How to Quantify Your Health and Fitness Goals
Annie Robinson asked:
We all strive to be healthy, however unless it is right at the top of your list of priorities you will always give in to temptation, whether that is a slice of mud cake or sleeping in and missing your morning fitness session. So first of all we must make health and fitness a goal that has priority in out lives. How?
First of all let’s define, what exactly is a goal? The word goal is defined as a purpose to which your energies are directed toward a specific outcome. Whew! How about this a goal is an intention you have to create a specific result within a particular time frame. Goals can either short term, or long term and the time frame you set needs to be in direct proportion to the goal set. There is no point setting a goal to lose 20 kilos in a week, as this is near impossible and if it is, it just might kill you.
Setting a goal with intention gives you direction, clarity and a quantified outcome. Think of it as dangling a carrot in front of you – and for this reason goals need to be something you really want or the payoff will not be enough to keep you motivated and on track. You have to want it. One way to do this is to make your end result clear; it must also be reachable and very importantly exciting for you. So if the idea of being healthy doesn’t light you up, what will that gives you the same result?
Could you give yourself the goal of being fit and healthy enough to run your local annual marathon? Or to play soccer on the beach with your kids? What about being able to run to the top of your stairs without puffing, or dance the night away without feeling completely washed out and sore the next day, or fit into your favourite **** jeans?
Find something that is exciting to you as your goal that represents the more mundane goal you really have in mind. Remember, all goals need to have a payoff, something you want enough to keep you motivated and a way for you to reward yourself at the end.
Let’s get some clarity on each of the facets of good goal setting:
- Your health goal must be clear State your goal clearly. If your goal is to lose weight, in which part of your body do you particularly want to lose weight and how many kilos do you want to lose and by when? Clarity prods you on your path to create a strategy.
- Make your goal reachable Our goals also have to feel and be reachable for us because if we don’t meet up, we run the risk of tripping up and beating ourselves up. And we lose momentum, could end up as couch potatoes and run far from the goal. So, start with the end in mind and work back from there giving yourself smaller steps until you are back to now. You will now have a calendar of events to reach for that makes it seem so much easier to do.
- Be focused Be clearly focused on the goal you want to achieve, know exactly what you want and why you want it and then know what your reward is for hanging in there. Lack of focus or too many choices leads to indecision and poor results.
- Make your goal exciting If the goal doesn’t motivate you to get up, energise you to get into action and get into momentum, then I don’t think it will take you a long way. You’ve got to want it so much you can imagine it happening and how great your going to feel when you achieve it.
Now you know this, go out and set your goal. Write it down. Stick it on your wall, put it on your computer. Be reminded of your goal and most importantly, take action on the strategy to achieve your goal. Most of all spend 5 minutes morning and night imagining your end result in every detail to keep your motivation high.
Create a video blog
We all strive to be healthy, however unless it is right at the top of your list of priorities you will always give in to temptation, whether that is a slice of mud cake or sleeping in and missing your morning fitness session. So first of all we must make health and fitness a goal that has priority in out lives. How?
First of all let’s define, what exactly is a goal? The word goal is defined as a purpose to which your energies are directed toward a specific outcome. Whew! How about this a goal is an intention you have to create a specific result within a particular time frame. Goals can either short term, or long term and the time frame you set needs to be in direct proportion to the goal set. There is no point setting a goal to lose 20 kilos in a week, as this is near impossible and if it is, it just might kill you.
Setting a goal with intention gives you direction, clarity and a quantified outcome. Think of it as dangling a carrot in front of you – and for this reason goals need to be something you really want or the payoff will not be enough to keep you motivated and on track. You have to want it. One way to do this is to make your end result clear; it must also be reachable and very importantly exciting for you. So if the idea of being healthy doesn’t light you up, what will that gives you the same result?
Could you give yourself the goal of being fit and healthy enough to run your local annual marathon? Or to play soccer on the beach with your kids? What about being able to run to the top of your stairs without puffing, or dance the night away without feeling completely washed out and sore the next day, or fit into your favourite **** jeans?
Find something that is exciting to you as your goal that represents the more mundane goal you really have in mind. Remember, all goals need to have a payoff, something you want enough to keep you motivated and a way for you to reward yourself at the end.
Let’s get some clarity on each of the facets of good goal setting:
- Your health goal must be clear State your goal clearly. If your goal is to lose weight, in which part of your body do you particularly want to lose weight and how many kilos do you want to lose and by when? Clarity prods you on your path to create a strategy.
- Make your goal reachable Our goals also have to feel and be reachable for us because if we don’t meet up, we run the risk of tripping up and beating ourselves up. And we lose momentum, could end up as couch potatoes and run far from the goal. So, start with the end in mind and work back from there giving yourself smaller steps until you are back to now. You will now have a calendar of events to reach for that makes it seem so much easier to do.
- Be focused Be clearly focused on the goal you want to achieve, know exactly what you want and why you want it and then know what your reward is for hanging in there. Lack of focus or too many choices leads to indecision and poor results.
- Make your goal exciting If the goal doesn’t motivate you to get up, energise you to get into action and get into momentum, then I don’t think it will take you a long way. You’ve got to want it so much you can imagine it happening and how great your going to feel when you achieve it.
Now you know this, go out and set your goal. Write it down. Stick it on your wall, put it on your computer. Be reminded of your goal and most importantly, take action on the strategy to achieve your goal. Most of all spend 5 minutes morning and night imagining your end result in every detail to keep your motivation high.
Create a video blog
Setting Health and Fitness Goals
Glen Smith asked:
What is the benefit of a health and fitness plan? When you are healthy and fit, you have better mental alertness, you respond quicker, you relax more under pressure, and you are able to wind down out of stressful situations by getting exercise.
Some people when they relate exercise to the idea of going to a gym or going to a sport and working out so hard after the training that it actually hurts. That’s not the kind of health and fitness I am talking about. Some people do that and every now and again they will go to training, but in general the idea is to get enough exercise that is actually enjoyable without going to the absolute limit all the time.
I can relate this pretty well to the way that you look after a motor vehicle. If you always drive your motor vehicle to its absolute maximum performance, right up to the red line and then change, what you find is that your maintenance costs start dramatically going up.
I remember when I was a teen-ager we used to take out our cars into the forest around Canberra, and go rally-driving with our street cars, and what we found was that all of a sudden you get all these loose bolts and things falling off and all sorts of things start breaking, simply because the cars were never really designed for that sort of punishment, and the people who have race cars, that are rally cars, once they bring them back from the bush, they go through all the bolts and tighten them all up and put lock-tight on the bolts and get rid of all the dirt out of the joints, and so on, and yet here we were, packing the vehicles out, wrapping them around, and then trying to go to and from work the next day. Guess what happened, sooner or later things started to break, usually sooner.
If you treat your body in the same way that we were treating our cars, that is, taking it to the absolute limit all the time, you will start breaking things, hurting muscles, hurting bones, you need to make sure that your body has time to recover from minor injuries. On the other hand, if you work so lightly that you don’t even get a decent work-out; you are totally wasting your time.
We know that going to the gym is not going to be every one’s cup of tea; doing marshal arts is not going to be every one’s favourite activity – some people might like to play baseball or basket ball , or walking down the street, or walking through the park. A lot of people say “I can’t afford a sport”, and that may be true but you cannot afford not to exercise.
The process of exercise makes the body subtle; actually before I started doing marshal arts I had to go and see a chiropractor every week or couple of weeks, because I was having back problems, and what I found was that after I started exercising regularly, I didn’t get anywhere as near as the amount of problems I was getting before.
Heart attacks are caused typically by cholesterol, and healthy exercise will actually help, but it doesn’t actually eliminate the risk of a heart attack. Let’s say that you happen to be blessed with a metabolism that is really high or you work out 18 hours a week and you are really fit, it doesn’t really mean that you won’t have a heart attack, because if you still have high cholesterol or LDL from animal products in a large degree, you can still have a heart attack. It is as simple as that because it is not the fat that gives you a heart attack but the cholesterol.
So don’t you think if I work out and I’ve got this really good-looking body, I really don’t need to worry about cholesterol because I am not fat. I am not saying to overly worry about it but keep it in mind that you need to keep a good balance between the types of food that you eat.
There are some interesting aspects about health and fitness. One is that bone strength is improved by doing resistance training, whether it is lifting weight or doing some sort of exercise where you put resistance against your bones even playing games such as baseball or basket ball.
When you start exercising your bones, you actually strengthen them and managing your bone density or bone strength is partly achieved. Both bone strength, muscle strength adds flexibility. The health of your spine is important so that it is exercised in such a way that the joints get moved and they don’t calcify. If you don’t do any sort of exercise, what happens is that your back stiffens up, the joints calcify and you are more susceptible to pain.
In my job as a computer programmer, I had a stage where because my arms were always stretched out, I had a problem starting to appear in my back; I went to a personal trainer who did a little bit of work on my posture and strengthening the right muscles and I’ve never had a problem since. If I tried to manage that, without doing some remedial exercise or maintenance type of exercise, I would have so much pain that I couldn’t work.
Some of you probably have jobs where you get plenty of exercise, that’s fine.
What sort of goals should you set in health and fitness?
After consulting a health and fitness professional, perhaps go to the gym three times a week. You will be able to measure how much you have done by looking at your score card, and/or setting up a reminder notice in whatever calendar tool you happen to use.
Caffeinated Content for WordPress
What is the benefit of a health and fitness plan? When you are healthy and fit, you have better mental alertness, you respond quicker, you relax more under pressure, and you are able to wind down out of stressful situations by getting exercise.
Some people when they relate exercise to the idea of going to a gym or going to a sport and working out so hard after the training that it actually hurts. That’s not the kind of health and fitness I am talking about. Some people do that and every now and again they will go to training, but in general the idea is to get enough exercise that is actually enjoyable without going to the absolute limit all the time.
I can relate this pretty well to the way that you look after a motor vehicle. If you always drive your motor vehicle to its absolute maximum performance, right up to the red line and then change, what you find is that your maintenance costs start dramatically going up.
I remember when I was a teen-ager we used to take out our cars into the forest around Canberra, and go rally-driving with our street cars, and what we found was that all of a sudden you get all these loose bolts and things falling off and all sorts of things start breaking, simply because the cars were never really designed for that sort of punishment, and the people who have race cars, that are rally cars, once they bring them back from the bush, they go through all the bolts and tighten them all up and put lock-tight on the bolts and get rid of all the dirt out of the joints, and so on, and yet here we were, packing the vehicles out, wrapping them around, and then trying to go to and from work the next day. Guess what happened, sooner or later things started to break, usually sooner.
If you treat your body in the same way that we were treating our cars, that is, taking it to the absolute limit all the time, you will start breaking things, hurting muscles, hurting bones, you need to make sure that your body has time to recover from minor injuries. On the other hand, if you work so lightly that you don’t even get a decent work-out; you are totally wasting your time.
We know that going to the gym is not going to be every one’s cup of tea; doing marshal arts is not going to be every one’s favourite activity – some people might like to play baseball or basket ball , or walking down the street, or walking through the park. A lot of people say “I can’t afford a sport”, and that may be true but you cannot afford not to exercise.
The process of exercise makes the body subtle; actually before I started doing marshal arts I had to go and see a chiropractor every week or couple of weeks, because I was having back problems, and what I found was that after I started exercising regularly, I didn’t get anywhere as near as the amount of problems I was getting before.
Heart attacks are caused typically by cholesterol, and healthy exercise will actually help, but it doesn’t actually eliminate the risk of a heart attack. Let’s say that you happen to be blessed with a metabolism that is really high or you work out 18 hours a week and you are really fit, it doesn’t really mean that you won’t have a heart attack, because if you still have high cholesterol or LDL from animal products in a large degree, you can still have a heart attack. It is as simple as that because it is not the fat that gives you a heart attack but the cholesterol.
So don’t you think if I work out and I’ve got this really good-looking body, I really don’t need to worry about cholesterol because I am not fat. I am not saying to overly worry about it but keep it in mind that you need to keep a good balance between the types of food that you eat.
There are some interesting aspects about health and fitness. One is that bone strength is improved by doing resistance training, whether it is lifting weight or doing some sort of exercise where you put resistance against your bones even playing games such as baseball or basket ball.
When you start exercising your bones, you actually strengthen them and managing your bone density or bone strength is partly achieved. Both bone strength, muscle strength adds flexibility. The health of your spine is important so that it is exercised in such a way that the joints get moved and they don’t calcify. If you don’t do any sort of exercise, what happens is that your back stiffens up, the joints calcify and you are more susceptible to pain.
In my job as a computer programmer, I had a stage where because my arms were always stretched out, I had a problem starting to appear in my back; I went to a personal trainer who did a little bit of work on my posture and strengthening the right muscles and I’ve never had a problem since. If I tried to manage that, without doing some remedial exercise or maintenance type of exercise, I would have so much pain that I couldn’t work.
Some of you probably have jobs where you get plenty of exercise, that’s fine.
What sort of goals should you set in health and fitness?
After consulting a health and fitness professional, perhaps go to the gym three times a week. You will be able to measure how much you have done by looking at your score card, and/or setting up a reminder notice in whatever calendar tool you happen to use.
Caffeinated Content for WordPress
Health and Fitness planning in One Magic Minute
Tracy Benham asked:
Summer is here, and look at you — you’ve done it! You’re exercising more, you’re eating healthier — congratulations! You’re well on your way to living a healthier, happier, fitter life!
Here is a great technique to keep up that momentum and keep you moving toward your health and fitness goals — it happens to be one of the favorite techniques at SHE (Sports, Health and Exercise). We call it the “One Magic Minute– and before you roll your eyes, read on! The One Magic Minute is not a gimmicky program from a late-night infomercial. It’s really just 60 seconds of an easy mental exercise that will help keep you on track. It’s a technique that will remind you to be clear and decisive, and will keep you accountable to your action plans.
Here’s how it works. Set aside one minute each day — a slim 60 seconds — and schedule it for at least one hour before you have a bit of slack in your schedule. Maybe it’s early in the morning before everyone else is awake or in the evening after work but before dinner. Once you’ve determined that hour, spend one minute ONE HOUR BEFORE that hour to stop and think clearly about your work toward your goals. Hold yourself accountable. Ask yourself, “Did I do what I said I was going to do?”
If you did, spend that moment celebrating. Praise yourself for a job well one. Sing, dance, or laugh at yourself for thinking about singing and dancing. Whatever you do, spend 60 seconds feeling good about your success that day. If you didn’t follow through, then here you are — you’ve stopped, and you’ve acknowledged that — and look! — you still have time to make it right! Use that introspective moment to kick yourself into gear — take a look at your fitness blog or your journal — and figure out a way to earn check marks on your fitness to-do list. And hey — if you just can’t make it happen that day, take that moment to commit yourself to making tomorrow’s plan your number one goal for the day.
You are already on the path to a happier, healthier and more active you — you know that nothing is more important that your health. Keep it up, and use your new strength and energy to make a difference in the lives of your friends and family!
So make it happen every day — spend just One Magic Minute reviewing your progress toward a healthier lifestyle. Acknowledge both your successes and your missteps, and remember that your better health increased energy will be the greatest reward you can give yourself and your loved ones.
And well done — keep it up! You are on your way to living the butt-kicking life you’ve been dreaming of!
Caffeinated Content for WordPress
Summer is here, and look at you — you’ve done it! You’re exercising more, you’re eating healthier — congratulations! You’re well on your way to living a healthier, happier, fitter life!
Here is a great technique to keep up that momentum and keep you moving toward your health and fitness goals — it happens to be one of the favorite techniques at SHE (Sports, Health and Exercise). We call it the “One Magic Minute– and before you roll your eyes, read on! The One Magic Minute is not a gimmicky program from a late-night infomercial. It’s really just 60 seconds of an easy mental exercise that will help keep you on track. It’s a technique that will remind you to be clear and decisive, and will keep you accountable to your action plans.
Here’s how it works. Set aside one minute each day — a slim 60 seconds — and schedule it for at least one hour before you have a bit of slack in your schedule. Maybe it’s early in the morning before everyone else is awake or in the evening after work but before dinner. Once you’ve determined that hour, spend one minute ONE HOUR BEFORE that hour to stop and think clearly about your work toward your goals. Hold yourself accountable. Ask yourself, “Did I do what I said I was going to do?”
If you did, spend that moment celebrating. Praise yourself for a job well one. Sing, dance, or laugh at yourself for thinking about singing and dancing. Whatever you do, spend 60 seconds feeling good about your success that day. If you didn’t follow through, then here you are — you’ve stopped, and you’ve acknowledged that — and look! — you still have time to make it right! Use that introspective moment to kick yourself into gear — take a look at your fitness blog or your journal — and figure out a way to earn check marks on your fitness to-do list. And hey — if you just can’t make it happen that day, take that moment to commit yourself to making tomorrow’s plan your number one goal for the day.
You are already on the path to a happier, healthier and more active you — you know that nothing is more important that your health. Keep it up, and use your new strength and energy to make a difference in the lives of your friends and family!
So make it happen every day — spend just One Magic Minute reviewing your progress toward a healthier lifestyle. Acknowledge both your successes and your missteps, and remember that your better health increased energy will be the greatest reward you can give yourself and your loved ones.
And well done — keep it up! You are on your way to living the butt-kicking life you’ve been dreaming of!
Caffeinated Content for WordPress