Goal setting without using the word "pounds"

I don't have any research to back this up, but I would say a significant portion the of health and fitness goals people make start this way: "I want to lose x pounds by x date."  In my experience, weight loss goals are frequently triggered by an event: New Year's, a vacation,  seeing a friend or family member lose weight, weighing yourself for the first time in months, or even watching an episode of the Biggest Loser. But once the thought of making a change occurs to you, it's important to get down to the nitty gritty. Just saying "I want to lose 20 pounds," or "I want to get healthy," isn't enough. How are you going to do it? What will you eat? How often will you work out? Will you follow a specific diet plan or do it on your own?

The over arching goal needs to have smaller goals (in a PR plan we'd call them objectives) that will get you there. Not only will this provide a specific plan, it will create positive reinforcement along the way. While it might take you a few months to lose 20 pounds, setting a goal like "eat at least 4 servings of vegetables a day" is something you can work on and feel a sense of accomplishment with every single day. And it will fit in to the overarching goal of weight loss or better health.

For me personally, this hit home when I decided to start running. I signed up for a race and began the training program, focused on my goal of getting through a 13 mile trek without passing out rather than on losing 20 pounds. A training program gave me small goals along the way, and I had small victories every time I completed the day's running assignment. As a welcome side affect, I lost 20 pounds. If I would have weighed myself daily and measured my success only on the scale, I probably would have quit. As we all know, the scale fluctuates wildly day to day, and I definitely put on muscle throughout my training which would have added weight. But as I completed 5, 6, and 7 mile runs, I didn't really care much at all about the scale because I knew I was making progress and meeting my smaller goals. So, I would challenge everyone to set small, measurable and attainable goals that will give you a sense of satisfaction along the way. Set a bunch in fact. Drink more water, do 30 minutes of some physical activity, eat less sodium ....chances are you'll be able to accomplish at least one or two a day to give you that sense of accomplishment we all need to keep going. And if you don't, tomorrow is another day!