This is the first in our new series The Goal Setting Diaries. The Goal Setting Diaries is a group-think project similar to the sex diaries and the money diaries. Real stories from real people who want to achieve a goal. This is a diary from Carol, do you see any tips you can give her? Post them in the comments below. P.S. She was awarded a free copy of Achieve-IT! goal setting software for submitting her goal diary. You can get the same if you submit yours and I post it on this site or in my newsletter read the FAQ for more information.
The goal: My goal is to lose 20 pounds. I started at 180 pounds and want to get down to 160 or below. I am 35 years old single woman.
Sunday
Started out well. Had a good breakfast of two boiled eggs and some toast and strawberry jam. In the past, I haven’t eaten breakfast a lot, but they say to eat it if you want to lose weight. Had a cheese sandwich for lunch, cleaned my kitchen. Got bored, popped some popcorn and watched TV. Eventually, guilted myself into going to the gym to work out. Had hamburger helper for dinner.
Monday
I hate Mondays. I had a bowl of Basic 4 cereal and after I finished, there was some milk left so I poured more cereal in the bowl. It was busy as hell as most Mondays are. Went to lunch with a friend from work. It was her turn to choose so we ended up at the Deli. I thought about having the salad. “Yawn” I had the burger instead with chips on the side. I didn’t have anything else to eat until dinner. I felt guilty for what I ate for lunch and wanted to be good. So I had a can of tuna and some Rice-A-Roni (not the whole box, thank you.) Watched Greys Anatomy on my DVR as I ate. I didn’t work out.
Tuesday
Woke up and hit the snooze button 3 times. It made me too late to make myself breakfast. Decided I’d stop at Starbucks and get something. Picked up a Grande Mocha Latte and saw Starbucks new Oatmeal advertised on the counter. It looked healthy, but too messy for the car. I went for a bagel instead.
At work, people kept stopping by my desk and interrupting me. At least it wasn’t Monday. Got shaky around 11A.M. from the caffeine. And I feel a little nauseous.
Went to lunch with friend again at the deli downstairs. Had an egg salad sandwich on Whole Wheat and a side of carrot sticks. (that’s healthy right?)
But a dumb co-worker brought in a cake for no reason. I couldn’t resist, so I had a big piece. Got tired at work and dragged myself home. Thought about going to the gym, but I was too tired. Took a nap.
Wednesday
Wednesday – I had a small bowl of Basic 4 cereal and coffee for breakfast. Work was an average Wednesday. A lot less busy than Monday or Tuesday.
I brought my lunch today and surfed the Net as I ate. Had Peanut Butter and Jelly on white bread and a bag of Lays light potato chips. Felt good about saving money and eating lighter than if I had gone out. Had some trail mix as an afternoon snack and talked to Tom (guy I met online.) We are going out Friday night.
For dinner all I had was two packages of Top Ramen noodles with green peas stirred in.
I was starving an hour later so ate a Chocolate marshmallow Cliff bar as a snack.
Thursday
Thursday – Skipped breakfast, with the exception of coffee. Started feeling sick around 10 so I ate some trail mix. It didn’t do much to calm my stomach. Started getting a headache.
Drove up to Subway and had a full Subway club for lunch with lettuce, tomato, onions, peppers, olives and light ranch dressing on white bread no chips and water to drink.
Didn’t go to gym today, but I started to feel guilty so I put on some sneakers and sweat pants and did some fast walking through the neighborhood (about 15 minutes). Back home did 30 situps while watching Entertainment Tonight.
Dinner, had 1/3 a box of spaghetti with Ragu sauce and 1 piece of white bread with butter. Felt full afterwards but during sitcoms, I ate 3 Chips Ahoy cookies (normally I’d eat 4) and 1/4 cup of 2% milk.
Friday
Woke up late again, but it’s Friday! Went to Starbucks and got a regular grande coffee and a scone. Lazy at work, I didn’t do much except surf the Internet. Went for Japanese with a group from work. Had the teriaki chicken with rice and vegetables. It was a lot of food. Took half of it to go for later.
Tonight is my big date with Tom. We went to Fridays and split an appetiser of potato skins. He’s a computer engineer and two years younger than me. I guess that makes me a cougar. 
I had the Chicken Ceasar salad and 1 glass of chardonnay. He bought dinner, even though I offered to pay for mine.
Afterwards, we went to see the Batman movie (I paid because I didn’t want to be obligated.) Great movie!
Tom and I will see each other again, so it’s been a good day!
Saturday
I slept through breakfast and woke up at 11. Had a lunch of a bagel with cream cheese and some orange juice. Popped some microwave popcorn for a snack at 2 and then went to the gym at 2:30.
I knew I’d be splurging for dinner so I wanted to offset it with gym time. Speed walked the treadmill for 20 minutes. Then did some weights for 10 minutes.
Tom called me around 4. We had a light conversation and decided to go out again next week. My turn to pick the place. I’ll probably call him tomorrow to set up.
Met my friends at Red Lobster for dinner. Had the Crab fettuccini which came with a salad. I ate the salad and 3 biscuits. I had 2 glasses of chardonnay to drink and a piece of chocolate cake for dessert.
Felt sick afterwards. Why do I do this to myself?
{ 8 comments }
This seems like a very reasonable and achievable goal. What might help the process along is to include a statement describing HOW the goal will be achieved. For example: My goal is to lose 20 pounds BY eating lean meats, whole grains, fruits & veggies, etc.; by preparing lunches the night before, and by exercising 30 minutes per day on four days. Or something along those lines.
Next, I suggest looking at each day’s results and figuring out what worked well, what didn’t work so well, and how to correct any problems. Daily review can prevent a small slip from eventually blocking all progress. For one example, upon realizing that it was all too easy to over-do on the cereal, she might have decided to portion out her daily servings in individual baggies. This would also have helped on those mornings when she overslept. She could’ve just grabbed her daily serving on her way out the door.
Finally, a little time spent reading about nutrition and food content would help in making decisions. The choices are endless and often confusing. Knowing the better foods to choose for satiety and for energy (to fuel the exercise goal) will help make the goal more realizable.
Good luck! It’s a good start!
There is no time frame set for achieving the goal
It helps to when end is known & insight
Also a written commitment to self with all fine details like goal,time frame ,with output thats measurable would help a lot .
I certainly relate to this goal. This all seems so familiar. Wish I could answer your question–why do I do this. I’ll be watching the progress, and may try this myself. Judy
You might want to check out _The Beck DIET solution_ by Judith S. Beck – it’s a cognitive therapy approach to dieting. The book does not provide a diet – you have to do that (in fact, you have to choose 2 diets / eating plans). This book leads you through a series of steps to teach you the skills and ways to think about dieting that will tend to lead to success.
I think just working out for a day won’t work. You need to go for work out at least 4 times in a week. Its not about one followed the schedule its about achieving the goal. And to achieve the goal one needs to work for that. Planning is very important to achieve anything. You should keep the planner to schedule your things, you want to do in life.
Try to limit calories. Eat frequently and eat less. Workout is preferable but not essential. Check out my weight loss blog.
BTW: There is a German sentence in this comment form. Should it be like that?
Try working out in the morning, a 20 minutes power walk around your neighborhood would do. You’ll get it done, feel good about making progress in your goal and it will give you energy for the rest of the day.
Good luck!
instead of asking this question Why do I do this to myself?
DO YOU LOVE YOURSELF
first find the answer for this question,once you know that you love yourself then automatically you will find the answer for the other question .
start LOVING AND LIVING for yourself ,And then LIVE A HEALTHY LIFE .
then start worrying why i cant do this and that .
you are the better MASTER mind of yourself .
at first everyone cannot do things as planned so start organizing it and then get into action ,rather then jumping into conclusion .
so instead of asking us you BETTER start working on what is required and what not.
that’s all
you will definitely reach your goal as planned.
ALL THE BEST.