Goals and New Habits

I just started a new session of a group I belong to  called Lighten Up For Life.  Part of our "attack" on getting fit and healthy is to set goals. Goals are important because they give you a 'marker' to keep track of your progress.

Some of the goals they suggest are 1) Keep a food journal, 2) Increase your activity, 3) Boost your water intake, 4) Build a support squad, 5) Eat more vegetables, 6) Make moderation your method, Choosing smart snacks, Stop with the sugar, etc.

I like to say, as others have, that unless you are a professional athlete, you are not in competition with anyone except yourself. So set those goals and make the goals things you really have to work on to achieve. At the beginning goals could be made to be achieved easily so you gain some confidence. But as you go along make them harder to achieve. Challenge yourself. 

Remember you are the only one that can get you healthy and fit. You are the only one that can make you walk away from that cookie. You are the only one that can make you get off the couch and put those tennis shoes on and go outside for a walk, or to the gym or do some aerobic dancing in your living room.

People that are in great shape set goals. One of my favorites was/is setting a goal for myself doing a plank. When I first started out I could barely do 30 seconds. But I kept at it everyday and each day or two or three....I added another 30 seconds. I'll be the first to admit, I've been a little lax on doing that everyday. But at one point I was up to 7 minutes and I was stoked! So I'm back at it and building my time up again. The tool that helped me was to download some songs onto my iTunes and set up a playlist called planks. I made sure I had songs of varying times from 30 seconds to 9 minutes. I then put them on my iPod and I listen to it when I am doing my plank. Every few days listening to the next song on the list which is a little longer than the previous. It works great. My goal right now is to work up to 10 full minutes in a static plank.

I've set myself a calorie goal and I work on that on a daily basis. I set myself an exercise goal and I've made a plan on what days I exercise upper body, lower body, do cardio, etc. and I remember to occasionally change that routine up to keep my muscles and mind on their toes.

Now I can hear some of you saying......"you are way to serious about this....all of those goals counting calories and plans seem like such a chore". My thought on that is that with anything, when you are trying to form a habit, the beginning may seem like a boring task. But that's really what we're trying to do here. We're trying to form a life long habit. A habit that will become second nature to us. A habit that will keep us healthy and fit for the rest of our lives.

So if you're just starting out or if you've been at this for a while and you seem to be hitting a brick wall on your weight loss or in getting your body toned and fit....try making some new goals. Keep your eye on what you want to accomplish in your 'healthy' journey. And remember that it takes a while to form a habit so don't give up after the first few days or the first few weeks. This is not a quick fix. This is your life and if you want to join me in being healthy and fit at 99, you have to make up your mind that you're working on a habit you can live with the rest of your life.