Happy New Year!
It’s already 2019! It seems like every year keeps going by faster and faster. I hope you all enjoyed the festivities of the holidays. Our Christmas was fairly simple. We stayed in town and enjoyed watching the kids’ happy faces as they opened their presents and had fun playing with their new toys. Over the last week we also took advantage of the beautiful weather and went on a couple hikes with the kids, and went for a run by the Back Bay in Newport Beach. For Christmas dessert, I made this delicious chocolate mousse made with avocados and coconut milk! It was a guiltless treat that everyone enjoyed! The best part for this busy mom is that it only took about 5 minutes to make.
As we roll into the new year, have your thought about your health goals for 2019? When deciding on your new years resolutions, try to think about some steps you can make towards a healthier you. Here are some tips to keep in mind while you are making your resolutions, whatever they may be, to set yourself up for success
Set S-M-A-R-T Goals. You’ve probably heard this acronym before. It’s a great way to get you started on the path for success because it clearly defines your objective and provides you a structured, and trackable road map to follow to attain your objectives.
Make sure your goals are Specific. It’s great to have a more general goal like: I want to lose 15 pounds this year, but that’s not specific enough. Set some more specific mini goals that help you achieve that overarching goal. For example, if your goal is to lose 15 pounds, then focus on 1 or 2 mini goals each week or each month that will help you get there, such as: I am going to work out 3 times a week for at least 20 minutes, or I am going to reduce the amount of unhealthy fat I am eating and add more healthy fat to my diet like wild salmon, olive oil, nuts, and avocados. And then, get even more specific. Ask yourself the 5W questions: who what when where and why? The more specific you define your goal, the more likely you’ll be to achieve it.
Set goals you can Measure. This means having some sort of concrete trackable evidence that you accomplished your objective. Did you work out 3 times last week? How many servings of wild salmon did you have last week? How many pounds have you lost so far? Did you sleep at least 7 hours each night? Setting a goal that you can measure will give you a better chance at succeeding. It also helps to write your goals down each week and track what you did. It’s hard to remember everything, so writing it down will help you see just how far you came from the start, and that can make you feel like you are on a roll. It can also help you adjust your goals for next week, and maybe work on something new.
Make sure your goals are Achievable. If you can achieve one goal and another goal and another, soon you’ll build momentum that’s hard to stop! But setting a big goal without a road map to get you there, or a goal that’s nearly impossible for you to do within your resources and other obligations, might just leave you disappointed and ready to give up. For example, if you set the goal that you want to run a marathon this year or even a half marathon, but you are working 60 hours a week and cannot fit a long distance run into your schedule, you will not be ready for that marathon. When setting goals, take a look at all the steps needed to achieve the goal and if one of the steps needed is not possible (for any reason), then reassess your goal, change the goal, the measurement, the time allotted, or the steps needed to complete the goal.
Keep your goals Relevant. Does this goal really matter to you? Just because your friend loves to run marathons, does that mean that running a marathon is also important to you? You will need to decide. Ask yourself why you want to accomplish this goal. Setting goals that are relevant to what you truly want to accomplish will help you stay focused and motivated. Also, don’t overwhelm yourself with too many different goals that are difficult to manage. Sure, things come up all the time that distract you from where you want to be. I know, I have 2 kids. If your goal is to drink more water this week, then focus on that instead of trying to add too many other goals in the same week that will dilute your ability to focus on the one thing you really want to work on. Once you’ve mastered that one thing and feel you can keep doing it without thinking much about it, that’s a good sign that you’re ready to add in the next goal.
Give yourself a time limit and make your goals Time-Bound. I like to keep my specific mini goals to 1 week at a time, and sometimes even 1 day at a time, but giving yourself a deadline will help you move into action. When there’s too much time allowed, or no end time determined, it becomes easy to forget, get off track, and lose accountability.
Stay positive when setting and working on your S-M-A-R-T goals. For example, instead of setting a goal to stop yelling, set a goal to help manage your anger like taking deep breaths and exercising regularly. It’s better to focus on DOING something rather than NOT doing something. Also, try not to be so hard on yourself if you miss a goal. It might just mean that some unforeseen event distracted you or the goal you set, was not really achievable within the deadline. That means it’s time to reset, not time to give up.
Get some help. Would you like more help with setting your health goals and staying on track and accountable? Work with a health coach who is trained to not only educate, motivate, and guide clients in making positive and lasting lifestyle changes, a health coach will customize a solution that will work for you.
Let’s take healthy back in 2019!