For the 5th Annual Summer Lovin' Health Challenge, we're asking you to set small weekly goals that lead up to one larger goal at the end of our 8-week challenge. Goal setting is a practice that research shows makes a difference in whether or not you will be successful.
Goals should be SMART. A SMART goal is:
Specific- Can I watch you do it?
Measurable- How much will you do?
Attainable- How confident are you about your success?
Relevant- Is it important to you?
Time-framed- When will you do it?
Here's an example of how you can use the SMART goal model to set a goal:
Specific: I am going to walk.
Measurable: One mile.
Attainable: Is this something I am sure I will be able to do?
Relevant: Is it important to me? It needs to be something I want to do.
Time-framed: On Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the next week.
Here's a worksheet to help you think through and keep track of your goal if you wish to download it.
Helpful tips to remember
Change doesn’t happen overnight.
It takes at least 21 days to change a habit. Prepare yourself now for that time a couple weeks down the road when your motivation wanes, and create a reward even as you establish your goal. Knowing there is a reward in sight can get you through rough times. Also think about what success will mean to you when you establish your goal. If your goal is walking 30 minutes per day, think about how much more energy you will have, and how much better you will consistently feel, because you have been active.
Writing down your goal and listing reasons why you want to meet your goal will help you reach it. Tell relatives and close friends about your goals so they can offer encouragement, as well. Try these tips to help you stay on track:
Mentally prepare for the time it may take to reach your goal. Losing weight and becoming physically fit can take a long time.
Break your goal into smaller pieces and celebrate small victories. Your goal may be to be able to run 1 mile, but you haven’t even walked 1 mile. Celebrate when you are able to walk 1 mile!
Set goals you are sure you can maintain. Many people lose weight by dramatically reducing their daily calories, but this is difficult to maintain. It’s just too hard for most of us to maintain a diet very low in calories for a long time. Also, it’s not healthy.
Choose one healthy habit at a time. Add it to your schedule and work on it until you are sure you have adopted it before moving on to another. If your goal is to eat healthier, your first objective might be to eat 2½ cups of vegetables every day. Once that is a daily habit, move to your next objective.
Find a healthy-habit partner. Change is so much easier if you have someone to support your efforts.
If weight loss is your goal, plan for a small, gradual loss. One-half to 1 pound of weight loss per week is a healthy, realistic expectation. (Keep in mind that you didn’t gain weight 5 or 6 pounds at a time.)
Setting a goal for weight loss
Weight loss is a common health goal, but, even so, it can seem overwhelming. Try breaking your weight-loss goal into smaller, more manageable goals. Below are some ideas to get you started.
Start drinking fat-free milk. For adequate calcium intake, 3 cups of milk per day is recommended. Three cups of whole milk have 450 calories and 24 grams of fat. Three cups of 2 percent milk have 363 calories and 14 grams of fat. The same amount of skim milk has 258 calories and 1 gram of fat.
Use a smaller plate. It sounds simple, but it works! People who use smaller plates take and eat less food.
Cover half of your plate with vegetables at dinner five nights a week. Vegetables are packed with healthy nutrients and are generally low in calories.
For protein, start thinking lean. Choosing lean cuts of meat helps to decrease saturated fat. Lean cuts of beef and pork have the words “round” and “loin” in the description of the meat. In poultry, the white meat is leaner than the dark meat. Always avoid eating the skin of poultry.
Set limits on the salad dressing. Salads are thought of as a “diet” food. Two tablespoons of regular salad dressing can have 150 calories and 16 grams of fat or more. The same amount of a “light” variety has 60 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. Salsa is a great dressing substitute. Most salsa has no fat and very few calories.
Eat meals at the dinner or kitchen table. We eat more when we are distracted. If you sit at the table with no television, you are less likely to overeat.
Eat slowly; make your meals last at least 20 minutes. It can take 20 minutes for your body to register a sense of fullness.
Eat the whole fruit rather than drinking the juice. Whole fruit is more filling and has fewer calories. One orange has 60 calories and 3 grams of fiber. One cup of orange juice has 112 calories and less than 1 gram of fiber.
© 2019 by The Curators of the University of Missouri, a public corporation
Strength in Numbers
References 1. Planet Science. 2012. Science of New Year’s resolutions. http://www.planet-science.com/categories/over-11s/humanbody/ 2012/01/science-of-new-year%E2%80%99s-resolutions.aspx. 2. Shiv, Baba, and Alexander Fedorikhin. 1999. Heart and mind in conflict: The interplay of affect and cognition in consumer decision making. Journal of Consumer Research 26:278-292. http://www.d.umn.edu/~dglisczi/4501web/4501Readings/Shiv(1999) FruitOrCake.pdf.