SMART Goals

Are you on a weight loss journey? Are you having a hard time sticking with it? This next blog will help you acquire better strategies to achieve your goals. By reading this, I hope to provide you with the tools and guidance to help you get started and keep you on track. This blog is targeted more for individuals wanting to lose weight versus those looking to increase muscle mass however, any of these principles can be used for your goals too.

1. Setting a SMART goal

If you have tried to lose the weight by yourself, you may have realized it's not as straight forward as calories in / calories out. The purpose today is to discuss how to set your end goal (outcome) and how to set behaviour targets in order to reach it. When www.iflymore.org setting your outcome goal, be sure to fill in the acronym for a SMART goal:

Specificity

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time sensitive

2.What drives you to reach your goal?

Most goals are aesthetic in nature, but think of the underlying reasons why you want to lose the weight. List a few personal reasons why you want to achieve your goal. Ask yourself why do I want to lose weight?

i.e. to be able to play with my kids, decrease pain in my joints, to have more energy, to be more social, to decrease blood pressure, to manage my diabetes, to improve my overall health, to not be judged, to have children, to be able to travel, to be able to go for surgery (ACL, TKR), I have a history of heart disease in my family and want to decrease the likelihood of having a heart attack etc Having an emotional feeling/connection to your outcome goal will help you overcome obstacles and barriers you will face along throughout your weight loss journey.

3. Roadmap to success

Let's say you're planning your dream vacation. To arrange this, you have to book your flights/plan your route, arrange accommodations and activities, the list goes on. The same goes for setting a weight loss goal (aka: your destination). You have to figure out how you are going to get there. If not, it likely won't happen.

Ultimately, you will be more successful when you break down your outcome goal into smaller objectives; setting yourself up with daily, weekly or monthly targets. Every little goal achieved is one step closer to reaching your end goal. Ask yourself which steps you are willing and going to take in order to reach it. So what would your roadmap look like? Here are a few questions to ask yourself and solutions to help you out.

1. How will you keep track of your progress?
   1. Fitness/ Aesthetics
      1. Tanita scale to measure your body fat % and total weight loss
      2. Measuring your circumference (chest, waist and hips)
      3. Blood pressure (weekly) and resting heartrate (weekly)
      4. Track weights used during your session on a tracking sheet
   2. Nutritional goals
      1. Weekly visit with our Registered Dietitian or Sports Nutritionist
      2. Food portion tracker (track portions for each day)
      3. Make 1-2 behavior changes weekly (i.e. eating 2 servings of vegetables a day/ drinking 1 less coffee a day or eliminating soda etc)
2. What obstacles might prevent you from reaching your goal?
   1. Think of your lifestyle:
      1. schedules, lack of time, commuting, social outing with friends, little knowledge of exercising, injuries, lack of motivation, don't know what foods to eat, don't like cooking, more convenient to buy lunch, travel often, healthy food doesn't taste good, I forget to drink water throughout day, etc. The list of obstacles can be endless. We often make excuses for ourselves and therefore build more barriers, because it's usually the easiest way out of starting a change to your current lifestyle.
3. What can you do to overcome these obstacles?
   1. To answer this question, write down ways/solutions to work through your obstacles. Having a solution to a problem will definitely help you overcome that obstacle.
      1. i.e. take cooking lessons, find recipes with few ingredients, schedule your training sessions with a fitness professional, meet with a dietitian/sports nutritionist, plan your meals ahead of time for the week, drop a cup size for your morning coffee, look for healthy items often marked on restaurant menus, etc

Lastly, take to time to fill out your own Goal Action Planner to set your individualized weekly goals.

The tools given and points discussed in today's blog will help you stay on track and motivated. Follow this, achieve your goals one step at a time.

1. Set a SMART goal
2. Determine WHY you want to lose weight
3. Build your ROADMAP by filling out your Goal Action Planner