Happy New
Year everyone!
Health, fitness,
and nutrition articles this time of year consist almost entirely of
“Resolution” themes . . . “Make this YOUR Year to Lose Weight” . . . “5 Keys to
Keeping your New Year Resolutions” . . . “Make your Dreams a Reality . . . “
and so on.
Truth be
told – I do not make New Year’s resolutions.
I despise them, in fact, for two reasons: 1) Life gets in the way and
people rarely keep them past February, and 2) I believe if you want to change
something in your life, do it right now – don’t wait for a new year or even a
new week.
As a health
professional, though, I obviously want people to set and accomplish goals to
improve their mind, body, and spirits. So
rather than helping everyone with their New Year’s resolutions per se, I will
do my best to help you achieve any health-related goal, whether you decide to
plan it on January 1st or any day of the year.
People
often set lofty, general goals such as “I want to lose weight” but do little to
break that goal down to determine the very specific steps necessary to achieve
it. “I want to lose X pounds” is a great
long-term goal, but SMART goals provide direction and basis for measurements
along the way. I can not take credit for
coming up with this acronym, but I utilize it with my clients and encourage
others to do the same. For every
long-term goal (what you would like to achieve in the next 1-6 months) you set,
create 2-3 SMART goals.
S –
Specific
M –
Measurable
A –
Attainable
R –
Reasonable
T – Timed
Example
#1 (Using SMART goals to measure potential success):
- Long-term goal: “I want to lose 50 pounds by July.”
- Analysis – 50 pounds in 6 months equals 8.3 pounds per month, which equals an average of just over 2 pounds per week.
- SMART Goal: I will lose 2 pounds by the end of next Sunday.
- This goal is specific, measurable, reasonable, and timed, but is it attainable? Two pounds per week, every week for 6 months equates to A LOT of work (creating a calorie deficit of roughly 1,000 kcal per day). Whether or not this goal is attainable, is up to you and your trainer/coach.
Example
#2 (Using SMART goals to determine specific steps):
- Long-term goal: “I want to lose 50 pounds by July.”
- Analysis – You know that skipping breakfast is a barrier to your weight-loss success since it causes you to over eat at night.
- SMART Goal: I will eat breakfast every day next week.
- This goal is specific, measurable, and timed, but not very reasonable and, thus will only be attainable for a short period of time (likely 1-2 weeks). “Shoot for the stars” on your long-term goals, but “aim low” for your SMART goals! The key is to maintain these SMART goals each week and build on them as you approach your long-term goals.
- Better SMART Goal: I will eat breakfast at least 3 out of the next 7 days. (A month from now, change it to 4 out of 7 days).
Each time
you create a SMART goal, you should read it (since you need to write it down)
and confidently say, “I can do that”. Challenge
yourself – do not write down anything too easy (something you have done a
hundred times prior) or anything too hard (unreasonable or unattainable). Assess your goals 1-2 times per month and
reevaluate as necessary.
Good luck
with your resolutions – and be SMART about your goal setting and decision
making.
Justin Robinson, MA,RD,CSSD,CSCS,FAFS
Director of Sports Performance - RU Sports Performance Center
www.RehabUnited.com
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