Saturday 18 June 2011

15 Tips for Staying on Track: #1 - Define Your Goals!

What is it you are trying to achieve? To get down to a certain weight? To be fit? To be more healthy? To tone up? To run a 5k? To run a marathon? To get a new job? To change your entire career? To be more organised? To be happy?

What exactly is it you are aiming for?

When I started my weightloss journey, my sole aim was to shed 62lbs. I wasn’t interested in getting fit, and I didn’t give any thought to what my body might look like once I’d got down to my target weight; after all, it’s only been five years or so since I was around that weight – how much could have changed? But as I’ve progressed, I realise that actually, an awful lot has changed (for the worse!) and getting down to 161lbs is not going to suddenly make everything else fall into place. It won’t make my body strong again, it won’t guarantee there’ll be no flab (in fact, there’s a big chance I’d end up skinny-fat), and it won’t miraculously make me as fit as I once was. It certainly won't make me as happy with myself as I want to be.

So I reassessed my goal and discovered that it’s actually goals, plural! Yes, I want to be slim again but I want to be fit as well. I want my back to not hurt when I clean the bathroom, I want my feet to not ache when I go for a long walk, I want my thighs to not chafe when I’m not wearing trousers or jeans, I want to not feel sluggish – both in mind and body. I want to not have so many headaches and migraines. And I want to not be a fat fifty-year old...which means I have two years to do this in!

After realising what I wanted, or rather what I didn’t want, the conclusion was inevitable – I’d have to exercise! And guess what? I now have a whole new list of wants!

I want to be able to run for 10 minutes non-stop. I want to run a 5k. And then a half marathon. And then.... and then I want to run the 2013 London Marathon... the same year I will be 50!

So again I say, what exactly is it you want to achieve on your journey? Keep asking yourself this question, and don’t be afraid to move your goalposts!

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