Aug 14, 2008

Weight Watchers Week Four: The Power of the Mini-Goal

I didn't start out intending to give weekly updates on how Weight Watchers is going for me, but I seem to make a discovery each week that's worth sharing. For instance, I realized this week that one reason Weight Watchers is really working for me is that I can set as many mini-goals as I want, and it's easy to track my progress.

For example, every day, I aim to stay within my daily points allotment and I aim to earn some activity points. I also have weekly goals for total activity points and leftover weekly points allowance. (The way the Flex plan works, you get a daily Points allowance and 35 weekly points that you can "spend" any way you'd like, but I try not to eat all of the weekly points.) I do try to eat all of my daily points, including any earned activity points, so that my body doesn't go into starvation mode, but I figure I'll lose weight all the faster if I eat as few weekly points as possible.

The Weight Watchers E-Tools function has a daily check list for glasses of water, fruit and veggie servings, dairy servings, multivitamin, healthy oils and activity. When you reach your daily goal, it gives you a happy face, and I try to get that happy face in all categories every day. (The dairy and healthy oils are my weak points - I love both, but I end up not eating them since they tend to be somewhat high in points.)

All of this has made me realize the importance of mini goals and their power to help me achieve larger goals. My main goal is to get down to my goal weight but I don't really focus on that final number on a daily basis. Instead, my focus is on whether I am achieving my mini goals and whether my weight is decreasing on a weekly basis. And of course, continued success in achieving my mini goals will result in the overall achievement of my main goal.

Most importantly, however, I can see how the power of mini goals applies to all areas of my life. And it probably applies to your life, too. If there's something you've been wanting to achieve, try breaking it down into daily mini goals. I bet you'll see some amazing progress before you know it!

What about you? Have you had success with mini goals?

5 comments:

Dr. Mom said...

Mini goals really worked for me. I had finished all my graduate classes for my doctorate but had yet to write "the paper". Three months go by and I still had not put any words down. So I decided that my mini goal was to do something - anything at least once a day and to record what I did on my Outlook post-it note. Some days it was adding a period or correcting a misspelled word, others it was writing a few pages. Six months of this goes by and I finally finished and graduated!

Anonymous said...

You said you don't want to eat all your weekly points, just be careful eating enough. One mistake people makes while trying to loose weight fast, is not eating enough. This causes the body to react and increase the "craving factor". It also causes you to gain weight faster when you don't pay attention...

Denise Mall said...

The more you feed me of WW info, the more I want to try this route.

By the way, you have been nominated!

http://www.dedicated2financialfreedom.com/2008/08/everyone-needs-friends.html

Andrea said...

I've been doing WW for over a year now and really like the program. My leader has said getting the oils is important because when you're dieting you're mostly getting low-fat or no-fat versions of foods. The oils give you the fat you need and can reduce cravings. Good luck on the program. I love reading your blog.

Chief Family Officer said...

@ Dr Mom - Good for you! And congrats on your degree!

@Serge - You're absolutely right, that's why I make sure I eat all of my daily points!

@Dedicated - Thanks!

@Andrea - Thank you for your kind words! I'll keep that advice in mind.