How to create personal goals that will motivate you to reach the heights of success with gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy or Lap Band in Salt Lake City
No matter who you are or what you do, your life is full of goals. Whether spoken or unspoken, we strive to reach these goals every day, putting in the extra effort to improve ourselves and live better.
If you’ve had a weight loss surgery like Lap Band in Utah, your most prominent goal at the moment is likely your final goal weight. This is an important number to everyone with a Lap Band, but you won’t reach your goal weight overnight. Though you’ve made a big step with weight loss surgery, you still have a long path ahead of you—it’s time to set your sights on a few other accomplishments along the way.
Weight loss surgery is about a lot more than just achieving a slimmer body. By losing weight and living healthier, you’re improving every aspect of your health. The forward steps you make in your fitness program and eating habits may seem insignificant compared to the bright and far-off star of the weight loss goal you’re shooting for, but these steps will help you live stress-free, improve your energy level and help you feel better every day. This makes them accomplishments worth celebrating.
To stay motivated and focused on the path to weight loss success, it helps to focus on these minor, personal goals. Setting your own goals is an easy task, but will pay off immensely for your progress. Here are some tips on getting started:
- Write it out. What’s the point of having a goal if you don’t know when you’ve reached it? Writing things down ensures that you keep close track of your goals and have a clear visual reminder of your progress. Find a convenient way to record your goals and the steps you take towards them—anything from a spiral-bound notebook to a smartphone app will do.
- Be realistic. Let’s be honest: no one can go from couch potato to marathon runner in a week; or from fast food fanatic to dedicated dieter in a day. Though you may have high hopes for your progress, setting goals beyond your reach will only frustrate and impede you. Your goals should be personally challenging, but also attainable—this way, your hard-earned successes can encourage you to keep moving forward.
- Delve into every detail. Vague goals won’t do you any good. An assertion to simply “exercise more” won’t pan out if you don’t first think about how exactly you’re going to accomplish the feat. Instead, think about when, where and how long you’ll be doing that exercise, what you’ll need to do it and how much time you’ll need to reach the goal. Then, record every step you take in as much detail as possible: the number of reps you did, the length you walked and even how each step towards your goal made you feel.
Losing weight is about much more than, well, losing weight. Though weight loss surgery will help you slim down, staying focused on all the other reasons to be healthy will help you focus on the finish line.