How to Make Goals to Set You Up for Health and Fitness Success
So many of us get a sudden urge to embark on a health kick and throw everything into it. This is a wonderful thing, and we should all embrace this motivation and do everything we can to actually achieve our end objective.
However, without some thoughtfulness, planning, and proper goal setting, you likely won’t stick with it long enough for it to become a habit or a lifestyle. Remember, it takes 21 days to form a habit and 90 days to form a lifestyle.
Whether you are making a New Year’s resolution, trying to fit into a bathing suit on vacation, or overall just trying to improve your health, the goals you set can either work for you or against you.
Remember, if you are going to go through the trouble of changing your habits, you want the changes to actually stick. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Since setting goals is the first critical step in the health and weight loss process, I wanted to discuss how to develop and frame them so that you will be successful!
There is a lot of psychology in weight loss. I am sure you know exactly what I’m talking about when I discuss momentum in your eating and workout habits. Even if you know the right things to do, it doesn’t mean you do them. We have all been there!
For instance, if you have fallen out of the habit of exercising or went on vacation and ate everything in sight, it can be easy to stay in that habit. On the other hand, when you have started eating lots of fruits and veggies and get into a workout routine you really like, that momentum keeps you moving on a good path.
So, the first step in your health and fitness journey is setting SMART Goals.
What, you ask, does that mean? Well each letter stands for something simple, and they work together to create an executable plan to achieve your goals.
S: Specific. What exactly are you trying to accomplish, why, and how. This means wanting to be able to do a pull-up (or 5!) or 10 Spinning classes in a month. The more specific you can be in what you want, the more likely you are to get there.
M: Measurable. You want to be able to actually record your process. This could be decreased pounds on the scale, extra servings of fruits and veggies every day, or added gym visits every week.
Being able to tangibly measure your progress will give you the motivation to keep going.
A: Achievable. This goal is one you have the resources and time to devote to achieving.
Want to win a marathon? That’s great, but how many hours per week can you devote to training? And do you want to spend years perfect your training technique? If so, good for you!!! But for most of us mere mortals, that’s really not achievable. What you can do is start running or increase your weekly mileage. Those are big victories that you should celebrate!
If any of your goals is not achievable, it could have a ripple effect across related ones and destroy your efforts on all. Be sure all of your goals are things you can actually do with what you are able to devote to them.
R: Realistic. This goal should be something you can actually do. I would love to revisit my childhood dream of becoming a professional ballerina, but I’m pretty sure that ship has sailed. (And I am completely okay with that.) What I can do is nail a 7 minute plank series (after proper training, of course).
The key here is that you are trying to do something that is possible. It should be challenging but not impossible.
Side note: in terms of “achievable” and “realistic” for health purposes, there is a lot of overlap, so don’t spend too much time trying to differentiate.
T: Timely. You need the goal to fit your timeline, and you need the timeline to fit your goal. Put some time constraints/milestones to your goal to keep you accountable and to keep you moving forward.
It is important to be both realistic and challenging when setting a rough timeline. For instance, f you set a goal for number of pounds to lose, estimate 1 – 2 pounds per week rather than something like 10.
Added benefit to using the SMART method: the various aspects of the goal-setting process can cover for one other. For instance, if you miss a workout, you can cook an extra meal.
Putting these 5 things together, we can take a vague goal and transform it into one you are epically more likely to achieve.
Let’s use two very basic ones (that you may have!):
1. I want to lose weight.
2. I want to get fit.
The first: “I want to lose weight.”
To turn this into a SMART goal, you should write down how many pounds you want to lose (a realistic number that would still feel like an achievement!), how long you think it will take (as I already mentioned, budget 1 – 2 pounds per week), how you will do it (going to the gym 5 times per week and cooking 75% of your meals per week), how often you weigh yourself (this one is controversial – there are differing opinions and studies as to whether you should weigh yourself every day, once per week, or something else entirely).
Consider your schedule week-to-week and other commitments so as to not overextend yourself – remember that your goals need to be achievable and realistic, so work your goals into your life and not vice versa! All these things put together will allow you to monitor your progress.
The second: “I want to get fit.”
Here you can record how you define fit. Is it the number of push-ups and squats you can do? The number of miles you can walk or run? Make sure that it is something you can actually do (I’d love to run an ultramarathon, but…no) and that your timeline is feasible. How long will it take you to get to your definition of “fit” (be realistic here, beautiful!)? How often will you measure your progress, and how long do you think it will actually take to get to the end goal?
To this last point, another important part of setting goals that goes along with SMART is the benefit of breaking big goals into mini ones.
Two examples that are a wee bit hyperbolic but illustrate this: running a marathon or becoming vegetarian.
If you ultimately want to run a marathon, you aren’t going to do it in a week (see A for achievable and R for realistic, for instance). To ultimately complete this race, you have to hit smaller running goals for both mileage and times to build up to the greater goal.
So in order to be successful here, you have to meet weekly and monthly objectives (increasing mileage, tempo runs for time, etc.). With each week and month that passes, you can see progress in terms of more ground covered and at a faster pace. Over time that adds up to the big goal of crossing that finish line.
Secondly, if you want to go completely vegetarian, you need to gradually add additional plant-based protein such as beans and eggs to your diet. (Please do not ask me to write a post about that and just trust that such is the case.) So week by week you add an additional few whole food vegetarian sources as your body acclimates to your new way of eating. If each week you slowly transition from meat to plant-based protein sources, after a few months (or however long you, your doctor, and/or your nutritionist decide makes sense) you will have gotten to your final objective without feelings of deprivation or tummy discomfort.
Now that you have the tools to set you up for success, get out a pen and paper and sketch out some goals when you are ready. Remember, the more specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-oriented, the better.
If you want some help sketching out your health and fitness goals, you have come to the right place! I I have a library of resources for inspiration to help you on your way!
Two of my favorite suggestions for starting a new program to get into a healthy habit and lifestyle are my two FREE programs. If you are looking to clean up your diet, this is a great reset to get jump start your progress:
Whether you are looking to start a fitness routine or want to try something new, my complete guide to one of my favorite barre routines is a great intro:
