Goals

So I don't talk about my goal weight a lot. And that's kind of because I don't have one. When I had to do the psych evaluation for my insurance requirement prior to surgery, the psychologist asked me what my goal weight was. And I admitted that of course I didn't have one. You can't fail if you don't have a goal. Am I right?

Well, at some point, the clinic chose a goal weight for me, because it appears on some of my paperwork. They selected 169 pounds, which isn't overly aggressive, but is also a foreign number that I'm not able to imagine myself at in any way. I have no idea how I feel about that number. The only thing that comes to mind when I think about 169 pounds is that the lap band statistics say the average weight loss with the band is 50% of your excess weight. Right now, I am about halfway between 281 and 169 pounds. If that isn't terrifying, I don't know what is.

Those are some of the reasons that I prefer to work with short term goals. Every ten pounds lost is a mini victory. Every time I reach a nice round number, like 50 pounds lost, 60 pounds lost, is a victory. My most immediate goal is to weigh less than my husband. I've never weighed less than him in the time we've been together. When we met in college, he was at his leanest and most fit, and I was carrying the freshmen 15 (plus whatever the sophomore aquires). Since then, we've both put on some weight, definitely more so in my case. But I'm thinking I'll catch up to him in the next 4-6 weeks. (Unless he loses a few pounds on a whim. MEN, UGH.)

The next goal after that, is to weigh less than 200. I was hoping to make it by June 8, which would be the anniversary of my lapband consultation, and when I first started losing weight. That would mean 80 pounds lost in the last year. Considering how my weight loss has slowed, I don't know if I'll make it by that date, but it's still my second mini goal.

After that, maybe my next goal will be to make it to 181 pounds, which would make 100 pounds lost. Even that number seems a bit far away right now. But losing 100 pounds would be pretty damn substantial, even if it's not my goal weight. Then? I guess I'll see how I feel. I'll have some new short term goals by then. One of them may be to make it to "goal weight" or not. Maybe 181 will feel more like me than 169 pounds would. But even if I never make it to 169 pounds, I will have achieved many small goals along the way. And I feel okay about that.