Goal setting!

Losing weight is difficult. Very difficult. It not just a physical thing. Its a mental, emotional, and spiritual endeavor. To lose weight, run a marathon, win a baking contest, or to learn to give a public speach, it is important to set goals. SMART goals are the best. They are SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, RELEVANT, and TIME-BOUND. Smart goals help us become who we want to be!

Specific Goals: For example, the goal to be "skinny". Well what is skinny? Is skinny eating only ice cream but still fitting in a size 3 pants? Probably not, but when the going gets tough, you're going to need a better goal than that.

 Measurable: If your goal is to "be in shape"? That could mean a lot of things, and how do you know when you're there? Its very important to have goals that you can objectively say you've made it or you still have work to do.

Attainable: this one is very important. Are you setting a goal to be in a certain size that would never fit you even if you were starving to death? If so, you're setting yourself up to be disappointed and discouraged. Sometimes this part of setting goals needs to be re-evaluated. If you get going on a goal and just can't make it happen in the allotted time, maybe you need to change it up a bit and try again.

Relevant: Are you setting goals that have nothing to do with what you want to accomplish? Usually this one isn't very difficult, but if you find that your goal won't help you reach your dreams, its time for some alterations. 

Time-bound: All goals need to have a time in which you expect to be finished. Otherwise you keep telling yourself, "Tomorrow I'll start!" Setting goals on time tables also helps you gain a more accurate picture of what it looks like when you're doing your best. 

When we set goals it is very important that they meet this criteria. Goals are not suppose to discourage you or weigh you down. They're suppose to empower you.