Short term and long term goals are essential to have in life, but there are right and wrong type of goals. Today we're gonna break them down.
Many folks when being asked "why are you trying to lose weight?" they might answer something like "I've got a wedding to go to in 2 months".
Now that's a short term goal. The problem with this goal is 2-fold:
- They probably won't be able to lose the weight on time in a healthy manner, so they end up starving themselves (aka: making themselves sick) to meet the deadline.
- Once the event is over some don't see a reason to continue, so they just bounce back to the old unhealthy habits, this time with a binge because, well... point 1 above.
A good short term goal for me would be something like "I want to be able to do a pull up". That way when I do reach my goal I'll be able to say "ok now I want to be able to do an L-sit pull up or a chin up" or a muscle up next and so forth. A goal that leads to the next goal. A goal that requires a certain type and amount of physical movement from me.
Another one would be something like "eat at least 1 serving of vegetables and fruits every single day, once a day or with every meal". And no french fries don't count, sorry. Well, unless they are homemade, without excess salt, without frying oil, oven baked, whatever.
That's a good goal. It requires me to stock up on veggies and fruits, and have a fruit or a carrot as a dessert, and the veggies as a side-dish with my fish, chicken, as a main course, in a wrap, whatever I feel like eating. Filling, nutritious, low calorie.
Short term goals should be small steps that lead you to improve your habits for life.
Now don't fall into the trap of making a goal like "I want to be able to do 300 push ups in a day by the end of this week" "or lift x amount of weight by the end of this month" or take up some really stupid challenges (like putting on a shirt while doing a handstand pushup when you haven't even done the normal pushup in your life!).
Deadlines like these will only add stress to your regimen, and can even cause injury. Because if you feel you can't reach that rep goal in proper form on time, you start half-assing your reps. Then you won't even be hitting the right muscles, so what's the point of all the volume? Cardio??? If you want, keep the reps number in your goal, but get rid of the deadline.
How old are you anyways that you can't give it another 2 (or 12) months out of your life to get where you want to be, safely and efficiently?
Long term goals are usually more reasonable: "I want to prevent (or cure) certain illnesses" (that's actually one of my goals), "I want to walk up the stairs without panting", "I want to live a long life", "I want to be healthy so I can be the best I can be with my family, perform better at work etc".
But there are some unhealthy long term goals as well. One of them would be "so people stop making fun of my weight" or "to look good for my partner".
Let's get one thing straight here: You're doing this for YOU, NOT for them!
Making a career choice that ends in a job you really really hate, just to please your parents? Unhealthy, and sorry for being brutally honest (or is that honestly brutal? 🤔) they won't be here forever.
Those people that call you fat or ugly? They'll find something else to pick on once that is out of the picture. I mean take a look at all the reactions when Adele lost the weight! 🙄
There will always be someone with a nasty comment, and it won't be limited to weight. But the good thing is... It doesn't matter what they think. They don't matter.
So get them out of your head. As far as you're concerned, they don't exist. Don't waste RAM and storage on your brain for those people.
You can't please everyone, so be healthy because you want to be, because it's the right thing to do, to improve YOUR quality of life, not because of how others see you.