you feel cranky, deprived, weak, nauseous . . . and you’re supposed to endure that torture for months until you’ve lost all of your excess pounds?  Very few people do it.  Or they’ll just barely make it to their goal and then start eating everything in sight because they can’t stand the deprivation anymore.

See: How to See ‘Dieting’ in a New Light

Keeping this in mind, it makes total sense that the best way to stop yo yo dieting is to stop following strict diets, right?

Strict diets are NOT effective for long term weight loss, period.  They’re only good for brief, short-term weight loss, which you then gain right back when you go off the diet . . . ah, yo yo dieting!

If you want to stop yo yo dieting for good, there is no other choice but to create a flexible healthy lifestyle that you can stick with for the rest of your life.  No more trying to find the “perfect” diet; no more fad diets; no more starving yourself.  Make some positive lifestyle changes that are easy to follow for good, and you’ll never yo yo again.

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