Setting Goals

It's all about moving more and eating less, right? Isn't that what it all comes down to?

That's what I told myself when I stopped dieting last year. That was my plan for keeping my weigh off. Eat less, move more. "Easy Peasy," as Quentin would say.

Well, I proceeded to gain an average of 2 lbs a month. Apparently I need a little more structure.

Structure came to me in the form of weekly goal setting for this class. Again I was resistant, found it tedious, but I did it because I was paying for it, and, lo and behold, I am eating much less and moving much more.

So here's what you do. Think about that self assessment. Think about your overall goals. Now think about 3 month goals. Now, what can you reasonably do in the next week to take the first steps toward those goals?

You need to be very specific so you know when you've reached your goal. For instance: "I will do 50 sit-ups three times a week." Your three month goal might be, "I will do 100 sit-ups 5 days a week." You get the idea.

You need to be pretty confident that you really can and will reach the goal. If you're not, modify it until you are. Remember, you are starting where you are. Be reasonable.

You need to make sure your goal is consistent with your real motivation.

Then you need to track your progress. If you reach your week's goal(s), do you want the same goal for the next week, or are you ready for something a little more challenging? If you didn't reach your goal, what stopped you? Do you need to back up and set a goal to address that particular obstacle first?

I had all these goals about exercising, but the only way I could fit it in to my day was to get up at 6 am, and it just wasn't happening. I backed up and backed up and backed up until I found the goal I really needed to start with: "I will get up at 6 am one day a week." That was what I had to start with. Then, if you do it one day, you find you can do it two days. If you're up at 6 am, you may as well exercise.

Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out where to start.

As for tracking, I have a tracking form from my class that I'd be happy to share with you, but it didn't work well for me. I just write everything down in a notebook, but that gets very tedious. It's okay if you are focusing on one or two goals, but I have half a page full by now. If you're good with spread sheets, that's the way to go. Make it so all you have to do is put check marks in boxes.

As we go along, I'll give you suggestions about goals for different areas we address, but for now, just pick something simple, something obvious, and experiment with it. Try to have some fun with it. Let me know how it goes!