Setting them GOALS

Did you take my advice and do some exercise this week?

If yes - WELL DONE! You are one step closer to what I'm about to explain in this blog post.

If no - the only person you are disappointing is yourself.

I just want to reiterate that exercise is needed to stay healthy but maybe this blog post will motivate you to try some next week. 

Firstly... 

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I want you to tell yourself that you are going to set an attainable goal - this is not a new years resolution situation where you give up half way through February. We are going to set some goals RIGHT NOW and you are going to STICK TO THEM.

Next...

You are going to be a bit more specific than "I want to lose weight" because that is just too broad...

How much weight do you want to lose? 

When would you like to lose this weight by? 

Is weight loss your only view on success? 

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there" - Alice in Wonderland. 

Ways to get there...

How many times have you tried to "get in shape" and failed? - We are going to label those as ways that did not work! We have to find you a different type of exercise or a different way to tackle the same one. 

If you think back, why were these times failures? 

What went wrong? 

How can you learn from these and readjust them to fit into your current goals? 

Its pointless to keep doing the same thing and the same method of doing it over and over without seeing results - learn from it and try something else. 

Tracking progress - 

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There are a few ways to track your progress:

• Track your weight weekly
• Track your measurements (hip, waist, chest, legs)
• Run further in less time
• Doing more reps on the same weights
• Moving to more heavier weights
• Dropping a clothes size

If you set specific goals, you can use these methods above to track your progress and make adjustments where necessary. 

Find your motivation...

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Excuses will only make you stay the way you are. No one else can create your motivation for you. It needs to come from you, for you. So, why do you want to get in shape? 

Have you found your WHY? If you have then making those healthy eating decisions should stop feeling like a sacrifice and more like a relief. When you decide it is something you really want then it is impossible to stop you from trying to reach it but like I said, it needs to come from within YOU. 

Make it public.. 

This could be through a blog like I have done, by telling your friends, family and co-workers, or posting on social media. Sometimes it helps to have people know where you stand and having them ask how things are going also helps keep you in check. 

It also helps you to build a support group to encourage you when need it, prevent you from cheating and make you feel like you are not alone!

Onto the GOALS...  

Lets label this month as "Junk Free June" - this basically means its time to reset and refocus those health and fitness goals. 

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• Be S.M.A.R.T. - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound. Ask yourself:
• What do you want to achieve? 
• Do you know how to achieve it? 
• In what amount of time do you want to achieve it in? 
• How are you going to achieve it? 
• Is this realistic to ask of yourself? 

• Support - finding support could be from exercising with a friend/partner, joining a group fitness class where you can make friends, finding encouragement from collegues/family, posting on social media or getting a personal trainer. Everyone needs support for encouragement and motivation. 
• Find your type - Are you a fan of high intensity workouts or maybe you enjoy dancing or maybe you prefer to push as heavy as possible. You need to find the fitness type that you love - because then you are more likely to stick to it. Remember - this time you are not giving up! 
• Treat yourself - what happens when you achieve that goal? It really is important to treat yourself for your efforts. Make these healthy treats like new gymwear or a splurge on healthy food/supplements.
• Make yourself accountable - It is also important to talk about your goals, envision them and keep striving to achieve them. 

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