Milestones: The Key to Weight-Loss Success

If you ask successful people how they achieve so much, many will tell you that the secret is to break your goals down into smaller, less intimidating steps. When you're going after a degree, for example, you work toward the next term paper, not toward the graduation ceremony. Sure, you dream of the day you'll wear that cap and gown, but your immediate attention is on what's next.

It's smart to look at weight loss in the same way. The temptation to obsess over your ultimate weight goal is strong, especially when you're excited about the prospect of being slim and healthy. But that can make the slow and steady pace it takes to get there feel frustrating. Better to break your goals down into chunks — then you can congratulate yourself as you meet each milestone. And there's no better inspiration than success.

Celebrate Small Achievements It's important to break overarching goals into smaller ones, because the big ones are going to seem overwhelming if you don't meet them right away. Setting milestones and recognizing when you meet them lets you reward yourself for small changes. It helps you pat yourself on the back. After all, why put off rewarding yourself until months down the road? Celebrating milestones allows you to experience success. It's encouraging and is positive reinforcement. It means “I can do this, I am doing this." And that feels much better than "I haven't done it yet."

One effective way to make your ultimate goal less overwhelming is to visualize and write down your first step, then your second, and so on, to plot your path ahead of time. Then every step can be a milestone!

Three Major Milestones Your journey is about you, and the milestones you set should reflect your challenges and successes. Members of the Weight Watchers community share a few common goal posts, though. Here's what they say about them, plus some tips and warnings for each.

Milestone: 10% of original weight lost. "Hitting my first 10 percent was such a great feeling," says Ann. "Everything about that goal felt good; I was down at least one clothing size, people were noticing, etc." Reasons to pat yourself on the back: Studies show that losing 10 percent of your original weight has incredible health benefits — lower cholesterol and blood pressure, decreased risk for type-2 diabetes, and more. Plus, losing 10 percent shows that you're capable of doing this. "If you can do 10 percent," says Raha, "you can do another 10 percent." Things to watch out for: "The closer I get to goal, the harder it has become," says Ann. "I'm still a good 11 pounds away from my ultimate weight goal, but the weight is coming off much slower!"

Milestone: Halfway there. "I'm at the halfway mark and I'm getting compliments left, right and center … but I'm starting to struggle," says one community user. "Now I have to remember what my big goal is and head to that." Reasons to pat yourself on the back: Look at what you've done so far! "Every time you reach a milestone you're that much closer to your goal," says Raha. Things to watch out for: "About halfway through my weight loss, I had to restructure the foods I was eating in order to continue losing," says another Community user. "But I'm happy to say things are on the right track now!"

Milestone: 10 pounds to go. "When I made it to 10 pounds away from my weight goal, I just really wanted to get there," says Tiffany. "I played with the idea of staying 10 pounds above it, saying 'You've gone down 4 sizes and that's great.' But I didn't — I kept [tracking my food intake] and waiting." Reasons to pat yourself on the back: "When you get this close to your final weight goal, you can really see clearly how you've progressed," says Raha. You've come a long way! Things to watch out for: "It was taking me a lot longer to lose the last 10. I realized my physical activity wasn't really there, though, so now I've incorporated walking into my evening after work," Tiffany adds.