Even the most earnest individuals who genuinely want to lose weight can fall into the trap of expecting to lose too much weight, too quickly. This mistake can diminish their capacity to stay on a calories loss diet and doom their chances for a long term, healthy weight loss. Anyone aiming to lose weight and keep it off needs to understand how to set goals that are achievable as these are at the heart of successful weight loss.

The rate of weight loss is considered by doctors and others in this field to be approximately 1-2 pounds each week. These may not seem much but it is sufficient for your body to accommodate your weight loss and remain healthy and it is also enough to continue to lose weight over an extended period of time. Aiming for a weight loss greater than this will see you needing to make drastic cuts to your calories loss diet that may not be sustained and may also see you quitting your quest for a slimmer, healthier body and life.

Lower your expectations because losing one to two pounds per week is healthy and if you weigh yourself at the end of the week and you have only lost one or two pounds, do not consider that a failure because it is not. Congratulate yourself on sticking to your calories loss diet, losing that weight and focus on losing another one to two pounds the next week. If you celebrate each pound lost you will be motivated to keep losing weight and you will be losing weight in a healthy way with far greater prospects of keeping it off.

Percentage weight loss of your body weight instead of pounds alone, means that you will avoid aiming for a pre-determined weight loss and give up if you do not appear to reach it. If you are carrying excess pounds now, it is likely that losing around 10-20% of your total weight is worth aiming for to reach a healthy weight. By losing 20-40 pounds a 200 pound person who is overweight is far more likely to reach a healthy weight than one who was calculated a set weight loss because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Measure your weight loss in different ways to see the full impact of healthy eating and exercise on your body shape and include in your goals these different ways of charting your weight loss. The measurements you read on your scales do reflect your weight loss but so does the size of your waist, your hips and your chest. Sometimes you will find the loss of your body mass plateaus for a time but your body measurements continue to diminish so make sure both of these forms of measurement are part of your goals.

Do the math because if you want to lose 25 pounds and you know that a safe weight loss rate is 2 pounds per week then you need to plan on taking 12 to 14 weeks to lose this weight. In the beginning it might make it seem more difficult to lose weight, but if you have a realistic expectation of how long it will take to lose the amount of weight that you want to shed, it will help you remain focused and stay on your calories loss diet. Weight loss goals that are 'short and furious' generally go out with a bang soon after they have been set.

To reach your 1-2 pound weight loss goal each week you need to reduce your daily calorie intake each day by around 500. To gauge this, use a calories counter and this will enable you to calculate a balanced menu that includes a range of foods from each of the major food groups. To lose weight the numbers need to stack up so knowing how many calories you consume and how many you use are the central numbers around which you should plan your calories loss menu and your exercise.

Create goals that can be achieved soon but remain focused on the ultimate goal and reflect this determination in your calories loss eating habits and your exercise program. Always include opportunities for the celebration of your weight loss successes along the way and reward yourself with special treats like clothes, CD's, or even a night out somewhere special. Use these rewards as incentives to continue losing weight and always keep looking ahead at the final goal - the new you.