Make a shiny GOAL!

Hey there you!

Come with me and let's make an awesome goal!

Often times in the past, I have solely focused on weight loss as THE GOAL, the ultimate indicator of my diet and exercise success.  Have you ever dieted and worked out and felt deflated when the scale didn't budge?

However, the more I learned about the body, and health, I have made more and more non-weight related goals.  How much water did I drink?  Did I try a new form of exercise? Did I schedule weekly workouts?  Did I master my new Pilate's video?  How about focusing on doing yoga everyday for a week? Or what are my body measurements?  How are my clothes fitting?

A smokin' hot goal is achievable, measurable, and has a time frame attached.  Also make sure it has meaning for you.  Maybe you do better with a short time frame, maybe you can manage several goals at once.

For instance, a long term goal I had last year was to finish the Detroit marathon on October 21, 2012.

Smaller goal? This week I am trying to drink two Nalgenes a day.  Achievable?  For sure!  Meaningful, yes, I function better when hydrated!  A challenge...YES,  I really struggle with hydration.

Medium? This month I have a goal to track taking my medication, and vitamins and marking it on a chart. This is super meaningful for me as I recently found out I have some autoimmune business, and being accurate will help me perform better.  I made a snazzy chart and have it right in the kitchen, super double bonus I track how I am doing with water on it too.

If your goal was really easily attained, kick it up a notch!

If it was hard to do, you may need to adjust it or figure out why it was hard to complete.  I think a lot of us tend to EXPECT-A-WHOLE-HECK-OF-A-LOTS-MAYBE-TOO-MUCH!  For instance, I wanted to do 3 tennis tournaments, 3 sprint triathlons and marathon prep this summer...when I was voicing my frustration to my husband of how I JUST wasn't reaching my goals, he gave me the really? face.  That was too much and too many different activities to do well at in a 4 month time frame.

SO if you getting el frustrato with the scale, expand your measures of progress! A goal to try something new, like a kick boxing class? Meditate for 5 minutes every day for a week?  Go to a cooking class!?

My next big race goal is a trail half marathon...April 20, 2013 the Owl's Roost Rumble.  I have my training plan set, and despite a small set back with a tummy bug, it's plenty of time to train and appeals to my love of trails and exploring.

What's your next goal?