Reaching your weight goal usually takes a lot of hard work and consistency. Sometimes, it needs so many of these things that it may even feel downright impossible to achieve. Even then, you’ll still want to acknowledge the smaller wins that you will accomplish along the way. Sure, it’s fun to celebrate those tiny triumphs, but you may not have realized that these expressions of happiness can actually help you accomplish your main goal in the long run. Here are a few reasons why you should count all of the small victories in your weight management journey, no matter how small.
1. Tracks Your Progress
Tracking your progress offers plenty of benefits. It can help you identify when you’ve hit a plateau and help you figure out which of your new lifestyle habits have made an impact on your progress. Most importantly, tracking your progress allows you to look back and see how far you’ve come. You can regularly track your weight progress with a digital weighing scale and see the results of your hard work over time. You can then mark milestones resulting from your lifestyle changes and find the motivation you need to see things through to the end.
If you’re unsure about what to track or how to measure progress beyond the scale, consulting an obesity doctor, a nutritionist-dietitian, or other health professionals can give you a clearer roadmap. They can help you identify meaningful milestones and celebrate the right wins at the right time, keeping you motivated and on course.
2. Builds Your Momentum
The beginning often feels like the hardest hurdle to overcome. Changing your diet, trying out a new exercise routine, getting enough sleep, and managing your stress all seem well and good, but getting started can be deceptively difficult.
Still, by celebrating every important step you make, you reinforce and build your momentum, making it easier to stay consistent. Before you know it, those lifestyle changes that almost seemed impossible to adopt will become a normal part of your everyday life, making it that much easier to reach your ultimate weight goal.
3. Prevents Discouragement
Progress is seldom linear. Sometimes, you’ll take three steps forward only to take two steps back. This can be discouraging and, if it stays this way for too long, you might even find yourself getting burned out. Celebrating those smaller milestones, whether it be reaching a smaller weight goal or successfully building a healthy habit, helps prevent demotivation and keeps you on track toward your original goal.
4. Keeps You From Feeling Overwhelmed
The gap between where you are now and where the finish line is can make you feel like you’re not making much progress. You can get out of this rut by breaking up larger goals into smaller ones that you can celebrate. This way, you’ll develop a more realistic understanding of your challenges, and you’ll be able to shift your focus to the next checkpoint rather than to a goal that may still be months or years ahead.
5. Helps You Develop a Healthy Relationship with Yourself
Celebrating your wins, no matter how small they are, shifts your mindset from self-criticism to self-compassion. Acknowledging the progress that you have already made reinforces the idea that you are capable of achieving your goals, reaffirming in your mind that you have what it takes to see them through. When you do this, it becomes much easier to stay consistent as your self-worth is not tied to your weight or appearance. You might find that the process of reaching your weight goal becomes much more enjoyable as a result.
6. Makes The Progress Feel More Real
Lastly, celebrating milestones makes each achievement feel more real and, therefore, more rewarding. It provides an emotional payoff to the number you see on the scale, boosting encouragement and motivation.
Celebrate Small Achievements to Ensure You Can Move Forward
So, what small victories should you celebrate as you work towards your weight goal? Reaching that special number on the scale is a reason to celebrate, but you should also congratulate yourself for such things as adding a new set to your exercise routine or even getting into a healthier sleep routine. Recognizing these tiny wins makes the journey all the more enjoyable and sets you up for a healthier future.
