Health/fitness goals, and setting them yourself versus some arbitrary ideal.

Dear Husband has signed up to work with a personal trainer once a week at the fitness center we recently joined. He had his first session last week, to assess his fitness level and set his goals. I was really impressed with his trainer, because right from the start there was never any talk about getting thin or ripped. Just getting some weight off, and improving fitness level without striving for a specific ideal.  It's a very intuitive approach:  "we'll work at it until YOU feel you're in a good place, then set up a routine to maintain it".  I like that a lot.

I'm pretty much following the same approach, just without a trainer. I know I want to be smaller, but exactly how much so, I can't say. I remember how I felt and what life was like at specific weight ranges, so I have a bit of an idea of what I need to work towards. But, I'll know I'm there when I feel completely at home in my own body again. Same with fitness. I'll know I'm there when I can do all the things I want to do with relative ease again. Putting that kind of a spin on it makes you really feel as if you're working for yourself, not for some arbitrary ideal or goal.