When I really want to lose weight I get on the scale every day. If I go for a training ride, I have the minimum distance I plan to cover set before butt hits the saddle and then watch the miles tick away on my bike computer as my legs churn. You just set some goals for the new year, so where are they? Do you check them ever day? Week? How often you measure your performance? What plan do you have in place to ensure your success?
Keep your goals in front of you.
I hate resolutions. Seriously. When in the real world of things do you hear of resolutions that make a difference?
Resolutions come at from desperate people in desperate times and aim to completely & radically alter things as they were before. Think about it. People resolve to lose 60 pounds, quite smoking cold turkey after 10+ years and never beat their children again. These are the things that resolutions are often made of. The problem with trying to go from a dead stop to a full sprint with no training is that you are going to hurt only yourself and you aren’t going to achieve your objective of winning the race. People don’t change over night and stick with it.
I propose that better than any new, annualized resolutions is a continued state of setting achievable, but stretching goals. Let me expand.
Dream of the future of where you would like to be in any area of your life. Come on… dream BIG!
Now, take a very honest & real assessment of where you are today. For every one of us the gap between our BIG dream and where we are today is probably quite daunting. So… here is how you can get there.
Think in terms of 4 month increments (Spring, Summer, Fall — winter doesn’t exist where i live; school semesters do though).
Say you really want to lose 60 pounds. IF your long term dream is to do that in a year I suggest giving it two… no one said EVERYTHING has to get done this year; you make the rules! So cut your goal for this year into half to 30 pounds. Divide it by 3 — you need to lose 10 pounds in 4 months. Sounds a little bit more realistic doesn’t it. Now figure out 2-4 factors that will reasonably contribute to you losing 10 pounds (and keeping them off) in the next 4 months. Could be cutting soda out, cardio exercise 3 times each week, no more snacks after 8pm, and fries only once a week.
I am not here to give dieting tips. Here is what i am here for – GOALS