If I had a nickel for every time I’ve said, “Diet starts tomorrow!”, I would be sitting in Bora Bora right now drinking one of those delicious alcoholic beverages that come accessorized with a little paper umbrella. And I would definitely not have to worry about my weight because the doctor who manufactured each of the Kardashians would be on my payroll.
However, since bad behavior is not rewarded, especially in the world of health and fitness, it is safe to say that no one will be throwing money at my feet anytime soon. In order to stop history from repeating itself, I have decided to use this blog as a way to hold myself accountable while on my journey to attaining a healthier lifestyle.
There are some very important guidelines to follow when you set goals at the beginning of your journey. In my experience, writing down your goals and creating a detailed game plan can help you be more successful down the road. Whenever you feel like giving up, look back at these goals and remind yourself why you started in the first place.
It never gets easier. You just get better.
Make sure your goals are SPECIFIC:
When setting goals, you want to make sure they are clear and concise. You do not want any gray area here. What is it that you want to accomplish? The phrase “creating a healthy lifestyle” is pretty vague, but if we break that down and think about how we will go about attaining a healthy lifestyle, our bite sized goals begin to take shape.
My top 3 fitness goals are listed below as examples. Remember that we all have a different objective when it comes to getting in shape, so it is totally fine if your goals look different. But no matter what your goal, just remember to make it very specific:
- I am currently weighing in at 273.6 lbs. My goal is to get down to at least 200 lbs.
- My average time for running a mile is 13 minutes. My goal is to get down to 9 minutes.
- At my last visit to the doctor, I found out that I have high blood pressure. My goal is to manage my health so I can lower my blood pressure to a healthy range for my age.
Make sure your goals are MEASURABLE:
When choosing your goals, you want to make sure they are something that you can measure. The 3 goals I have set above can all be quantified in some way:
- My weight can be monitored by using a scale. I will also be tracking my progress taking body measurements.
- The mile can be timed using my smart phone and I can note the dates/times to keep track of how long it takes to make progress towards my 9 minutes.
- I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor in 3 months so she can re-check my blood pressure to see if it is back at a normal level.
Making sure your objectives are measurable is important to tracking your progress, otherwise, how will you know that you are achieving your goals?
- TIP: Don’t forget to take full body pictures of yourself from all angles when you start. I actually suggest taking two sets of pictures. One set will be in your birthday suit and will not be shared with anyone. These pictures will allow you to see every detail of your body. Be mindful of where you store these pictures so no one finds them (unless you want them to hehe).
- The second set should be pictures that are more modest. You want to make sure that you will be comfortable sharing these photos on social media, or at least showing your family/friends. Trust me, once you start seeing results you are going to want to shout it from the rooftop!
Make sure your goals are REALISTIC:
A big mistake that leads to giving up on yourself early on the process is setting goals that are unrealistic. Be kind to yourself, there is no time limit on getting healthy. Remember, this is a total lifestyle change, not a temporary quick fix. An example of an unattainable goal would be attempting to lose 30 pounds in 10 days. Even if you somehow manage to lose that amount of weight in such a short time period, once you stop crash dieting all the weight you lost will come back. By doing this you will find yourself back at square one…AGAIN. Make sure whatever your goals are, big or small, they are something that you can realistically accomplish.
Consistency doesn’t mean never messing up, it means never giving up!
This is going to be a long road filled with obstacles, sweat, tears, and small victories. But I know that if we stick with it and lean on each other for support, there is no mountain that we cannot climb.
