Let's get something straight from the get go. Being you is the most important part when deciding your goals. Typically when people are designing health and fitness goals they either revolve around losing weight, improving strength or maintaining your current physique.
Whilst I'm an advocate for telling people their body doesn't define them, the reality is the vast majority of people will always want to lose weight. It's the hottest goal around when it comes to the fitness world. You know the line *I just want to lose 5kg,10kg etc*. As a personal trainer it's certainly the goal I hear the most. I mean heck, who am I to judge because I too have wanted to achieve these same goals in the past.
There's also nothing wrong about losing weight. If it's for the right reasons and not designed on needing to look like some A lister or your favourite social media influencer that's ok. For me personally when I've listed weight loss goals down it's because I know what makes ME feel good. It's also a good kick up the ass for me to get back into being consistent with my exercise programs and making some healthier changes when it comes to my food.
Create goals in a healthy manner
What does this mean?
Put simply, don't be unrealistic and don't list goals because you feel like it's everyone else's hot goal of the month. If you have to do these following things you won't be setting yourself up for success long term.
Stupid and ridiculous diets
Just stop with the bull**** of stupid diets. If you want to create long lasting fitness results you have to make sensible choices along the way. A well balanced food intake is the key to enjoying feeling better but also feeling more motivated about the overall journey.
Don't be influenced by others
Too many times people create goals like weight loss because of what the media portrays as the so called 'perfect looking person' or 'perfect body'. Apart from the huge amounts of photoshopping and editing on every image you see in the media, most of these are unattainable by everyday people that live busy lives, have families and full time jobs etc. It's about finding the right balance. Also don't let your friends fitness goals just become your goals 'just because'. Your goals should be specific and unique for you.
Stop going cold turkey on every front
I see people clean out their cupboards and fridges, go purchase yearly gym memberships, stop drinking alcohol & stopping from eating anything sweat. Every though these changes will absolutely help you to change your habits and help you with your fitness goals, doing it all at once is usually a way too big of change for most. Do things slowly and calmly. Make 1 small change per week and stick to it. It's a far better approach to making engined habit changes in your life.
How to Create Goals that work
It's time to get this goal creation thing finally correct don't you think? So how do you do it right to set your self up for success? HERE WE GO!
Understand You
You really need to define the reason why you're setting this goal in the first place. If it's going to help you feel more self confident, enjoy your clothes more and increase your mood than great! Get aligned with your inner feelings. If you don't understand the main drivers for you wanting to set these goals you'll never get them right. Don't just be flippant and write down any old goal that you have every time before. Get in tune with you and you only!
Keep your goals specific and not high level
You need to ensure that you give your goals some specificity. Listing something general like 'losing weight' isn't going to cut it. How much do you want to lose, how far do you want to jog before stopping, how many full pushups would you like to do to do uninterrupted? Being specific will allow you to plan your road map to get you there.
Make them achievable
There's nothing worse than writing down a figure that you know is never going to be achievable in the shorter term. Also if you write something like lose 50kg it can mentally make it feel like a drag and effort to create the changes. Break the overall goal down into smaller chunks. This will stop you needing to then have unrealistic diets and needing to cut every bit of enjoyment in your life just to achieve your goal. Creating an achievable goal will keep your life balanced for the long term.
Do you really need this goal in the first place?
You're probably thinking, what am I getting at with this. Of course I want this goal. My stand on this is most people create some type of goal because they feel unhappy with something in their life. So for example could losing weight be you compensating for some other underlying issue that you haven't found the meaning or fix of? Sometimes talking with a specialist could help you overcome the reasons behind your current feelings.
Treat your body and mind with kindness
At all stages of any health/fitness journey you need to ensure you speak kindly and positively to yourself. There's more to life than feeling unhappy with yourself, so creating a mental shift to appreciation can actually help you feel more self love and worth which can help to create changes elsewhere in your life for example binge eating or drinking. Your body DOESN'T define you!
Creating goals can actually be a difficult process, but once you nail them for the right reasons you truely will be unstoppable. Use the topics above to help shape and help you create goals designed by you and for you. Because like I opened this blog with is YOU are the most important part in this decision and journey, so please treat yourself with love and understanding at the same time because there's more to you than waistline.
Until next time, be kind and be inspirational.
Brenton
