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!!