Long-term and short-term goals

Long-term goals help you focus on the big picture. They can shift your thinking from simply being on a diet to making lifestyle changes. But long-term goals may seem too difficult or too far away. You may benefit from breaking down a long-term goal into a series of smaller, short-term goals.

If your outcome goal is to lose 15 pounds (7 kilograms) in three months, you may break it down into separate goals for each month, perhaps 7 pounds (3 kilograms) for the first month and 4 pounds (2 kilograms) for each of the last two months because early weight loss is often faster. An example of a process goal might be to walk 30 minutes a day. If you currently don't walk regularly at all, you may want to walk 15 minutes a day for two weeks and then add five minutes to your walk each week.