You need to lose weight.  You have weighed in on the scale and you know that you have a lot of work ahead of you. So much, in fact, that you become highly discouraged.  You know that it is going to take a long time to lose the amount of weight you want to reach your goal. You start your diet. You do well, losing a couple pounds in the first week.  Unfortunately, a couple pounds is just a drop in the bucket compared against the amount of weight you're trying to lose.  You then become so discouraged that you decide to abort the whole weight loss program.  Worse yet, because you're depressed, you start eating more and become even heavier.

This is a common problem with many dieters.  They place to much focus on the long-term goal.  This long-term goal is usually a large and daunting number.  Because it is so large it becomes overwhelming and seemingly impossible to reach. This causes the typical dieter to quit. The successful dieter, however, focuses on shorter term goals.  Focusing on attainable weight-loss goals, of one month duration, will net far more success.  When your goal is to lose 4 pounds in one month, this is seen as a realistic goal.  This will provide motivation and positive reinforcement when you succeed in meeting this goal.

I regularly stress to people to focus on short-term goals only.  Keep plugging along and revise these goals as necessary and the next thing you know you will reach your long-term goals.  Think about how fast the last year has gone by.  If you keep your head down, and focus on short-term goals over the next year  you will achieve significant weight loss.  If you can manage to lose just 1 pound per week, over the course of the next year that's 52 pounds.  Focusing on the short-term goals will provide the dangling carrot to motivate you to continue to succeed with your weight loss goals. You can keep your overall goal in mind but place your focus on the short-term.