Activity-Based Goals for living healthy and lean!

Today, I want to focus on how to set appropriate goals for living healthy and lean so you can get into that itty bitty bikini or cool pair of board shorts!  All too often, I hear people set goals that focus on the end result and not the process. For example, most often people set goals that focus on losing a certain number of pounds by a certain date.  Or they focus on being a certain clothing size, gaining 6-pack abs or fitting into their jeans from when they got married J.  The problem with focusing on the end result is you can’t always predict what path or how long it will take to reach your goal.  If you’ve been a couch potato for years, you don’t know how your body will respond to healthy eating and exercise.  Instead of focusing on your end result goal, I recommend you set activity-based goals that focus on accomplishing the activities that lead to your end result goals. 

Let’s take your average 30 year old male that has a spare tire around his waist and sets a goal to lose 30 pounds.  Now, let’s convert that end result goal of losing 30 pounds into activity-based goals in the healthy eating and exercise categories. Remember living fit is 85% kitchen and 15% gym! There are a lot of people that exercise often that are sportin’ bellies J.  Set a goal to increase the number of healthy meals you eat each week and the amount of water you drink each day. Or set one to decrease the number of unhealthy snacks you eat each week.  Set a goal to reduce your portion size from a platter to a plate.  Set a goal to reduce your sodium intake, your soda consumption or the number of sugary snacks you eat each week.  Take note of how you currently eat and drink and develop a plan to gradually improve your eating.  Remember my first blog … take baby steps!! By doing this, we have converted your goal into specific action items that can become lifelong habits instead of short-term events. 

For exercise, set activity-based goals to lift weights 3-4 times per week, walk or run so many minutes per week, take the stairs instead of the elevator 50% of the time, ride your bike to work or on weekends with the kids, dance for so many minutes, etc. Set goals to limit the amount of time your butt is in contact with the couch each week.  It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you turn off the TV J. 

In both cases, we are setting activity-based goals that you can control and develop into a lifestyle!  If you eat better and exercise often, the health and shape of your body will improve.  The improvements will come in the form of increased strength, increased endurance, increased energy, lost weight, lost body fat, increased muscle, smaller waist line, bigger chest and arms, etc. You may lose fat and shrink in some areas and gain muscle and grow in others! You may also find that you lose 30 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle, but look way better.

We have not forgotten the end results goal, we’ve just converted it from a short-term event that we have little control over into a activities that we can develop into a lifelong lifestyle!  Make your activity-based goals enjoyable and ones you can maintain.  Have fun and get ready to enjoy your board shorts or bikini body!!

Take Baby Steps!!

I’ve been receiving a lot of inquiries lately on how to get fit & trim for the summer, so I thought I would share a couple of my thoughts to a wider audience via blog. I’ve wanted to blog for months now, but this is my very first entry.  Why? I’ve procrastinated, been busy, didn’t know where to start or which blog service to use, didn’t want to start something I couldn’t keep going, made a bunch of excuses, etc. I got a laugh when I realized the answer to getting fit & trim is the same as the answer to blogging … Take baby steps!!

If you have been a couch potato for the last decade, don’t try to be a cover model in the next 90 days J.  Take baby steps!!  Find 1 or 2 things you can do consistently and do those things until they become habits. Once you build consistency with these things, you can add additional improvements or set higher goals.  This will build psychological momentum and put you on your way to developing a healthy & fit lifestyle. 

If most of you saw my eating plan, you would walk away and say it’s not worth it!  But, I didn’t start eating as healthy as I do now … overnight.  I gradually improved my eating over the past 15 years.  For example, my first eating goal was to not eat fast food every night when I got home late from work.  So I went from having burgers, fries and soda every week night to having chicken teriyaki, rice and veggies.  I made a goal that was an improvement and realistic for me at that time. I definitely could not have given up McDonald’s fries for good back then J. 

If you haven’t worked out in years, don’t make a goal that you will work out at 6am every day for the next 90 days!  That’s a very drastic change that most people can’t stick with.  I’ve noticed that the “New Years’ Resolution Gym crowd” fades away before the end of January!  Make a goal to work out 2 to 3 days per week.  That’s an improvement without being overwhelming and is something you can stick with until it becomes a habit. 

So, if becoming fit and trim is one of your goals, I encourage you to improve your diet and exercise in small, sustainable increments.  Like I said … take baby steps!!