I believe the overwhelming majority of people enjoy celebrating “milestones”. Some examples include:
- Celebrating a special birthday, such as turning 21, 30, 40, 50 etc.
- Passing a certain anniversary of marriage, such as 10 years, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50
- Having spent a significant amount of years at a work position such as 20 years, 30 years etc.
The reasons why we enjoy celebrating “milestones”: 1- When we reach certain milestones, whether they be personal or professional, these give us pause to think how hard we have worked and/or weathered difficult circumstances in order to have reached these milestones. We are proud of ourselves. 2- Most of us enjoy celebrations of any sort.
How do we celebrate milestones? For most people this turns into a party, a special trip, dinner out and/or some other way that includes the ingestion of alcohol and high-caloric foods.
Let’s turn to the weight control arena: When people have a significant amount of weight to lose, it can take a very long time to reach the desired goal. However, along the journey, there are some “milestones” that are reached that should be recognized and embraced. As an example, when the BMI falls below 30, the “milestone” is now being in the “overweight” category as opposed to “obese”. Having the percentage body fat fall below 40% is a fun achievement as well. Lowering a dosage and/or obviating the need for a prescription medication due to the weight loss becomes a milestone as well.
Celebrating your weight loss “milestones”: Obviously, celebrating via a booze and carb-fest is not the right/healthy type of celebration. Perhaps treating yourself to a massage, day at the spa, new outfit, tickets to a show or other “non-caloric treat” is the best way of recognizing your milestone accomplishments in the weight control journey.
Do not wait until your weight control goal is fully met before “patting yourself on the back” for the hard work you are going through to shed the weight. Identify “milestones’ along the way and celebrate those as you journey to much better health and happiness.
