Are you contemplating making a healthy lifestyle change? Have you sat down to think about what you want or need from nutrition and fitness? Everyone has different reasons for diving into a healthy lifestyle and starting a fitness routine and it is important that each one of you identify that reason and then set your goals accordingly.
Use the above to help you establish your goals. I want you to actually get out a piece of paper and pencil and write a response to each one of the above.
1) Set realistic goals. Changing any unhealthy habits for healthy habits is hard, there are days when it is hard for those who have been eating healthy and working out for years! Your end goal might be a HUGE goal, so start small. If your goal is to lose 50 pounds, for example, set your first goal to lose 5 pounds in your first 2 weeks of your new health regimen. Breaking your overall goal down into small goals makes them more achievable.
2) Write down your goals and be specific. Sounds similar to task #1 right? Write out a plan of how to reach your goal. If we continue with the example from above, it might look something like this: April 1 – 15 My goal is to lose 5 pounds out of my overall goal of 50 pounds. I will do this by practicing portion control, making healthy food choices, planning my meals for each week and making a plan for when weakness strikes. I will commit to working out for 30 minutes 3-5 days per week to include cardio, strength training and stretching.
3) Start visualizing each small goal as well as your overall goal. Is that 5 pounds going to make your clothing fit better? Is that 5 pounds going to make your Doctor congratulate you for a drop in your high blood pressure? This goes back to the reasons each one of us starts the journey to a healthier lifestyle. For some of you it might be medically related – are you going to have more energy to play with your children (or at least keep up with them!)? Is that healthy lifestyle change going to bring you back from the brink of diabetes? For others, it might be the boost of confidence in your favorite jeans or bikini. And for others, the accomplishment of improving your strength and condition, no more getting winded at the top of stairs or participating in your first 5K Run.
4) Reward yourself! Yes, you should reward yourself for each goal you set. The bigger the goal, the bigger the reward. But let me caution you to NOT reward yourself with a brownie ala mode or other food indulgence. Why? You can have a treat now and again, but think back to your why and your goal. Truly, what is going to make you feel more accomplished? That ice cream sundae or brand new jeans in the next size down or a day at the spa?
I would love for you to comment when you have walked through the 4 steps above. A fifth item you might want to add to your list is who is going to support me or hold me accountable to my goals? As I stated above, making healthy choices all the time can be hard, we all have rotten days where it is just easier to curl up on the coach or dive into a dish of chocolate ice cream. But when you have support and accountability partners, they can give you that little bit of motivation so you can talk yourself into just 10 minutes of that workout you planned to do or that cup of fruit you planned for a snack instead of that dish of ice cream. Try it, you might be surprised. Are you finding yourself saying, “yeah, well easy for you to say”? I had numerous days last summer and fall when I just didn’t feel like it that day, I was exhausted, mentally drained and the thought of a workout just made me more exhausted. I would go out to my accountability group on Facebook and post how I was feeling. Sometimes just that “public declaration” was enough to at least start my workout, telling myself “I’ll do 10 minutes, 10 minutes is better than nothing”. I would always finish and always felt better once I was done. There were other times when my coach would comment on my post with encouraging words and that would be enough for me to get started. Ask her, she’ll tell you!
My goal for April is to help 5 NEW people start down the path to achieving their health and nutrition goals! I will be opening a FREE 5 day accountability group next Monday. Three requirements, 1) you have not been in a past challenge group with me; 2) you must want to work towards your goals and 3) establish a FREE team beachbody account via this link: http://bit.ly/1mvzqJj
Don’t wish for it – Work for it!
~Shannon
Coach Moholland 
