Get SMART: How to Stay Motivated to Lose Weight

Raise your hand if any of the following has ever applied to you:

The exercise equipment you were so excited about purchasing from that infomercial arrived with fanfare, only to be banished to the basement or garage six months later in its original packaging. Later still, it became a high-ticket item for your annual yard sale.

You promised yourself that you’d start a weight loss and exercise program at the start of the New Year, but life kept getting in the way and by the time swimsuit season rolled around you weighed more than before.

You swore off of fast food forever…except for Saturday night take-out delivery, during weekday lunch hours that are reduced to 15 minutes through no fault of your own and, of course, ‘special occasions,’ like whenever you’re feeling down, tired, irritable, or the that the price of your favorite fruits and vegetables is a gastronomic injustice.

Okay. You can put your hands down now. Chances are most of us would have arms flailing over our heads having lived through at least one of the above scenarios. So, know that you’re not alone. But, you can also take comfort knowing that you can prevent backpedaling on your weight loss goals by learning to walk your talk in small steps. To that end, the very first step is to become SMART about setting goals.

SMART is an acronym that stands for ‘Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reward and Timely.’ It’s a tool to help you make realistic goals that can be accomplished in a reasonable manner and timeframe. Here’s how you can put the steps in SMART to work for you…

Step One: Specific. Committing yourself to a specific goal is much more likely to result in success than a vague one. For instance, compare these two goal-setting statements: “Lose some weight” or “Exercise three times a week.”

Step Two: Measurable. How will you measure your progress? Some sample methods might be a displaying a wall chart, keeping a diet journal, or simply asking yourself how you feel once a week on a score of 1-10. By determining how your expectations can be measured, each small achievement will help you stay on track toward your specific goal.

Step Three: Attainable. This goes hand-in-hand with Step Two. When you track your progress over a period of time and acknowledge that your final destination is a process, then your specific goal no longer seems out of reach.

Step Four: Realistic. If you honestly believe that your specific goal can be achieved because you’re willing (and able) to do the work to get there, then you’ll know that your goal is realistic.

Step Five: Timely. You specific goal should be governed by a defined timeline in which to accomplish it. That way, you can replace “Lose 10 pounds someday” with “Lose 10 pounds by September 1st.”

Follow these tips for weight loss and you'll be on your way to shedding the pounds and keeping them off--the smart way.