All The Reasons Having A Goal Weight Is Foolish - Page 14
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“I’m trying to get to my goal weight by next month,” “I’m not going on vacation until I reach my goal weight,” “I’m not allowed to eat carbs again until I reach my goal weight.” You’ve probably heard all of these sentences and others from your friends trying to lose weight. Maybe you’re the one who uttered these words. Goals are wonderful things to have in life. They give you a sense of purpose, give you something to work toward, and give you a chance to challenge yourself. But weight and fitness goals should sound more like, “I will work out four days a week, even if it’s just a little” or “I won’t buy foods with lots of chemicals that make me feel icky.” The words “goal” and “weight,” however, don’t really fit together and here is why.
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It will just move again
You’ll see or maybe you already have seen that the second you reach that goal weight, you develop a new goal weight and so on and so on. You’re chasing a finish line that keeps moving.
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Your weight changes daily
Your weight may fluctuate five pounds every week due to water retention, what you ate that day and many other factors. It’s too easy to feel you’ve hit your goal weight one day and lost it the next.
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Your goal weight is probably wrong
Most people’s goal weights are not very healthy. Have you spoken to a nutritionist? Have you calculated what your healthy weight range is for your height and age? Your goal weight may be below that, which is why it’s so hard to reach it—you need to go hungry to get there, and that’s not good!
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You put too much pressure on the big day
If you have a goal weight, you likely have a lot of ideas about the ways life will be different when you reach it. You’ll meet the man of your dreams; you’ll get a modeling job, women will be jealous of you, etc. But if those things don’t happen, then your goal weight can be rather disappointing.
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Your goals should be daily
If you’re all about that goal weight, and you’re months away from hitting it, then you don’t allow yourself to feel rewarded every day. But you should! Because you do great things every day, like run a little further, eat one less piece of candy, and drink more water.
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You’ll go on a shopping spree
You know it’s true; once you hit that goal weight, you’ll believe you deserve an entirely new wardrobe. So you’ll buy clothes that fit you snugly at that weight, and barely be able to wear them most days when you put on one pound or a little water weight.
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Because it’s annoying
Seriously; your friends don’t want to hear about your goal weight anymore. They probably think you look gorgeous just the way you are and that you sound ungrateful.
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You’ll become impatient
People rarely set realistic timelines for when they want to reach their goal weight. And, so, when they don’t reach it in time, they feel like failures and totally neglect to acknowledge all of the progress they have made.
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Scales cannot be counted on
Does a scale know that you haven’t pooped today yet? Does a scale know you’re wearing a coat that weighs three pounds and pants that weigh two? Is that scale even perfectly calibrated? A few tiny factors can make a scale several pounds off, making it hard to ever really know if you’re at your goal weight.
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You won’t be happy until then
When you fixate on a goal weight, you hardly allow yourself to be happy until you reach it. You get it in your head that happiness is on the other side of that goal weight when that’s simply not true; happiness is right here, right now!
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You’ll compare
If you have a goal weight, you’ll inevitably compare your goal weight to your friend’s goal weight, and if hers is less than yours, you’ll feel inadequate.
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You’ll miss out on life
A lot of people don’t allow themselves to do certain things like date or travel until they’ve reached their goal weight. That’s a shame because those things aren’t going to wait for you.
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Just do what feels good
A diet that makes you feel energized and healthy, plus a diet regiment that you feel proud of, may not result in your goal weight. But it would be silly to alter either of those considering how happy they make you, just to reach a goal weight that’s a few pounds away.
