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… RUN FOREST…RUN!…

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In 2015 what is it that you want to accomplish?

C’mon…think realistically.

Yes, everyone wants to do the cliche “Lose weight”… “Eat healthy”…”Be more active”. Those are all great goals! But…I challenge you to be more specific.

I am not saying that you have to run a marathon.  Or complete a Tough Mudder.  But, what is it that you REALLY want to do?

I saw this question on a friends facebook status and it evoked a lot of thoughts and questions that I started to ask myself. In 2014 I accomplished every physical goal that I set for myself.  So now what do I strive for in 2015?

Losing weight

This is always a sensitive subject for me and for the clients that I work with. I try to challenge all of my clients to STOP weighing themselves.  YES STOP IT! So many people let the numbers on the scale define who they are or the type of progress they are making.  The number on the scale is NOT a true indication of your success.  There are so many other things that you can monitor and track that are more beneficial and more accurate.  Things like the inches you are losing around your waist…or your body fat percentage.  We have to recondition our minds to think of other variables as valuable tools to help us track our progress.

Setting realistic goals

I challenge all of my clients to find something to work towards.  Something that is not a number that can be traced by a scale.  Some people pick a local 5k, an obstacle race, or some other endurance event.  Some people pick things such as wanting to be able to lift a certain amount of weight, being able to jump a certain height, or being able to sustain a certain exercise for a length of time.  These are all great REALISTIC goals.  You have to find something that you want to do and something that you can continue to work towards.

Lifestyle change

Reaching your goals is about making a lifestyle change.  It is not about a 30….60….90 day challenge that you can accomplish and then go back to your old habits.  Working towards your goals should allow you to understand and adopt healthier habits that you can carry with you even after you create your goal.  These habits include things such as learning what types of meal options to pick from when you go out to eat, what types of food to purchase and keep around the house (especially when you have a sweet tooth), setting a routine that will allow you stay active.  You have to adopt a new lifestyle to reach your goals and to continue to move past them.  Nothing makes my heart cry unless I have a client that works so hard for a month or so and then they revert back to their old habits and lose all of the progress that they made.  Just because you reach your goals does not mean you stop.  KEEP GOING! Set new goals and keep crushing them! It is about consistency and moving forward.

Rewards

This is my FAVORITE part about setting goals.  Setting a reward to have when you reach those goals. Some people do not like the idea of rewarding your efforts to reach your goal. But, I do!  Why not allow yourself something you have wanted after you work 30…60…90 days towards a goal.  I actually use my fitness goals as a way to build towards my savings goal.  Each week I will also set aside a certain amount of money (you can read about it HERE).  Set aside money while you work towards your goals. When you reach your goals, you will have money to use towards your reward.  So it is a win-win situation!

Getting healthy and fit is not something that will happen over night.  You will have times where you will want to relax and not workout.  There will be days you will want to indulge in some food that is not apart of your healthy eating plan. The struggle will be to keep fighting on the days that you are wanting to give up.  The struggle will be sacrificing happy hour with your friends with time in the gym.  You do not have to give up everything but, you will have to find a balance.  Yes, YOU CAN DO IT!

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…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?

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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!!

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…Fitness/Health Goals…

Over the past few post, I have provided more than enough material to help someone who wants to start to be active again.  Besides getting up and starting your healthy lifestyle, the only other thing that you need to do is set a goal!  It makes it easier when you have a goal you would like to reach so you know how long and how hard you should work.

 

To weight your self…or not to weight yourself…that is the question!…

Some people like to know their starting off right.  This is a good idea.  Although it may be disheartening to find out how much weight you have gained, it is on a temporary number! With hard work and dedication that number will steadily decrease over time.  You can purchase your own scale (which may be good to help you keep track of you weight loss over time) or you can use a scale at a gym, doctors office, or any other place that will allow you to do so.

How much weight you should expect to lose over time… 

On average, with the right exercise routine and a good balanced diet, you should be losing about 2 pounds a week.  If you are losing more than 7 pounds a week then you might want to evaluate what you are doing (because its normal to lose between 2-5 pounds a week).  Accurately losing weight is done by balancing how many calories you burn with how many calories you are consuming.  Naturally, if you are burning off more calories that you consume this will lead to weight loss.  These results will not be seen overnight! It takes time and patience and a regular routine of exercise and a good balanced diet.

what is a realistic length of time to set a goal?…

Lets say that your goal is to lose 20 pounds.  To be honest, the length of time it will take you to lose 20 pounds may be different from someone else.   It all depends on how often you exercise and if you decrease your calorie intake to help you burn fat.  Like stated above you should be losing about 2 pounds for week (but some weeks it will be more than that and other weeks it will be less than that. It is completely normal for that to happen!).  So if you calculate 2 pounds per week this will take approximately 20 weeks (or about 5 months).  Like I said before The length of time it will take someone to lose weight will be different from someone else!  If  are losing about 4 pounds a week it will take you about 5 weeks to lose 20 pounds.  It just all depends on how hard you work and how many pounds you lose from week to week. Do not let the length of time discourage you! These things take time, patients, and dedication.  And in the end the hard work will show.

What happens if I do not lose weight one week?…

It is OK if there is a week that you do not lose any weight or you lose one pound.  Try not to worry or stress out too much if this happens! Just try to push yourself a little harder the next week to help you get back on track to reaching your goal!

What to eat during this time… 

Setting a menu is just as important as setting a work out schedule.  What I have personally found to be helpful is that each time I go to the grocery store, I plan my menu’s (at least for the next week to two weeks).  It helps because I can budget the things that I need to get, and I can also cook some items I need during the weekend so that it can be stored to be used later in the week.  Each month I set a monthly budget for how much I can spend at the grocery store and how much money I can spend going out to eat.  A few years ago I stopped eating fast food all together, so my “out to eat” budget is for the weekly dinners I plan at restaurants with my friends (and I always save half of that meal to be eaten the next day for lunch or dinner! so I get two meals out of going out to eat)  It also allows me to look at the local stores newspaper adds so I can try to get the best price for the fruits and veggies I buy and eat on a regular basis.

What happens if I do not reach my goal in the time that I set for myself?…

If you do not reach your goal in the time you set it is OK!! Just extend your goal time.  Allow yourself a few more weeks to work hard and reach the initial goal you have set for yourself.  What I have suggested to some clients is to possible keep a fitness/health journal.  This can help you keep track of your workouts, if you happen to splurge during one meal (which is OK but try not to make it a habit), or any other things that go on during the time you are trying to reach your goal.  It will not only allow you to keep track of these things, but it can also serve as an outlet of positive and negative things that happen.  You can write it down, or blog about it (there are several sites that will allow you to keep your blog private or let you choose who can/cant see it).  This can also help by letting people see thins and encourage you to keep pushing towards your goals. I also love this idea because if I am out and I hear of something I want to try or randomly find a recipe I would like to try, I have my journal near by to jot it down!

I hope that these tools will help you create your goals and start your own fitness and health journeys.

 

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