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How to get healthy, in five easy steps. Step 2, setting goals.
Filed Under Healthy Habits, Motivation
- How to get healthy, in five easy steps.
- How to get healthy, in five easy steps. Step 1, research.
- How to get healthy, in five easy steps. Step 2, setting goals.
- How to get healthy, in five easy steps. Step 3, the eating plan.
- How to get healthy, in five easy steps. Step 4, the activity plan.
- How to get healthy, in five easy steps. Step 5, evaluate and retune.
We’re working our way through a simple plan to good health this week, continuing with step 2, setting goals.
Like research and planning, goals are often overlooked. Either we ignore goal setting or we move ahead with an unrealistic goal. For most people, goals are something along the lines of “lose weight” or “get fit”, things that are nebulous and cannot be measured. This is bad because if a goal cannot be measured, how do you know when you’ve achieved it? This kind of goal can be demoralizing because you never feel successful. It can also lead to poor performance since you don’t have something specific you’re striving for. Losing weight for example could mean losing 1lb or losing 100lbs. So let’s take a look at some better ways to set goals.
General Goal Setting
A good goal is one which is measurable and has a time frame associated with it. For example, “I want to go to Europe by end of next year.” That’s a great goal. It clearly spells out what I want to do and when. Now I can start working on this goal. By comparison “I want to travel” is not so good. It doesn’t tell me anything I can start working on or a time frame so I can schedule things. This also applies to any health goal. You want it to be specific, measurable and have a time frame associated with it. You also want to make things realistic. “I want to be a multimillionaire by next week” is measurable and has a time frame but I doubt it’s realistic.
Weight Loss Goals
The first and probably most common goal people set for themselves is a weightloss one. We’ve all heard this one “lose some weight” is the most frequently used version. First of all, this is a bad goal because it cannot be measured. However, it’s also bad because weightloss by itself is not necessarily healthy. You can lose weight by starving yourself but I wouldn’t say you were healthy. I could lose weight by not working out and losing muscle mass but that too would be unhealthy.
If your only goal is weightloss then you’re setting yourself up for failure. Weightloss is not a health goal, it is a side effect of being healthy. In fact, some people can get healthier and actually put on weight. For example, if you’re severely underweight right now and have low muscle mass, you could begin eating better, working out and then gain weight as part of becoming healthier.
Of course for most people, it’s true that some weightloss might be beneficial. So a weightloss goal might be useful, but only in conjunction with other goals. That is, never let a weightloss goal be your only goal, it should be one of a number of goals you will work towards.
If you do want to set a weightloss goal, make it realistic. You will probably lose an average of 1 to 2lbs a week. So keep that in mind. Also, keep in mind that a healthy body has a good amount of muscle and that muscle weighs a lot more than fat. So you might be underestimating your ideal weight. Rather than having your ideal weight as your goal, I would recommend setting interim goals. For example, if you felt you were 80lbs overweight, don’t set up your weightloss goal as “lose 80lbs in the next 12 months.” Instead, say something like “lose 20lbs over the next 4 months”. That’s realistic and doable. When you’re done with this goal, you’ll feel as though you’ve achieved something and this will hopefully keep you motivated. Also, you’ll be able to reassess things when you’re done with this interim goal and see what the next goal should be.
Size Goals
These are actually better than weightloss goals since size is a better indicator of health than weight. A good example of a size goal is “lose 1 inch off my waist in the next three months” or “1 smaller dress size by end of the year”. Again, keep it realistic and set interim goals rather than end goals. It may be nice to have an end goal, but it’s more motivating to have interim goals. Those are more immediate.
Eating Goals
Eating goals are things like “By end of this year, I want to stop drinking caffeine” or “by end of this month, I will eat three servings of vegetables a day”. They’re very good but they only represent a part of an overall plan. I would recommend that you use them as a way of incorporating healthy eating habits into your life, but they’re really more of a planning tool than a goal. That is, this kind of goal is more of a way to achieve other goals than a purpose in and of itself.
Activity Goals
Just like eating goals, activity goals represent some targets you set for yourself in terms of the activity level in your life. They are things like “Workout three times a week” or “bike to work once a week this month”. They’re really more of a planning tool I think but they can still be useful as a way of incorporating physical activity into your life. If they work for you then by all means, feel free to use them.
Performance Goals
Now we’re getting into the best kind of goal. Performance goals are where you really set yourself great health goals. These are the ones that measure how well your body is doing and not just how small or large your rear end is. Performance goals are related to some kind of physical activity. They can be expressed in very straightforward and very measurable terms. For example “By the end of the year I want to be able to run 2.5 miles on a treadmill at 1.5degree incline in under 30 minutes”. That’s a great goal. It’s measurable, it’s doable and it tells you exactly what you need to do. When we get to the planning portion of this series, you’ll see how goals like this can translate into very specific plans, which is what makes them great.
You can also use performance goals with things other than cardio. For example “I want to do ten reps of a 100lb bench press in three months” or “I want to hike up Monument Peak in less than 2 hours by end of Summer (September 1st)”. I would really recommend performance goals because of how well they translate into a very specific plan of action.
Health Goals
These are the most exact and also the most difficult to measure. Health goals are “I want to reduce my cholesterol to the following level: ____” or “I want to lower my blood pressure to ____”. They are the most exact because these numbers can give us a great view into your health. However, the are difficult to measure since we can’t really see them on our own and usually need to consult with a doctor in order to obtain these measurements. If you followed my recommendation and got a physical as part of your research phase, then you at least have a starting point. Talk to your doctor when you get your physical and see what he or she would recommend as a health goal. Write it down and next year, when you go for your physical, see how well you’re doing. Your doctor might also give you some tips on how to achieve these health goals. Make sure to write them down since you’ll want to incorporate them into your plans.
Goal Sets
The best goals are the ones made of of multiple smaller goals. Here’s a good example:
- I want to lose 4lbs each month for the next 12 months
- I want to improve my running speed by 1mph each month over the next 12 months
- I want to reduce my waist size by 1 inch each 6 months over the next 12 months
This person has a set of three goals that together make up a very good health target. Even better, each of these goals is made up of a series of smaller goals that can be worked on over a short period of time. They’ll know exactly how they’re doing at the end of each month and will be able to change plans accordingly.
Summary
Goals are what drive us. They motivate us when they’re good, but they can demoralize and confuse us when they’re vague or badly set. Look at your life and then write down a set of goals that will challenge and drive you to greater health. Tomorrow, we’ll see how to use these goals as part of our planning stage.
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[...] to get healthy, in five easy steps.How to get healthy, in five easy steps. Step 1, research.How to get healthy, in five easy steps. Step 2, setting goals.How to get healthy, in five easy steps. Step 3, the eating plan. This entry is part 4 of 4 in the [...]
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