Setting Goals and Rewards for Weight Gain

Let’s talk about one very important area when it comes to gaining weight, and that is goal setting. If you’ve ever met anyone who was trying to lose weight, you know that the ones who are most successful are the ones who have a set goal in mind. The others typically give up as soon as their motivation runs out, which could be a day or a week or even a couple of months.

The same thing is true when you’re trying to gain weight. What you want to be doing is to start thinking about your long-term goal. Be specific about what you want to achieve for yourself at the end of this journey. Don’t be saying “I want to gain weight until I’m happy with what I see in the mirror” or “I need to put on enough weight to look more toned up”. None of those statements are going to help you because they are subjective, meaning they are open to interpretation and are changed by perception. You need something concrete; you need a number. And you need to write down that number so you won’t be able to lie to yourself about your goal and so you can remind yourself of what you’re working towards.

Besides setting a long-term goal, you should also set several smaller goals for yourself as well. Motivation experts have found that long-term goals alone just aren’t effective, because the pay off for the the work you are doing now seems so distant. Smaller goals give you quicker senses of accomplishment and keep pushing you forward towards your long-term ambition. Your short-term goals should be just as specific, but you may want to start with a goal such as “I want to gain X amount of pounds this week”, then “I want to gain X amount of pounds this month”, and so on and so forth. Make sure you’re being realistic when you set these goals. Too high or too low expectations won’t help you make progress.

Also, remember that each time you meet a goal, you should have a set reward for yourself in mind. Don’t make that reward food related. When you view food as a reward or as a punishment, you are developing an unhealthy attitude towards consumption that will end with an eating disorder. Better rewards would be going to the movie you’ve been wanting to see, taking off from work to lounge around the house, going to the spa for pampering, buying a new outfit, etc.