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Body Balance

Stay On Track

June 7, 2007
By Lynne Brick, RN, BSN

 
 

We all begin each new year with great expectations and plans: “Finally, this is the year I am going to focus my mind, body and soul to reach my goals.” But day-to-day concerns have a way of creeping in and taking over our lives. What was a high priority in January can become last or nonexistent on our to-do list by May. Here’s how to really stick with a plan to achieve your fitness goals — and to get back on track when you’ve fallen off. Put those resolutions to work!

Goals

First, let’s review goal-setting. What are your short- and long-term goals? Short-term goals can be remembered with the acronym WIN: What’s Important Now. What’s important to you today, tomorrow or next week? Long-term goals can be those that take three to five, or more, years to achieve.

While determining your personal health and well-being goals, think of the acronym SMART.

S = Specific. Be specific. “Weight loss” is not a goal. “Lose 20 pounds” is a goal!

M =Measurable. Your goal should be easily measured on an ongoing basis. Be sure to have access to a scale.

A=Attainable. If your weight-loss goal is 20 pounds, and if you keep in mind that healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week, then it will take at least two months to lose the weight.

R = Relative. Your goal must be relative to your lifestyle and to your general health and well-being.

T =Trackable. Track your progress and celebrate your successful milestones!

The Good News
You only need to remember one number: 21. Twenty-one is not only our legal drinking age and the magical number of blackjack; it is also the number of consecutive days it takes to form a new habit. That’s right! It does not matter whether you are learning how to play golf, master a musical instrument or use a daily planner. The same goes for learning to incorporate healthy habits into your lifestyle. It takes only 21 consecutive days to form a new habit, including a healthy habit!

The Bad News

We are human. We have the best intentions, but “other things” seem to get in the way of our ability to stay focused. The Franklin-Covey Time Matrix is one of the best tools to help us evaluate how we use our time.

The Best News!

We are all guilty of having the best intentions, then falling off. However, when we fall, do we pick ourselves back up and try again, or do we just quit? You don’t have to give up! As the legendary North Carolina State basketball coach Jimmy V said in his famous speech at the ESPY Awards a month before he died: “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” Here are a few tips to help you stay focused and get back on track to achieving your health and fitness goals:

Train your brain. The first step toward a healthy lifestyle is training your brain to remove any negative self-talk. “I was never athletic,” “I’m not coordinated,” “I could never do what you do” — these are thoughts you may say to yourself even if you never say them out loud. But thoughts can become reality. That’s why you should focus on positive affirmations and what you CAN do! As the famous UCLA basketball coach John Wooden says, “Don’t let what you can’t do stop you from doing what
you can!”

Play with your dream team. Exercise with a friend, co-worker or family member.

Join a health club, not a gym. The goal of a health club is to offset the deleterious effects of daily life, aging and gravity. The goal of a gym is to look buff at the beach.

5 in 30: Exercise at least FIVE times the first THIRTY days. Research proves that the more frequently you exercise or use your health club — especially within the first month — the more likely you are to stick with your new lifestyle program for life! (Please note that the first month can be any month!)

Go slow and gradually increase your exercise duration and intensity.

Go to a pro. Health clubs are staffed with fitness professionals who are highly trained, certified and there to help you!

Obtain your doctor’s approval before you begin any exercise program. (Be sure your doctor exercises regularly, too!)

Prevention is the key to longevity. Don’t wait until you’ve had a life-threatening health scare to start exercising daily. Ask Sandy Unitas. If she had not been asked to speak at Sister to Sister (a group focused on preventing heart disease in women); if she had not subsequently been inspired to have a cardiac screening herself; and if she had not been working with a personal trainer, an unsuspected but potentially life-threatening heart condition might not have been detected until it was too late! Happily, Sandy got the medical care she needed and is around to tell us her story of how exercise has become a crucial habit.

Goodbye guilt. This is the time that no matter which paths our lives follow, we WILL stick to our goals. If we fall off, we WILL get back on track, guilt-free!

The best to you!

LYNNE BRICK is the owner of Brick Bodies® and Lynne Brick’s Women’s Health & Fitness™, a chain of coed and women-only health clubs in the greater Baltimore area. An author, international fitness consultant and motivational speaker, she can be reached at Lynn...@Brickbodies.com.

 
 
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