So you've fallen off the rails...how to get back on-board and set new goals!

I can’t lie to you - I’ve somewhat fallen off the rails with my food during this social distancing order. I’ve been baking amazing bread and desserts, enjoying my wine and Adam’s homemade beer almost every night, and eating tons more pasta, bread, and cheese than normal. And you know what, that’s ok. As you’ve probably heard me mention before, it is absolutely okay to be imperfect during this strange and unprecedented time. It’s hard to stay motivated to workout, eat perfectly, and get everything done. In addition, I’ve read several articles recently about the increase of stress we are putting on ourselves to do more since we supposedly have additional time on our hands. But that’s crazy! We also have more responsibilities like educating and looking after children, running a household with 2 people working full-time jobs and trying not to drive each other crazy (or kill each other).

The point I’m trying to make is that it is not unusual, or a failure if you have been struggling to maintain the healthy habits you had in the past. And, even if you haven’t been successful with your current or past goals, you can always start fresh!

But how do you set and really commit to your goals? It’s not an easy answer, especially if you aren’t feeling motivated, or are not confident in your ability to see it through. That being said, I promise you can achieve your goals and I’m going to share some advice about goal setting and several helpful ways you can get started on your path to accomplishing your dreams.

Write it Down

Once you have a goal in mind, you may wonder where to begin. My first suggestion is to write down your intentions and the real reasons you want to achieve them. Even if your goals seem completely superficial like losing weight to look better in a bathing suit, that is okay. In my experience, I’d say almost all goals have some sort of extrinsic motivation (Extrinsic goals relate to external influences such as money, fame, status, or anything that requires validation from others). We all want to look our best and impress others, but I encourage you to try to also find internal or intrinsic reasons why you want to accomplish your goal. For example, you may want to feel better in your clothes, complete a race or run a certain distance, become healthy to play with your children, or lose weight in order to reduce your blood pressure. You are much more likely to stick with and achieve your goals if you can identify honest, intrinsic reasons behind them.

Make it SMART

Once you’ve identified your goals and why they are important to you, it’s time to make sure they are SMART goals. This stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. Let’s break it down:

• Specific - Your goal needs to be specific - arbitrary goals are much harder to follow/achieve. (ex. I want to complete a 5km race on June 30 / I want to look good in my bathing suit for my vacation in September)

• Measurable - Make sure the goal can be measured by inches, pounds, distance, and check-in at set intervals (every 4 - 6 weeks, etc…but do not weigh yourself every day)

• Attainable - Your goal should be one that you will be able to achieve over time. If you’ve never run before and your intention is to run a marathon, then you may want to start with smaller, incremental goals, such as running for 5 minutes without stopping, running a 10km, half marathon, etc.

• Realistic - pulling from our running example above, if you’ve never run before, is it realistic that you will be able to run a marathon in 4 weeks? No…(or if you do manage to run the distance, it is very likely you’ve put yourself at significant risk of injury). Having unrealistic goals sets you up for failure. Not only that, but it is also hard to stay motivated if you aren’t seeing the progress you think you should be achieving to reach your goal. Set goals that are challenging but realistic. If you are trying to lose weight for your daughter’s wedding in 4 months, losing 100 pounds is not only unrealistic but very unhealthy/harmful. Try setting a more realistic goal (a person can safely lose 1-2 pounds/week) such as 4-8 pounds in a month with an end goal of 16-32 pounds in 4 months.

• Time-bound - a goal without a timeframe is only a thought or idea. Once you set a date to achieve your goal, then it becomes real. If there is no end date set, then what is going to keep you on track? Also, goals that are too far in the future are harder to achieve. Committing to a program with a goal 1 year from now is much harder to stick to than short-term goals. Not only that, but you will see your progress and in turn, be so much more proud of the distance you’ve come! Celebrating wins are INCREDIBLY important to your success!

An Example from Yours Truly

Now that you have the framework for setting your goals, I want to share mine with you as an example.

• Goal: Look and feel confident for a photoshoot with my friend, Paula in mid-July

• Starting June 1

• SMART Goal:

  • Specific: My goal is to lose 3-5 pounds and 5 inches around my body, and gain more visible definition in my arms and abs. In addition, I want to have fewer breakouts on my chin/jawline, get rid of my gut discomfort, feel more confident in my clothes.

  • Measurable: I will measure my weight and body circumference at the beginning of June as well as periodically throughout my journey.

  • Attainable: All of my goals are absolutely achievable. 3-5 pounds/5 inches is a very realistic amount to lose in 6-8 weeks; exercising more and incorporating more weight training will help me increase my muscle mass, and by cleaning up my diet I can improve my gut as well as my skin from the inside out. All of which will help me feel confident and look awesome!

  • Realistic: Same as above…I would love to look like an Instagram model but that isn’t going to happen, is it? And that’s ok. I want to look like the best version of me that I can! My goals are all incredibly realistic/honest and if I stick to my plan I should have no problem achieving them.

  • Time-bound: we are trying to set a specific date for the photo shoot, but are planning on mid-July, possibly July 18th. That gives me between 6-7 weeks to achieve my goals.
    

Now it’s your turn!

I encourage you to take some for yourself and write down what you’d like to achieve! Set some SMART goals and make a plan including a start and end date to reach your goals. I promise you can do it!

I’m beginning my plan on June 1st and I’d love to hear what your goals are! If you are interested, I’d love to start a network of people who are working towards achieving their goals and see if we can help and support each other along our journeys! If you’re interested, please email me at coastsidehealthandfitness@gmail.com. And if you’d like to see my specific plan on how I intend on attaining my goals, let me know!

Good luck and let’s make our goals a reality!