How do most of you set your goals? I have my goal weight of 120, my weight in high school and college, which may or may not be realistic at my age. I want to lose in a healthy and responsible way, so my goal is to average 2 - 3 pounds per week. I've seen posts where people are saying they want to be X weight by Thanksgiving or Y weight by Christmas. Is that realistic? Doesn't that put pressure on oneself and if a plataeu is reached cause anxiety?

I have my long term goal which is to make my goal weight by my band anniversary. I am on track to do just that.

I also set short term goals for myself, which is no less than 10 pounds a month loss....I will be thrilled with this.

If you have a lot to loose, short time goals can be helpful. The thought of trying to loose 140 pounds is unthinkable to me. If I set a short term goal of 10 pounds this month, then I'm less apt to be frustrated. Also, you might try giving yourself a reward at those short term goal successes. Nothing too big or expensive.

When I set short term goals, i figure about 2 lbs a week and set a goal from there. That way there are stepping stones along the way. I hope to be 205 by valentines day and then I will probably set a goal of 198 for St Paddy's day. It keeps things more interesting!

The idea of goal setting is to see success regularly. By setting smaller goals more often you are much more likely to keep going. Nothing like setting a goal of say 5 kilo (10 pound) and achieving it. Gives you incentive to reach the next goal.

I have a long term goal of 160(which I may be able to get lower than that which would be awesome), I aim a bit higher to avoid disappointment in myself.

When I started all of this even losing 75 lbs would feel like a daunting task. By setting small goals I give myself extra time to make them and realize that if I dont make my goal by a certain date thats okay too. But it gives me something to look forward to and aim for. Over the holidays this year I was very focused on getting to my goal and turned down a lot of sweets because I knew January was just around the corner.

I don't set time limits on my mini goals for the most part. I hit long plateaus with or without giving myself time limits, so it's hard for me to control that, and I feel like a failure if I miss a goal like that.

I have lots of mini goals, but they don't have time limits. I did gain a little over the holidays so I'm actually about 10 lbs from my 195 I have listed in my sig. So I need to get back to that, and then my next mini goal is 180, which is 100lbs total lost. While I'd like to be at my 180 goal by my Birthday at the end of March, I'm not setting a "Deadline".

I don't set formal "goals" really. Just always looking for that next new number ending in 9 on the scale. The 4s are fun too.

I agree that it can leave you frustrated to say "I want to lose 20lbs by X" and then that day comes and you've lost 18 and you've failed. It's hard to focus on the fact that you lost 18 pounds!