…Goal Setting: Being realistic and staying motivated…
When I sit down and initially meet with a client, one of the first questions I ask them is:
Can you tell me three main objectives you would like to achieve while working with me?
Can you tell me three small goals that you would like to achieve while working towards your major goals?
Realistically getting healthy and fit is an overall lifestyle overhaul. You have to change the way you think, the way you live, you have to change your overall outlook on how you see yourself and how you approach each and every day.
Overall your goal should be to obtain a healthy lifestyle. You should want to lose weight, lose inches, but most importantly you should want to learn how to live and sustain a healthy lifestyle.
Getting healthy and fit is not intended to be a quick fix. It should not just be a 30…60…90 day challenge for you to participate in and once that timeline has gone by you go back to your old habits. The goal should be to utilize your time to properly learn how to eat healthy, how to create a fitness schedule that works for your lifestyle, and learn how to balance your life/family/work obligations while working towards your goals.
Yes it is a great goal to start off wanting to lose 5…10…20 pounds. But once you lose that weight what is next? You just give up because you reached your goal? While those are great goals those should be classified as SHORT term goals. Your long-term goal should be to learn to keep that weight off while continuing to live a health and active lifestyle.
Other goals to consider adding to your list:
- Learning to prepare healthy meals for you and your family. [This includes techniques that allow you to prepare meals for you to have throughout the week to help keep you on track and less likely to get tempted to just go and grab something at your local fast food place]
- Creating your own workouts (and possibly your family). [This can range from scheduling active outings for you and your family, signing up for group classes at a fitness facility, hiring a trainer to help you and then learning to develop your own routine. There are various avenues that can be taken to help you with this goal.]
- Learning to focus NOT on the scale but on your overall health. Your health should NOT be measured by the number that is on the scale. [While working towards your goals it is important to look at other variables such as your body measurements or how you look/feel to help you measure your progress. ]
- Working towards building a stronger person INSIDE and OUT. [While on your fitness journey you should aim work on all aspects of your being not just the physical aspect. Some people seek to also doing more volunteer work or even working on broken relationships with friends/family members. You can also work on your own emotional relationship with yourself or your spiritual relationship.]
The trick is creating GOOD goals AND realistic goals. Realistically you can lose about 2-4 lbs a week. Some weeks you will lose no weight….and then another week you may be a rock star and lose 3 pounds. Regardless of how much you do/don’t lose you have to stay motivated and determined to keep pushing towards your goals.
There are so many resources for anyone to utilize to help keep you motivated and accountable for your goals. There are free websites and forums where you can chat and get encouragement from so many people who are willing to help. No one has to go through this journey alone! Utilize your resources and it will help to keep you pushing through the hard times.
Your goals are most definitely obtainable. As long as your goals are realistic, as long as you stay consistent and persistent, and as long as you stay focused and PATIENT you will get there! Your body will not change over night! How long did it take you to get to where you are today? It will take you some time to lose what you have accumulated over time. BUT IT CAN BE DONE!!
