Setting and evaluating goals

Setting and evaluating goals

Women’s Health
By Kylie Jackes
Personal Trainer
Lifestyle Fitness, Erskineville

Mardi Gras is just around the corner and if you are finding it difficult to stick to your fitness and healthy eating plan it may be time to re-assess your goals.

Goal setting is an area that is quite often neglected when beginning any fitness and fat loss journey but it is essential that it be addressed as it is the starting point of your success.

It has been proven that people who write their goals down often achieve them. Getting clarity, having direction, changing any negative beliefs is what it takes to keep you on your path.

A reason you may have quit or failed to keep the weight off or stick to a fitness plan in the past is that ‘will’ power alone is not sustainable, it is a shift in mindset to change any old destructive beliefs and habits.

Following the S.M.A.R.T.E.R acronym is a simple, easy to remember way to get started.

Specific: The clearer your goals, the more powerful they are, you want to be able to see it, feel it, get emotional about it. Be precise, be specific.

Measurable: Set goals that can be measured e.g. drop 2 dress sizes, measure you body fat, record your weight and test your fitness levels.

Accountable: Write your goals down so you can track your progress, remember no excuses! You are 100 percent responsible for your lifestyle choices.

Realistic: Make sure your goals are attainable and then sustainable. Losing 10kgs in 10days sounds great but is not realistic, rapid weight loss usually consists of losing lean muscle and water, not much fat and generally the weight will return. A healthy goal is 1-2 kilo’s per week.

Time Bound: It’s great to have a deadline to keep you motivated, not stressed so make sure it’s attainable. Set yourself weekly workout and nutritional goals, three-monthly fat loss goals, six month, one year and five years.

Emotional: Goals give you the direction, but it’s the emotion, the burning desire that will motivate and empower you to succeed. Focus on how you will feel when you have achieved your goal, the emotion connected to your goal is what will drive you.

Review Often:
By writing down and continually reading your goals they become embedded into your sub-conscious, giving you a positive mindset shift to keep you focused on a fit and fabulous you.

Goals give you clarity and direction but I also think it is important to be aware of your feelings towards exercise and nutrition. Awareness is the key to know what action you must take to make positive changes with your lifestyle.

What are your emotional triggers? Do you either over eat or make poor choices when you’re stressed, tired, depressed or bored?

Why have you stopped exercising in the past? What don’t you like about exercise? We are a combination of our beliefs, attitudes, feelings and values. What we think about, we attract. Are there some negative beliefs around exercise and nutrition that you could work on changing? You must realise that you hold the power to change it. Your mind needs work though, train it like you would your body, it needs to be exercised and taken out of its comfort zone to get fitter and stronger.

Think of area’s in your life where you have been successful. What was your mindset? Were you confident and empowered? What changes do you need to make to feel this way about healthy eating and exercise?

Believe that you can achieve this, be accountable, be resilient, and surround yourself with positive, supportive people.

Again write down your thoughts, attitudes and feelings, look for patterns both positive and negative. Your mind is your most powerful tool; use it to your advantage.

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