Map

You probably wouldn't consider taking a long road trip without checking some sort of a map that showed where you were headed, and carefully planning out the best route. The same goes for weight loss. Before beginning you need to have concrete goals in mind and at least a partial plan in place of how you intend to achieve those goals. Goals are very individual so it's impossible for me to tell you what to strive for or the exact route to take. So much depends on your current fitness level and your personal likes and dislikes. We will talk more about specific ideas later on, but for today I'm keeping it general and leaving it to you to tap your own brain and heart. It could be a weight on the scale. Or a lower dress size. Or to improve your blood pressure. Or a smaller waist measurement. Or all/none of the above. It is completely up to you how many goals to set or what they will be. This is YOUR journey so you get to choose your own destination. But it's important that the goals be both specific and realistic. They need to be easily measurable (something like "look better" for instance is too general and far too subjective). They need to be trackable too so you can watch your progress happening over time and pat yourself on the back along the way for each little victory.  Take some time to ponder on what is most important to YOU. Not what goals you think you SHOULD shoot for. But really what matters most inside to you personally. What will motivate you to do the hard work ahead? What will make the sweat and effort worth it? Then I want you to close your eyes and picture yourself exactly how you will look and feel after you have reached the goal. What will you be wearing? What activities will you be able to do that elude you currently? Whatever your finish line is see yourself in your mind as already having crossed it. Feel how you will feel. This will be an important vision to recall and draw strength from going forward so make it as real  as you possibly can. Embrace it!!! Put your goals in writing as a firm commitment to yourself, but also remember to be flexible as you go along if they need to be altered.  I realized that some of my goals were not too realistic after I got started, and others I ended up surpassing by far. Don't worry too much about that today though. Just do your best to decide where you want to go, and then brainstorm as many ideas as you can on how to get there. Have fun with this. Nothing is set in stone so don't obsess too much. But do try to get as clear of a picture as you can of what you want and have a few ideas in your head of how to get started.