Setting realistic goals from square one...

Whenever I take on a new client and sit them down for an evaluation I always ask them, "So what are your goals?" The answer is usually, "To lose weight". Right from the start, that is an excellent answer however it is like saying "ocean" when someone asks you about your job as exporter of North Atlantic Fish Oil pills. Yeah, it kinda explains it but doesn't really get to the specific point. So we are going to explore goal setting on a more specific level today

"To lose weight"

Losing weight is a very important and worthwhile goal but unless you have a plan for doing it you might as well being throwing darts in the dark while standing in the center of an airplane hanger with your left hand. Statistically, you will never hit the bulls eye. Chances are pretty low that you will even hit the board at all and you will probably end up frustrated, angry, possibly injured and no closer to your goal than when you started. The problem is the overall scope of your goal though.

Goal Setting

If you were to say, "I am going set a goal to go to the gym at least 3 times a week and do at least 30 minutes of cardio at 70% of my max heart rate every time I go", you would be setting a more realistic productive goal. However, while this is a stellar start, you are setting a "gym goal". It's only a portion of the goal you should be shooting for. This is just another place that individuals suffer on their plan. You have to also set a "home goal". What you do at home affects you far greater than what you do at the gym because it's those other 4 days that you are out of your gym mindset that you give in to complacency. I do it myself. It is pretty normal.

At home, you have to have a plan and stick to it. Otherwise, all your hard work is going to slip away and you will be taking 2 steps forward and 5 steps back. This is one of the biggest issues that people have with working out. "I have been working out like crazy 3 days a week and I am not seeing any results". It doesn't take very much to affect what you do and it happens fast. You HAVE to remain vigilant on the days that you don't go to the gym. It's like the saying about a bad apple spoiling the bunch. That is exactly how it works and you have to be careful not to allow this. Ways this can happen are:

-Rewarding yourself with food
-Keeping old habits of overeating
-Insisting that your perception of contentment is real
-Not supplementing your gym days with a little extra, i.e., taking the stairs at work, etc.
-Not tracking your intake
-Thinking that you are doing enough at the gym to be able to eat however you want

This is NOT a lifestyle change. It is a LIFE CHANGE!!!

If you don't modify your behavior and create a real change in habits then you will be doing the equivalent of pushing against a wall that you are building and reinforcing every day.

At Home

Let's focus on home life for a second. As I said, we spend those "non-gym" days at home and this is a huge part of our problem. How do we change it? Consider child-proofing. When you bring a child into your home you go absolutely crazy about electrical outlets and haz-mat cabinets taping off corners on tables as well as a whole slew of other considerations you make to keep that little one as safe as possible. It's a great idea. Now, put that in relation to yourself. Keep healthy stuff in the cabinets and fridge. Boycott all sodas. Start reading the nutrition information on food. Eliminate the possibility of falling into bad habits. Etc...

The best way to alter your behavior is to start at a neurological level. Neural pathways operate on the basis of repeated recognition of perceived data. If you spend 2 years as a typist in a law office and then stop typing for a year do you forget how to type? Of course not. But if you spend that same year typing on a foreign keyboard where the letters and numbers are out of the usual order, do you think you would re-learn typing all over again? Absolutely. This is what we are shooting for. We MUST relearn. If we relearn a new perception of contentment then we will eat less and feel full sooner. If we learn to shop for healthier foods and read the nutrition panel on the back of everything we will develop a new attitude toward what we consume. If we learn to enjoy fruit over sugar rich snacks then we will really overcome our dependence on sugar rich foods (this is a major one).

So let's start to develop some goals...

1. Go to the gym 3 days a week. --just being at the gym will fill you with a desire to work out--
2. Do at least 30 minutes of intermediate level cardio 3 times a week. --220 minus age multiplied by .7 = 70% of max heart rate - this is a good target heart rate and will be conducive to fat burn--
3. Shop smarter. --not as hard as it sounds. Start being more aware of what you are consuming on the basis of calories and saturated fat, trans fat acids, etc. Learn to enjoy sprouts and salad and more vegetables and lightly seasoned chicken breasts and other lean meats--

Remember, keep your goals small and easier to hit but somewhat challenging. Consider the big picture as a bunch of smaller pictures. It's the smaller ones we're going to focus on. Things are a bit easier this way.

More later...