GOALS

We are all at fault of telling ourselves that we cannot do certain things. I don’t have time for the gym. I know I should go, but this is way better than running. I can’t do that tonight, I’m exhausted. Sound familiar? We are all guilty of letting ourselves believe we cannot do something or not wanting to do when it comes to life but more so with health and fitness. When in reality that might not be the fact.

Many people think they don’t like running (for example) when it’s just your mind giving you the “I don’t” or “I can’t” excuses.  It’s crazy how we can train our brains into thinking differently about something and then we automatically have a new perspective on that topic. This is where goals come in. Each year we tell ourselves that we will make time for our health and fitness goals, but it never fails that life gets in the way. Time commitment seems to be one of the main reasons why we fall short of those goals. Whether that being a diet you wanted to follow or the weight you wanted to lose. 

Since we never seem to accomplish our health and fitness goals for that New Year why not change those to monthly goals. Doing this has not only helped me accomplish more goals but I have actually seen many changes.  Not only with my health and fitness, but with my energy level and much more. 

Here are some tips that will help you meet your diet, weight loss and fitness goals. 

1. Know YOUR Personal Limits and Be Reasonable
   Setting different goals such as; I am not going to eat any sweets for this entire month, or I’m going to lose 20 pounds by the end of the month. We all have that specific food that tempts us whenever we go to a party or walk through the grocery store. In time of need we will devour that temptation. When you know that there is something that tempts you try to not just eliminate it completely from your diet, be reasonable and have a sensible portions. This will allow you to not go crazy and binge into that desire. Being reasonable will help you accomplish this goal long term. When trying to lose weight we have to remember that each individual is different. While some of us can lose weight quicker by just exercising others might have the opposite effect and gain weight because of muscle mass. My advice is to know your body, try not to compare to others and to be reasonable when setting goals for YOUR LIFE!!
   
2. Write It Down and Make It Visible
   This is something I believe in 100%! When training for a competition, trying to lift heavier or just wanting to run for a certain amount of time, put a plan on paper is something that will help you. When I trained for my first half marathon, I wrote down what mileage I needed to run each day. I put this in my planner as a reminder of my goals each day (my planner is my life.) (Side note: I love pens, markers, Sharpies whatever it might be.) I marked each day I completed a run with fun markers. I don’t know about you but when I mark something off my list of goals, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and it keeps me wanting more!
   
   
   
3. Plan Ahead With Diet
   You know you’ve been in this situation before where we put ourselves on these crazy and silly strict diets, and then hunger hits you in the middle of a trip. There is no food in sit that follows the strict diet you thought would be a good idea, so you reach for that cookie (becauseeeeee you have to eat something, right?) the splurge begins. To maintain your diet remember to plan ahead and bring healthier snacks in the car on road trips. (My go to snacks are fresh fruit/veggies, any kind of natural bars and dried cereal). Try Planning ahead for a couple of weeks. Pack your lunch for work/school, pre and post workouts and dinner. Meal prepping every Sunday start your week out on the right foot has truly been a major scale in keeping my health and weight in check.
   
4. Find Fun and Accomplishment in Exercise
   Before I joined Pure Barre, I never really enjoyed group fitness classes, boot camps or yoga. Basically group exercise wasn’t ideal for me. A friend invited me to come to a free PB class which I surprisingly FELL IN LOVE with! I’ve had many conversations with friends in PB class how it’s not only motivating but it’s something we have fun doing. When you find something that you enjoy fitness wise stick with it. Whether it’s PB, boot camp, cycling or a class at your gym. You’ll more likely WANT to go workout in those times when you are feeling sluggish or having zero motivation for exercise. Making fitness FUN, makes your goals that much more attainable and will slowly become part of your life and not a chore your tasked with.
   
5.  CHEAT DAY!
   We’ve talked earlier about depriving yourself or taking something out of your strict diet that tempts you. Guess what! You can actually have those, and YOU NEED TO! Once a week having a cheat meal… noticed I said cheat meal and not a cheat day is what will help keep you on the right path. You need to allow yourself the food you are craving. Cheat meals will allow you to eat those foods that you have been craving all week and keeps you sane.
   
6. Set and Mark Off Deadlines
   You will not get that gratification of writing down your goals without a start/end date. I do this monthly, but you can do whatever is easiest for you. When keeping your goals without an end date, how will you ever measure progress? When you know the completion date is coming up, you are so proud of how far you have come and more likely to stay on track. Helpful Hint/Tip-something that has helped me stay on track is a reward such as new workout clothes, one night going to a healthy dinner (YAY no cooking!) or buying something new I’ve been wanting. Like these!
   
   
   
   
   
7. Keep Track
   There are so many different apps, watches and accessories that track your fitness. The one thing that has helped me the most (which it free) is taking a picture of yourself. This might not sound ideal, but putting on that bikini that you want to rock this summer will give you that motivation to push yourself even harder. Take a picture of yourself every week on the same day to see your body transform into that rocking body that you’ve desired!

Hope everyone enjoyed! If you have any questions about anything health or fitness related that I can help with, Email me! I would love to help you kick start a new lifestyle!