Set a weight goal that works for YOU

Reach your magic number by breaking your goal into manageable chunks

By Weight Watchers

Published 8 February 2022

Try this!

Do you have grand plans for losing weight? A magic number you want to reach? Here’s how to break that (probably pretty overwhelming) number down into “Oh wait, that’s doable!” steps.

1. Make sure your goal is safe and sustainable. We’re talking 1 to 2 pounds per week. (You might lose more at first, which is OK.) 2. Have a goal that’s realistic to you. Going on vacation or have another life event coming up? You might want to put your weight loss on pause for a minute. Just factor that into planning how much time you’ll need to reach your ultimate number. 3. Set a smaller goal to focus on now. You’re more likely to reach milestones when there’s a shorter distance to get there. Instead of thinking about your end goal, focus on what you’re going to do this week to get there. 4. Check in with yourself. How are you doing with that smaller goal? Is it working? If not, think about what’s getting in your way and what you could do to make changes.

Let’s dive a little deeper...

It’s normal to have dream digits you want to see on the scale. But you don’t have to tackle it all at once.

Think of it this way, would you ever run a marathon on the first go? Probably not. You’d break those 26.2 miles down into smaller runs that would eventually add up to the full deal.

That’s because whether you want to lose 50 pounds or run a marathon, you’re thinking about an outcome goal - an ultimate destination that might take time to accomplish. At WW, we’re helping you figure out the path to getting there by setting smaller, behavioural goals that won’t leave you obsessing about the future. (Something that can lead to feeling discouraged.) By breaking your goals into those smaller steps, we can focus on what’s doable in the here and now.

Week four of our monthly theme, Embrace Now.