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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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…Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: Zucchini Lasagna…

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I don’t know about you…but there are just some things that I can not give up.  BUT the key to reaching your health and fitness goals is FINDING A BALANCE.  You may not have to completely give up on the things that you enjoy the most. All you have to do is slightly alter them.

I came up with a zucchini lasagna that taste JUST AS GOOD as the real thing…minus the pile of noodles that come along with a lasagna.  Not only does it taste just as good…there are fewer calories and MORE protein!

What you will need:

  • 1 lb lean ground turkey (or lean beef or any other chopped up lean meat)
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 dices onions
  • dash of salt
  • dash of pepper
  • 1 tbsp basil
  • 16 oz contain of low-fat cottage cheese
  • 1 can of tomato paste
  • 1 can of tomato sauce
  • 3 cans of diced tomatoes (i used the fiesta lime Rotel)
  • 1 pack of low-fat shredded cheese
  • 1 LARGE zucchini  (or enough zucchini to cover the various layers that you want)

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What you will do:

  • Pre-Heat your oven to 350 degrees
  • Cook and season meat in a pan and set aside for later step
  • wash your zucchini (some people have even skinned the zucchini…so you can do what you prefer)
  • you can slice the zucchini into long thin strips OR you can cut your zucchini into round slices such as I did:

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  • Next you HAVE to grill or saute your zucchini.  Zucchini is a vegetable that retains a lot of water. If you do not pre-cook the zucchini when you cook the lasagna it will become a watery/soupy dish.
  • After you cook your zucchini pieces start to layer your dish:

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  • Now layer your lasagna with the other ingredients:

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  • This is when you can get creative and mix up how you put together your layers. I wanted to have a total of two layers on my lasagna so I just cut all ingredients in half and mixed them up between the two layers.

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This dish can make approximately 8-10 servings.

I was able to make this dish, separate the squares of lasagna out into containers and freeze the extra pieces. This lasagna was AMAZING flavorful. I would have to say having the lime Rotel added a new burst of flavor. I also enjoyed having the tomato past because that also added to the flavor of the meal.

The fun thing about these casserole is that you can mix and match ingredients and add or change anything that you would want.

Another great thing about making a dish like this is that you will be able to set aside portions of this lasagna to have later during the week. With the added cottage cheese and lean meat, this dish is packed with protein while still leaving you feeling full and satisfied.

Meal preparation is KEY when it comes to helping you stay on track with healthy meal planning and eating.  If you have food prepared and ready to eat you are more likely to make healthier meal choices during meal time.

 

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