BE A SMART "SPRING CLEANER" WITH YOUR WEIGHT LOSS GOALS

We are now officially 80 days within 2009 and a lot has happened. Most of us at the beginning of the year made a resolution or goal centered around weight loss or some body transformation. I would venture to say that probably some of you reading this right now have put those New Year's resolutions/goals back on the shelf to dust them off again next January 2010.

Well pull those goals, promises, resolutions, and commitments back out!!! It ain't over til the fat lady sing, and she's at the buffet line so it's gonna be a minute.

Since Friday was the first day of spring, and we are 3 months away from the bikini season, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect back on the last 80 days and get us back on track and rejuvenated for the next 80 to come.

I thought that we should do some spring cleaning and go through our personal closets to make some alterations to better our current circumstances before spring gets rolling and summer creeps up on us. Here are some suggestions with regards to the goals that you have set forth to see if they need to be adjusted, tweaked, or just flat out thrown out and started over.

As I posted on a previous blog entitled 10 Habits to Adopt For New Year's Resolution, the bottom line is that the most successful people in life are shamelessly goal driven. They know exactly what they want and have some sort of game plan to obtain it.

Let me repeat this last statement.

When you look at any successful person in life, rather sports, business, weight loss, etc. they are goal driven individuals. They know why they want to do something and harness that super motivation to figure out what and by when they want to go about accomplishing that. Furthermore, they plan and prepare for every possible roadblock they will encounter in their path to success.

With that said here are some tips to assist you with your spring cleaning with regards to your weight loss or body transformation goals. We want to be S.M.A.R.T. goal setters! This stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound/ tangible.

Specific- Your goals should never be vague or broad because it leaves out the accountability factor of goal setting. For example, a lot of people, including myself, have made goals wanting to lose weight. In theory, great effort, but no cigar! Tell them what they won, Johnny. It is too broad and vague. How much weight do you want to lose? Put a number on it or a measurement. Do you want to lose weight, tone up, or both? When do you want to obtain this goal? Next month? Next year? By the end of the summer?

That's where a lot of us fail as goal setters, we don't want to put the goal into too specific of terms because it forces us to have to work towards a deadline which if we don't meet, forces us to have to look hard at ourselves and examine why we failed. No one likes to fail, at least the clients that I train. Goals are means to an end. Remember the most successful people in life are goal driven. They set a goal so that it gives them directions on how to get what they are seeking and wanting.

Measurable- The previous tip goes alongside of this one. Make sure that your goals are measurable so that you can track your progress and keep a close eye on what needs to be tweaked or adjusted. The more measurable you have your goals, the more feedback you have in which to use and evaluate progress, stagnation, or regression. Again it's all about accountability and direction with yourself.

Attainable- Be sure that the goal that you have set forth, you can achieve. This doesn't mean sand bag your goals. Aim low, but don't waste your time on something that you know you can achieve without any challenge and effort. At the same rate, don't set the bar too high because you're doomed from the start. Make sure that you set up a goal that is achievable enough to where there is some struggle and challenge to it so that when you do obtain it, the reward and victory will be sweet!

Realistic- Never try to keep up with the Joneses! Let me say that again and then I will explain. NEVER TRY TO KEEP UP WITH THE JONESES! What tends to happen is you attempt to obtain a goal that isn't designed personally for you. Realistic means that the actions associated with your goal are things that you can do. For example, if your goal requires you to spend 2 hours at the gym each day, that may not be a very realistic assumption. What tends to happen when a goal is not set in a realistic manner, the person becomes frustrated and they tend to fall off or quit the goal before ever obtaining it. Success breeds success.

Time bound/ tangible- For goals that have a natural ending (like outcome goals- which are the ones that we are discussing today if you are wondering), establishing a clear deadline for them adds an element of urgency and motivation. Trackability should also be included with time bound and tangible. All goals should be trackable so you can see what your progress is, either in terms of results you are experiencing, or actions you are taking. Tracking your goals helps you determine if you are going in the right direction and make any necessary adjustments along the way.

In addition, to the tangibility, make sure that there are some consequences if you are not able to obtain your goals. Pain sometimes can move us towards what we most desire. Likewise, add a reward as well to the tangible section so that you have something that you will enjoy once you obtain the goal. Why work if you aren't going to enjoy the fruits from your labor? If you write a reward and consequence with your goal, then it adds to the sense of urgency.

And finally, write down your goals and post them in areas where you most frequent. This is great for many reasons. Researchers have done studies that suggest that the more senses (sight, feel, auditory, smell, touch) used the more of a lasting imprint it has in the memory. With that said, if you write down your goals and post them everywhere, the goals become more realistic and aren't easily forgotten. (And as an added bonus...if you write it down, post it all over, and say it out loud daily...it increases the potential to obtaining that goal by 100 fold)!!!

Now that we have discussed a SMART Spring Cleaner, go back and take a look at the goals that you have set forth either recently or pull out the ones that were made for New Year's (heck it isn't too late to start back trying to obtain those) and put them in this format so that when summer gets here you will be turning heads and bringing SEXY BACK! YEP!!

It's A Process!

A. Lamail Spain

Charlotte Personal Trainer and Boot Camp