Setting Goals for 2024

As I thought about a topic for this month’s blog, 2024 is right around the corner and one thing on my “to do” list is to set personal & professional goals. Yes, I could write something about exercise or nutrition, but when it comes to health and fitness, goals are the first thing that come to mind. What does setting a goal mean to me? It means saying I want to do something and then doing everything in my power to ensure it happens. I set both a long-term goal (e.g. lowering my LDL or "bad" cholesterol level will be mine for 2024) as well as a short-term goal (e.g. eat more fiber daily). Short-term goals are often little steps toward a long-term goal, you could think of them as small pieces of a puzzle that make up the bigger picture.

We all know that setting goals is beneficial if we want to succeed in many aspects of life to include our health and fitness. Goals not only give us something to work toward (a sense of purpose), but they also push us to do more than normal, especially as we see them come to fruition. Think about the last time you took action toward a goal and reached that goal. Each time you got closer and closer to achieving that goal, it helped motivate you to keep going. Sure, we don’t always meet our goals, which can cause frustration and discouragement. We may even feel like giving up. For example, a friend of mine had a goal to deadlift 260 lbs within a year. When she reached her year mark, she failed to reach her goal. She was discouraged, very hard on herself and wanted to give up. But, after a few days she realized how much progress she had made and didn’t want it all to be for nothing. She made some changes to her training and was persistent. Within the next 3 months, she reached her goal!

Getting healthier, losing 20 pounds, getting stronger, exercising regularly (whatever your goals are), are all attainable goals! Every little step along the way matters and is important to your overall goal. Every time you complete a workout, skip having seconds for dinner, eat an apple for dessert instead of a bowl of ice cream, etc. be proud of yourself and give yourself a high five or a pat on the back! It's ALL of the little things you do successfully that add up! With that said, we all struggle with motivation at times, so here are some tips to keep things in perspective: - Like Nike says, “just do it.” Exercise and nutrition is one of the few areas of our lives we can control so make an intentional effort to work out and eat well most of the time. Start thinking of how much better you will feel 6 months from now, or even a month from now and adopt the attitude of "I got this!.”

- Be consistent. We all get off track from our workouts or eating properly from time to time, but a few days off can soon turn into a week and then a month, etc. Allow yourself some wiggle room but try not to go for more than 3-4 days without exercise and proper nutrition (the longer you wait, the harder it is to get back to it!). Every workout isn't going to be your best, but doing the work when you don't feel like it will make you feel better and pay off in the end. I don't know how many times I wasn't feeling motivated to exercise, but I did it anyway and not once have I regretted it. - Be positive. Remember health is one of life’s greatest blessings! When you are healthy, you can truly enjoy life because you feel good physically and mentally and are the best “YOU” because health and happiness go hand in hand. This alone keeps me positive and motivated because I feel better than ever and I’m not struggling to keep up with my grandchildren. - Be realistic. Don’t try to do too much all at once or you may risk burnout or a potential injury. If you haven’t been working out for quite some time, start with a goal of working out twice a week for 15-20 minutes and build from there (once that’s easy you can increase your time to 30 minutes working out three times a week). Start slowly and remind yourself of how great you will feel once you’re finished. - Be patient. In a world where everything seems to be about instant gratification, remember this is real life. Just like it took some time to get out of shape, it takes time to get back in shape. If you are middle-aged like me and experiencing perimenopause or have already gone through menopause, you may be finding it harder to stay in shape, especially compared to your younger years. Realize this is normal and have realistic expectations about your body. Don't expect to be able to eat the way you did decades ago and to be the same shape, size or weight. Instead, focus on building and maintaining strong bones, gaining and maintaining lean muscle mass, and mobility for everyday life. This is going to be essential every year that passes! - Don't let setbacks get the best of you! Without them, we wouldn't learn what works and what doesn't, we wouldn't discover new approaches for doing things, we wouldn't persevere when faced with challenges, we wouldn't build our resilience, and frankly we wouldn't be successful without them. You have probably heard the saying, "you only fail if you stop trying.” Remember this the next time you’re not feeling motivated.