Healthy Fitness Goals
The first blog of 2023 is going to be all about setting YOU up for success. It’s easy to have ideas floating in your head about an idealized lifestyle or version of yourself, but it is something else entirely to plan and execute the journey from point A to point B (or as I like to say through point B, C, etc., to Z).
I’ve written some goal-oriented blogs in the past, so some of this might be repetitive, but you know how I love consistency. First things first, your goals should be SMART goals, aka:
Specific and clearly defined - especially those process goals.
Measurable - For instance, with weight loss, this may be a number; it could also mean lifting more weight, etc.
Achievable - No one likes a goal they can’t crush!
Relevant - To you and your intended outcome.
Time specific - goals with no end are virtually unattainable, and don’t light enough fire to make it desirable.
In addition to your goals containing the above parameters, we have to regularly reassess progress and tweak goals accordingly. Situations change, as do variables, and sometimes this is necessary. For instance if your goal is to build muscle and it isn’t happening over time, you may need to increase your protein intake, or the weight you’re lifting, etc. While goals should be specific and measurable, they aren’t always cut and dry.
Some awesome goals to set to set yourself up for success in the new year could be things like:
Getting 10,000 steps per day - there is HUGE value in walking that people often overlook. Walking is actually one of the best things for fat and weight loss. The more you do it, the better off you are in terms of health and longevity. There are significant decreases in the risk of sudden death and developing numerous diseases as a result of walking 10,000 steps daily.
Lifting weights - the benefits of strength training are lengthy, but strength training at any age can increase bone density and increase lean muscle mass. The more lean mass you have on your body, the more calories your body burns at rest. This is how you retrain your metabolism at any age.
Learning a new skill - it’s good for mental health and the brain as a whole to fire different areas. It boosts confidence and increases health, while your learning speed increases. It also increases your adaptability and helps to connect different skill areas.
Prioritizing flexibility and mobility - prioritizing recovery should be on everyone’s to do list this year. We place so much pressure on performing the tasks that we don’t always take care of our bodies to make these tasks doable. Working on flexibility and mobility with every workout will help prevent injury and increase range of motion to be able to perform those tougher movements.
Practicing a mind/body connection - Meditation and practicing deep connection with the senses can help unpack embedded feelings. Practices such as yoga or tai chi help connect the mind and body through specific breathing patterns and body positions. These types of practices can help with mood and grounding, while providing movement and promoting fat loss.
Some things to consider besides the aforementioned:
Accountability can be an incredibly helpful tool. Having people in your corner that encourage you to reach your goals vs. tempt you to slip up will be integral in your success, especially at first. Once you’ve really ingrained these new behaviors, you’ll be in a better position to stand up to anything and anyone getting in the way of you and your goals.
Planning ahead and prioritizing will be a key part of you seeing your goals to fruition. It’s hard to say we can’t eat healthy when we have healthy meals and snacks ready to go in the fridge. Most of the time making the small decision to keep the binge-worthy, less healthy snacks out of the pantry and the healthy snacks in the fridge is more of a mental thing. If it’s not there, you won’t eat it. So don’t put yourself in the precarious situation to begin with.
Keeping track of your goals and progress is important. Even daily setting intentions and journaling can be helpful with the process - looking back at what did and didn’t work and how you can improve going forward.
Regardless of the small details and how you plan to implement new goals, remember that the journey to health and wellness is a marathon, not a sprint. It will take time to develop habits, see what works, and continually test and retest until you find the sweet spot. Once you do, stick with it! New things are fun, and we should all challenge ourselves from time to time, but the sweet sauce is consistency with the things that work subjectively. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it!