In the past few weeks I have talked with so many women who have been on that roller coaster of dieting. Why is it that we don’t see results from dieting? We are successful at so many things in our lives, why is this so hard? Here is my take, we as women give all day long. Whether you have kids, don’t have kids, work outside of the house or stay home. We are constantly doing everything for everyone else in our lives. This isn’t bad in fact it is what we were made to do. However, it is time to start reworking our thought process on the big bad ugly word “DIET”! To manage weight and health goals you have to have a lifestyle change.
Dieting for 6 weeks or even 6 months will not work in the long run in most cases. Why? Because we eventually go back to “normal” eating and then magically that weight and lifestyle reappear. So what can we do to stop the vicious cycle? Let’s look at it this way. As you were growing up you learned how to do things gradually. Starting with the simplest things, rolling over, talking, walking, eating and reading. You didn’t start reading a 500 page book at birth, right? So, think about reworking your current life. Yes, it does take time and I know that we only have 24 hours in a day, 8 of which you should be sleeping so that gives us 16 hours to work with!
Why not start with a few small changes and work your way up to being the healthiest you can be?! Over the next few weeks I’m going to share steps to get you on the road to a healthier YOU! They say it takes 3 weeks for a change to become a habit so lets get started!!
Our first change is of course exercise! I would like for you to be “SMART”.
This Means::
(S) SPECIFIC- Be VERY specific with your goal!! Example- I will exercise 3 days a week for 1 hour. This will include… cardio, weights, swimming. Okay I think you get the point!
(M) MEASURABLE- This is the need for concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of the goal. The thought behind this is that if a goal is not measurable, it is not possible to know whether you are making progress toward successful completion. Measuring progress is a way to help you stay on track, reach target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to put in the effort required to reach your ultimate goal. A measurable goal will usually answer questions such as: How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?
(A) ATTAINABLE- How will you attain your goal? When it comes to exercising here are a few examples. Get a Personal Trainer, find a workout buddy or buddies, join a gym or take a new class.
(R) REALISTIC- Can you do this? You need to set a goal that is reachable. Setting a goal of loosing 10 pounds in one month by exercising 3 days a week is attainable. Setting a goal of loosing 50 pounds in a month by eating Oreo’s, not so much! This is where people really falter, they set a goal that is not realistic then stop caring how much they eat and exercise.
(T) TIMELY- Set a time frame to reach your goal. How long will it take for you to realistically reach your goal?
Follow the SMART plan and you WILL reach your goal!! Take small steps for big rewards 😉
Be sure to keep me updated on your progress and let me know if you need any help along the way!
