Why targets matter
Targets are part of many people’s working lives whether they work in a factory, shop or office. Setting your own realistic targets can help you lose weight.
I’ve never been a fan of target culture. They are often impossible standards set for people to reach and soon as they get within shouting distance of achieving them they’re moved. The target is always moving. You can never achieve what’s expected of you because it’s important to keep you on your toes.
Working mostly from home as a self-employed freelance writer I’m immune from target culture. But I have worked in offices recently and I’ve even taken short-term jobs in a food-processing factory - it would, of course, be food! - and as an online shopper in a supermarket - again with the food. So I’ve been subjected to targets. I know how stressful they can be and how you aren’t really ever supposed to achieve them.
So setting my own target for weight loss within a year was something I knew would be stressful and, yes, I moved the target too! I did that for which I criticise employers and line managers. However when you do it for yourself, when you set your own targets, it’s quite another matter.
Originally I hoped to get to 12.11 (179 pounds/81 kilos) on the anniversary of starting my diet on 1st September, 2020. I didn’t actually start my diet then. That was the day I dared to weigh in to see how bad it was. I was a truly colossal 15 stone 11 pounds (221 pounds/100 kilos). In fact I reckon I probably would’ve tipped the scales quite a bit above that. (I’m five foot six by the way so slightly taller than the average height for a woman).
Well I hit 12.11 way back in June! So the target moved. I’d already hit three stone off. How about going for three and a half? Was this over ambitious? I feared it was. In July I got to 12.8 and there I stayed. And I stayed. I even went up a bit. The horror the horror! I’d hit the dreaded plateau. Maybe I simply couldn’t lose anymore? My body was clinging onto the fat - especially around my middle which for men as well as women is the most dangerous place to store it.
I pressed on. August was a very tough month. I upped the steps I walked and I cut the calories. By the end of the month I was walking around 15,000 steps a day. Vigorously too. Not just a stroll. And going out several times a day. Elite athletes call this doing AMs and PMs, ie going out more than once a day. I was going out at least three times a day. My evening walks were my favourites. I cut my calories to 1350 a day maximum and often ate less than that. I did the 16:8 regime where you only eat for eight hours in every 24. I did this with a delayed breakfast and a late lunch.
It worked. I got there - just! I crashed through the plateau and I lost 49 pounds/22 kilos in 12 months. That’s about the right weight loss for a long-term plan. A pound a week doesn’t sound like much. But over 12 months it’s over three stone. So if you’re struggling with your weight the best advice I can give is please think long term, not short. Look ahead. Think about this time in three months’ time or longer. Think about a year ahead. And what a great feeling it is to see how much you’ve lost in that time. It’s good for you physically of course but, oh boy, is it good for you mentally too! I feel so energised. I’m on a cloud of happiness. Nothing anyone could give me can beat the feeling of setting out to do something good for me and getting there.
My next target is going to be much more gentle and kinder. All I want now is to crack 12 stone this year. So just five pounds off before Christmas. It’s getting much harder to lose it now. But I do still need to lose it. To get to the right BMI for my age, height and sex. To do that I need to drop at least another stone/14 pounds/6 kilos. That won’t happen till next year but it WILL happen. However long it takes, I’m going for four and a half stone. Targets you set yourself and then achieve are fabulous. Just keep them realistic.