5 Goals you Need to Set this Year
Fitness, health, wealth, happiness, and wholeness are in your future.
Everything we do has energy within it. The way we do our hair in the morning, walk through the house to get our coffee, the tone we take with our children, spouses, co-workers, strangers, and how we treat the servers at the restaurant all come with energy. Energy can be felt through your eyes, body language, and overall appearance. I am not encouraged to judge a book by its cover, instead simply highlighting that a person’s energy is felt; there is no way to hide it or mask it.
Have you ever heard someone tell you that you look miserable? Or that you just look unhappy, and the way you stomp around the house proves that. If the people closest to you have noticed your lack of ambition and wallowing, then it’s time to change. What we put into our bodies, minds, and spirituality will get out, so if you are not investing in yourself, how can you be valuable to another person?
This is not propaganda for every mom to throw it away and work out for 5 hours a day. However, this is a direct message to everyone struggling internally: to start prioritizing themselves.
From a very young age, we are tough to please our parents, eat the gross pizza they made, hug the creepy uncle, wear what they want us to wear, don’t eat the candy. As we continue into adulthood, we continue these people-pleasing patterns.
As we get older, our people-pleasing is conveyed in different ways:
- Taking the drink offered to you at a party.
- Eating the birthday cake that you don’t want.
- Eating grandma Mae’s pies because she made them from scratch.
- Try your friend’s loaf of sourdough bread even though you’re avoiding carbs.
- Agreeing with another parent about their parenting style (even though you think they are nuts).
As you become an adult you discover that you always sneak the candy, you hate pizza, and never see that creepy uncle. Refer to your eating habits, how you learned them and where you learned them. Take a moment to listen to your inner voice.
What is it telling you? Is it telling you don’t eat that you will get fat, don’t make eye contact with that person because you don’t want to talk to them, don’t wear that shirt because it shows too much cleavage? What do you tell yourself that’s good?
Behind all of these people-pleasing behaviors are the actual you, your thoughts and opinions, and your journey. You want to be able to look at your reflection and tell yourself, “damn, I look good,” or maybe you want to indulge in some candy, so you have one piece and move on with your life.
To make and keep a change, you have to find your inner voice. The voice allows you to love yourself enough to stay in alignment with your goals.
What are your GOALS this year?
Everyone is different. If weight loss is your goal, here are some ideas for successful planning and an opportunity to change your mindset:
Goal Number 1: Practice saying NO!
As you begin a weight loss program or a food program, you will quickly discover that there are a lot of temptations surrounding you to deter your progress. It’s okay to say NO.
This practice may take some time to perfect, but once you say no a couple of times, you quickly realize how easy it is to do. Here is an example:
I went to a friend’s house for a barbeque; once I settled in the kid’s things, she immediately offered me a glass of wine. I was not drinking for 16 weeks because I was training for a bikini bodybuilding competition.
I said no, thank you, she got a little hung up on me saying no, asked a lot of questions, but then she let it go. My goal in that competition training was to stick to the plan, and I did. I never wanted to miss out on social events or other get-togethers, so I continued being social and surrounded myself with temptation.
It was the most crucial exercise of self-control I have ever accomplished in my life.
That ability to have the option to say no became empowering for me, and I held onto it long after my 16-week training was over.
I learned to be my own personal best example of what I wanted to be. I know the poison and sugar in alcohol, and I don’t tolerate putting it into my body anymore. When I eat cake, sugary cereals, cookies, or anything overwhelmingly rich, I know I get physically ill. By now, I know my body well enough, and I stay away from things that bother me or don’t align with my overall health and wellness goals. In conclusion, I say NO sometimes, and it’s okay!
Goal Number 2: Just do the best that you can that day!
If you can just make it through the day and accomplish one thing, that’s a victory. Small daily wins are essential for your success in fitness and nutrition. If exercise and nutrition is the vehicle, then mental health is the driver. If you are too busy beating yourself up about what you did wrong or falling off the wagon on your keto meal diet plan, then you will find it more challenging to continue the journey down this road. Stop beating yourself up. Take this day by day; you are only human.
Sometimes I fall off the proverbial wagon of clean eating because I am not perfect, I am just human. My perception going into healthy eating every day is that I will be perfect, and everything that goes into my mouth will be aligned perfectly with my plan. Guess what? Every day does not go this way! Most days are great, and good healthy choices are available to serve my body and goals. Therefore, the easiest way to stay in line most days of the week is to plan.
If you spend Sunday or Monday grocery shopping and planning snacks and meals for your week, you will exponentially increase your chances of succeeding on a new diet plan and a new routine.
Most people do not wake up in a bad mood; most do not drink their first cup of coffee, anticipating being in an anxious mood. We all have things to get done every day, work TODO lists, children that create chaos, remembering your items, and everyone else in your family’s items, fitting in a workout, eating all the right things for the entire day, just to name a few.
Take a deep breath and begin every day with a positive attitude. Tell yourself that you will get it right today, today will be a good day; your goals will take priority; this is the mindset you will need to take every day.
How can you care for others if you let yourself down in your personal goals? Therefore, prioritize your time, track your foods and take this seriously. Otherwise, it’s not going to work for the long term.
Goal Number 3: Start practicing stretching, meditation, or a gratitude journal
Your journey to find physical fitness or overall health and wellness can be a bumpy road. Educating yourself about nutrition, working out, and your body’s abilities and limitations will take time. Be patient with yourself. You will begin to see results if you stick to this learning curve. Good days and bad days together will all lead you down a path of success.
You can’t build a solid house on a cracked foundation. Sustaining weight loss starts from within. Changing your lifestyle and habits is the only way to stop yo-yo dieting. The main reason why I recommend practicing meditation or yoga or a gratitude journal is for your emotional support system. Choosing to reflect on your life, remember the things that are going well, be grateful for the things that you can do, and find grace in this journey that you are on.
Nutrition is 80% of your overall well-being; what you put in is what you will get out. Similarly, the foods you put in your body can directly impact your mood. When you eat well, you feel well. If you put in an attitude of gratitude, you will get that from others. Things will feel more accessible, and managing your meals, life, and fitness will become second nature.
Goal Number 4: Be the best version of yourself!
Some of us suffer from injuries, unplanned accidents, or things that limit us. Do not allow your limitations to write your narrative. Accepting your limitations and finding a way to work around them is essential for your mental, emotional, spiritual well-being.
Recently I heard an incredibly inspiring story about a woman named Michelle.
Her journey started very young as an obese child. Her father criticized her weight and put her on fen-phen and weight watchers from a very young age of 12. As a high school student, she continued being made fun of because of her weight and kept the weight on.
She met a boy and moved out of the house to be with him. This relationship became physically abusive, and Michelle knew she had to get out. She left him and met another man who loved her for the 280-pound woman she was. She struggled to get pregnant, but she had a daughter once she did.
Fast forward, she had a three-year-old daughter, and she was still incredibly overweight; she was embarrassed about her body image and didn’t want to be an inactive mother to her daughter.
The focus to lose weight and change her life was more vital than ever. She bought a book, started working out, hired a personal trainer, and lost 160 pounds. Then fell into a financial situation that did not allow her to continue to train. She needed a job and decided to get certified as a personal trainer, go to a gym, and ask if they hired personal trainers. Once they heard her story and her success, they decided to give her a chance and a job.
She became very successful as a trainer and group fitness instructor for thirteen years. Then one morning, she got up, passed out, and fell down a flight of stairs; and broke her neck. The medics took her to the ER, where she remained for five weeks; they ran a storybook of tests on Michelle, trying to figure out what caused her to pass out unexpectedly. Her tests were standard, but she had to wear a heart monitor for weeks at home. The heart monitor showed that her heart rate dropped to 20 BPM for no good reason.
Michelle could not exercise for a year and a half. She had to find income, it was an office job, and she hated it. This woman was once an inspiration to others and a leader in the fitness industry; she was used to moving and hating sedentary.
This injury forced her to begin an investment into nutrition certification. She went back and learned about food, nourishing her body, and keeping the body that she once worked so hard to have.
Michelle’s life has changed dramatically, but regardless of the obstacles, she has found a better way to sustain her weight and increase mobility with different exercise techniques. She’s incredible!
Goal Number 5: Want it, know your why, work at it!
If you think a fad diet is sustainable, you are wrong. You have to take this year one step at a time. Stack the good habits one by one. Make small goals, this way, when you reach or exceed those goals, you are more motivated to continue to push forward.
Maybe this year, the goal will be to stay away from the scale. Connecting with your body differently, in a way not tied to a scale or numbers in a medical sheet, can be incredibly motivational. If you get in tune with your mind, hold, focus on your reasons for making lifestyle changes, and continue working at it, you will succeed.
If yesterday was a bad day, just get up today and make it a good day.
One foot in front of the other, before you know it, you will get to where you want to be.
