Small Goals, Big Changes!

I sure you all have notices that I haven’t posted in a few weeks. Well I have to say that I have been a little lazy in that regard and I’m sorry. I have been a little unmotivated lately and I’m now back on track.

Find motivation and keeping it is sometimes hard because the results we want come slowly. We have to be patient with ourselves and keep working. I understand that a lot of us are working on goals that are appearance oriented, and the majority of the rest are general health, but whatever you specific goal is write it down. Look at it every day.

I will caution that if you goal is to look like a movie star or fitness model, be prepared to become independently wealth and then make your whole life revolve around fitness and diet. I have fallen into that same game of comparison, but I realized that I will never have all day to work out for work. I will never have a personal nutritionist that tells me what to eat and then a personal chef that makes it for me.

That being said, I do have control over somethings, like what my goals are. Currently my goals have to do with scoring high on that Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and returning to what I looked like when I was in high school. Both of these goals are within my grasp. The difficulty for all of us comes when we work out for a week and don’t see any results. I have done this so many times in the past it’s unreal.

I believe the key to goal setting is long term goals, like the ones stated above, and short term goals that are easier to manage and track on a weekly or daily basis. These weekly and daily goals need to be measurable and they have to be something that is completely in your control. A good example of these goals would be: I will work out 5 days a week for 35 minutes a day, by following a workout schedule that I have created. Of course you must then make the schedule, and track the days that you work out. An example of a bad daily goal would be: “I will lose 5 pounds each week for the next 5 weeks.” This is a poor example because you can’t control the rate at which your body burns fat, or in other terms there is no way to calculate on a daily basis your progress toward that goal. Sure you could step on a scale before and after a workout, which I have done, but you will have lost, or gained water weight depending on how much you drink throughout your work out.

Small goals keep me motivated because they show me that I’m on the right track, and I know that eventually they will get me to where I want to be. Make every work out count. Like I have said before if you are just starting out start slow and build. The main thing is building the habit of exercise and proper nutrition. Once you have that foundation established push hard so that you get the results that you desire. If there are any topics you would like me to discuss comment, and I will try and address them.

"I will do whatever is necessary in order to reach my goals."