Realistic Goals

For me, one important thing when exercising and eating right is to set realistic goals. I know that I will never have the body I had at 18. I may be able to slim down, tighten and tone, but my hips have spread a little since high school. My husband says they are making room for babies! haha  I have saddlebags on my outer thighs that I am working on, but my hips are still wider.

My main goal in all of this is to feel confident in the clothes I'm wearing. Before I started in April, I was so embarrassed of what I had let my body become that I was wearing sweatpants and high-waisted jeans to cover up my love handles and muffin top. My thighs had me so embarrassed that the thought of wearing shorts disgusted me! My goal is to get back the confidence I once had to wear the trendy clothes and not feel like I have to cover up what's trying to hang out! I have a few pair of shorts and pants that I want to fit back into for the summer.

If you're trying to make your fitness goals, here the guidelines to making S.M.A.R.T goals:

S - Specific:


•You must state your goal as specifically as possible.
•Try to put as much decision work into your goal now.
•Set the goal “lose 20 pounds” instead of “lose weight”.
•But you can do even better. Try “Lose 20 pounds by increasing my exercise to 4 times a week and reducing sugar and portion size”.
•Have your goal be like an instruction telling you what to do.

M - Measurable:

•You need to have a way to measure progress.
•Progress will feel good and measuring will keep you from cheating. The goal “lose 20 pounds” can be measured by a scale.
•Produce evidence for your progress. If your goal is to “reduce stress” create a stress measure for yourself like the number of times you get upset everyday.
•Keep a log and record each stressful reaction.

A - Attainable:

•Your goal should be meaningful to you. It should be set by you, not someone else.
•The goal should be inspiring enough that it motivates you to success. If you are not determined to meet your goal, obstacles will be very difficult to overcome.
•If your doctor says, “lose weight” and your wife says, “lose weight” but you are not inspired by this, find another goal that also improves your health while you try to find a way to become inspired about weight loss.

R - Realistic:

•Goals should be ambitious, but not impossible.
•Do not set yourself up for failure.
•Choose a goal that you are confident you can reach, but that will stretch yourself also.
•Break large goals into smaller goals.
•Create a plan to do all the steps you need.

T – Time Based :

•When will you finish your goal?
•You need to choose a time, the sooner the better.
•Saying “I will lose 20 pounds in 3 months” is good, but saying “I will lose an average of 2 pounds every week for 10 weeks” is better.

Write your goal:

Now really think about your goal. Finish the following sentence, write it down and put it somewhere you can see it.

I will [your goal here] by [how you will do the goal]. I will know I am making progress because [how you will measure the goal] [time goes here].

For example: I will lose 20 pounds by increasing my exercise to 4 times a week and cutting back on sugar and portion size. I will know I am making progress because I will lose 2 pounds a week for ten weeks.

Source



See a goal. Write it down. Make yourself accountable!