ready, set, goals
Filed Under Tips & Tricks | January 13, 2009
Last week we promised that none of our resolutions would include losing ten pounds in ten days, and they won’t, but most of us do annually set goals which probably include at least one of the following – eat less, eat more healthily, exercise more, lose weight or find more time for yourself. However, just like all the Christmas gear that’s been packed away, these goals are usually pushed aside and not pulled out for another year. So we’ve asked local trainer Hayley McGowan of BabyBumps Fitness to help us ensure that 2009 is different from 2008. She recommends setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and have a time frame.
Ensuring goals are specific is important because it allows you to create a plan to ensure that each day your goal is met. Whether it is making a fruit salad twice a week for breakfast or finding 30 minutes a day to get your heart rate up, you will know exactly what needs to be accomplished.
If your goals are not measurable you’ll have no way of knowing if you’ve been successful or not. By measuring the process, rather than the product, you will be more likely to stay motivated. It could take six months to lose 15 pounds but if you record each step along the way – like having fruit in the morning – you’ll have daily results.
It’s very important to set attainable, realistic goals that fit your lifestyle. If you have children, work full time – or both – it’s not likely that you’ll look like a celebrity on the cover of a supermarket tabloid by this summer. Goals that are unattainable or unrealistic mean you’re more likely to fail, or give up.
Get started by setting one or two long-term goals and then break those down to into a time frame of monthly, weekly and daily goals. This will help you stay on track. Be sure to keep goals simple and re-evaluate them often to ensure that once a goal is met a new one is set.
And be sure to look for support from and share your goals with friends or family who can help you stay focused. If you understand the sacrifices that you are willing and able to make and set challenging, yet attainable goals, 2009 may well be your most successful year yet.
Need help with your goal setting or interested in BabyBumps’ pre and postnatal classes in West Van? Email Hayley McGowan, BHK, CPT, Pre and Postnatal Fitness Specialist, at babybumpsfitness@gmail.com.
2 Responses to “ready, set, goals”
Leave a Comment
Let us know what you think or share your great finds with us so we can share them with other Vancouver mothers!
I find that having a big picture (and achievable) goal like “run a 10k 3months from now” is a great way to achieve a bunch of smaller goals that are actually at the heart of what I want to do. For example, with prepping to run a 10k I know I’ll start regular training schedule which helps in achieving a goal of being more active/getting away from the computer at least 3x a week. I also know that I’ll start eating better/sleeping more as as side effect of training. And then I can also check off “try to reduce stress” from my list of smaller goals. For me personally, if I try to work towards those smaller goals individually then I feel like I’m failing each time I make even a little transgression, but with the larger goal even if I get sick and miss a week of training (or eat nothing but carbs and cheese for a day) as long as I get back on track to meeting the larger goal I don’t take the individual transgressions as such a set back.
I’ve been training for Hayley for almost a year. She’s the first person I’ve ever worked with in this capacity who didn’t promise the moon at the beginning – and this is a good thing. There are so many blowhards these days: people who sell you on presentation without substance. What she’s saying here may sound simple enough, but it’s often the simplest ideas that are the most complicated to follow, giving way to the influx of so many bells and whistles and contraptions and powders and pills that never yield the right results. My personal experience has not simply been goal achievement but an ultimate lifestyle change. And it’s Hayley’s balance of long range and short term goals that came together to redirect that overall approach for me.