What Do I Do Once I Reach My Goal?

So, you’ve put the effort in, you’ve ridden the waves of weight loss ups and downs, and you’ve achieved your health and weight goals… 

Congratulations! That is a truly amazing achievement! Please make sure you acknowledge yourself and savour this!

It’s really important any time you achieve a goal, no matter how big or small, that you do take the time to acknowledge yourself, and celebrate, rather than shifting your focus to the next goal, because otherwise you’re living for the future rather than for now…

But what do you do if there is no ‘next goal’? 

How do you live if you’ve only ever been gaining weight or losing weight?

The most common answer is that you shift your attention to ‘maintaining’, but that is a mistaken approach and has its own pitfalls, especially if you have an expectation that once you get to your goal, all you have to do is maintain that size or weight and it will be really easy because you’re already there.

Unfortunately that expectation will probably not be met. You know this intellectually, but wouldn’t it be nice if once you achieved your goal you could just ‘relax’?

The reality is that ‘maintaining your weight’ on an ongoing, permanent and daily basis is not physically possible. There will always be small fluctuations in how much you weigh on the scales, and your body shape on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. This is especially the case for women thanks to their hormones, which means that these fluctuations in weight, shape, and hunger can occur from week to week even when you’re doing exactly the same things every day. 

So what can you do? 

Work With Your Body

Firstly, accept that fluctuations are normal, and that by working with your body to achieve lasting wellness and by adopting consistent healthy lifestyle habits you’ll be setting yourself up for enduring health, regardless of what the scales may say. 

Why is this? 

Because you are a part of nature, and everything in nature is either in a state or cycle of growing, or dying, sometimes at the same time. As a natural being and part of the natural world, you also will always be in either a state of growth or decay! So, the power to ride the waves of ‘maintenance’ resides with embracing the idea that some days, weeks and months will be better than others for growing and progressing, and others will be better for resting and conserving (where there’s not much change happening on the outside, but there’s a lot of progress being made on the inside, ready to be revealed once that new season arrives).

Giving yourself permission to ride the waves of fluctuations also means that you can become more aware of how your actions are shifting and impacting how you’re feeling in your body, without relying on a number on the scales to determine what you do and how you live. In fact, getting away from scales altogether is a really great way to support yourself with this, because scales are really just measuring your gravitational pull, and yet many people give scales a massive amount of power over their mental health.

If you’re having a week or two of a few more indulgences and late nights than usual then you’ll probably start to notice it in your clothes, skin and energy levels, and the same goes at the other end if you’re having a week or two of plenty of veggies, lots of enjoyable movement, good hydration and plenty of sleep.

Fluctuations are normal and will happen with a healthy and balanced lifestyle that does include the occasional indulgence. If you feel that you’re leaning too far towards the indulgence-side of things then that’s your cue to re-set, and take the healthier actions that you know will get you back to feeling the way you want to again, physically and mentally.

That doesn’t mean that you’re flipping between gaining weight and losing weight all over again, just that your lifestyle and your body aren’t the same day in and day out. Your body will need different supports depending on your environment, your mental workload, your physical workload, your sleep quantity and quality, your hormones, your stress levels and more. Leaning into listening to what your body is telling you it needs is a wonderful way to really shift that focus from weight to wellbeing.

A New Focus…

So, if your focus isn’t on gaining weight or losing weight, what do you focus on when you reach your goal?

The simple answer is a new goal. 

Goals are important for giving us focus and are essential for motivation and success, and so it can be a great habit to get into setting yourself your next goal before you achieve your original goal. This means that you don’t experience that lull of not knowing what to do or focus on, and you get to transition from your self-acknowledgement and celebration, into your new goal with determination and desire.

We are never ‘done’, and the idea of ‘maintenance’ isn’t going to be clear enough to really stretch and excite you, so what’s next for you and your healthy, happy body once you achieve your goal weight? 

Faster? Further? More flexibility? A particular experience?

This approach will also help fill the void if you’re feeling unsettled about ‘how to live’ when you’ve only ever been losing weight or gaining weight. It takes the focus off weight entirely and gives you some space to think about your long-term health and happiness - how you want to enjoy your body and the life it can enable you to live.

Mellow in the Middle Ground

Our society thrives on and strongly promotes the polarity of ‘all or nothing’ in relation to our health - good or bad foods, on the wagon or off it, dieting or gaining. There is a real sense that if we aren’t hyper vigilant and focused on our body shape and size, and on our food and movement all of the time then we’re being lazy, or letting ourselves go and everything will fall apart. 

This is an exhausting and completely damaging way to live.

Remember however that 'all' and 'nothing' are at opposite ends of the spectrum, and when we start to play in the shades of grey between those 'black and white' extremes, that’s when we get to really thrive on having more choice about how to think, and live and act.

What’s in the middle ground? Healthy Habits. Wellness. Self-Care.

Behaviours and beliefs that support you to respect and care for your health - physical, emotional, and mental - used consistently so much so that they become not only automatic but who you are... these make those shades of grey turn into technicolour magic. This is the beauty of habits - the more we do them, the more they reinforce what kind of person we are, which has a direct impact on the kinds of behaviours we choose to do.

If I meditate regularly then I start to refer to myself as ‘I am a regular meditator’, which means that I’m more likely to want to prove myself right and will therefore regularly meditate… and so on.

Supporting yourself with healthy lifestyle and mindset habits is one of the most powerful ways to shift that focus from weight to wellness, so if you’re looking for ideas to help you get started, here are some suggestions:

• Consider limiting your use of the scales: This machine will only serve to reinforce the idea that your weight is important and that a number defines something about you. If you’re able to use it as just 'information' - that’s great - but be honest with yourself about whether you’re letting whatever number that shows up mean something about you and your worth.
• Make sure that your movement is enjoyable: Exercising to ‘burn calories’ or to punish yourself for whatever you’ve eaten, or because you feel you ‘should’ is guaranteed to slide you back into that ‘all or nothing’ way of thinking. On the flip side, moving your body in ways that feel wonderful and like a celebration of yourself and what your body can do is a wonderful way to really embed wellness into your life. 
• Make sleep and rest a priority: The importance of getting enough sleep and rest, and of having bedtime rituals to support yourself to wind down to sleep cannot be overstated.
• Make sure you continue to meet your own needs first: It will be almost impossible to navigate a new way of living if you don't continue to make you and your needs important - and more important than the needs of others - on a regular basis.

Congratulations on achieving your goal, and enjoy continuing to define what a healthy lifestyle means to you as you move into the next phase of your post-goal life feeling happier, healthier and more confident in yourself.