How to Create a Realistic Weight-Loss Goal — and Achieve It

If you've ever thought, "I want to lose weight, but I don't have the discipline," then you're certainly not alone. But while losing weight does require commitment, you don't need Olympic athlete-level discipline to succeed — all you really need are specific goals and smart planning.

Read more:13 Sneaky Weight-Loss Hacks You Probably Haven't Heard Before

为减肥成功设定自己的成功始于设置一个现实的长期目标。无论你可能有多少动力，争取不切实际的结果可能会让你感到持续沮丧。但是，如果您考虑过您的日常生活，您可以设置Doable，渐进目标，并沿途庆祝小胜利。

While it can be easy to get overeager when it comes to goal-setting, consider mapping out your goals in a SMART format, recommends the梅奥诊所. This includes setting goals that are:

• Specific:Pick a specific goal weight, ideally based on conversations with your doctor or another health care professional.
• Measurable:Measure your goal in numbers. What is the precise amount of pounds you plan to lose?
• Attainable:考虑你的日常生活和起点。并记住，健康和可持续的减肥率为每周1至2磅。
• 相关：Set goals that will help you improve specific aspects of your health, or relate to a future life event.
• Time-limited:Give yourself arealistic timeframeto achieve your goal.
  

Once you've set a long-term SMART goal, you can pad your weight-loss plan with numerous daily, weekly and monthly benchmarks, advises the Mayo Clinic. Meeting your short-term goals may require some added resources and planning but will ultimately lead to overall success.

First, break down your overarching goal into several smaller timeframes (often, this is a monthly marker). For example, if your goal is to lose 20 pounds in four months, your first shorter-term goal may be to lose 5 pounds each month. Then you can break it down further and calculate how much you need to lose each week to achieve your monthly mark. For 20 pounds, this is a weight-loss rate of 1.25 pounds per week.

Finally, when you get to the daily goal level, you can set up a day-to-day calorie deficit, meaning you burn more calories than you consume. You can create that deficit by reducing your calorie intake, burning more calories through exercise or a combination of both.

While your deficit will depend on your starting point and overall goal, it is generally safe to cut between 500 to 1,000 calories per day, according to the梅奥诊所. If losing a pound per week is your goal, then cutting and/or burning 500 calories per day will get you there (keep in mind that there's一磅的脂肪大约3500卡路里). Pick an amount that's sustainable for you for long-term success.

利用各种减肥资源也将帮助您保持动力和轨道。使用数字食品期刊或跟踪应用程序，如LIVESTRONG.com's MyPlate, to stay on top of your daily food intake.

Also consider setting various exercise goals by teaming up with aworkout partner或注册锻炼类，这两者都可以帮助您阻止您对您所开放的方式负责。

Motivation and discipline will certainly help bring you closer to your goals. But ultimately, a strategic, well-composed plan is the key to helping you lose weight — andkeeping it off!