Part 2 of the Goal Setting Series
Help! My goals might be too tight. How do I know? What should I do?
Now that you’ve made sure your goals aren’t too loose, check in, and give your goals the “too tight” test by asking the following questions:
1. Are you increasing your time commitment incrementally, or all in one big leap? Not sure? Start with a 5% rule.
Commit to 5% more/ less time/ calories/ weights/ days/ minutes then you’ve done in the past. Feel like you can do more? Great! Add 5% next week. Give your body time to adjust.
2. Are you cutting your calories to greater than a 500 calorie deficit per day? If yes, stop the madness, unless you are on a very tight time frame.
3. Are you sprinting to that deadline, or did you set a deadline in too close of a time frame to be successful, even with inevitable setbacks? Re-evaluate your goal deadline and make sure your time frame is appropriate to accomplishing what you’ve set out to do. From my previous post, I suggest 12 weeks as a good jumping off point.
4. Are you happy with your chosen form of fitness? Will you still like it tomorrow? I think this is the most important part of goal setting. Make sure you are doing the things you enjoy.
Don’t be afraid to sweat a little, though! There’s a difference between challenge and torture.
Select a chosen form of exercise or dieting goals that are on the higher end of the challenge spectrum, but don’t dare set a foot in the torture range. At least not yet.
If you’ve set your goals at the right level of “tight” but still aren’t seeing results, read on to the third installment of powerless goals – goals that are “too big”.
To read the full blog, click here.
This blog post was brought to you by Staci DeSchryver
Fitness Competitor and Self-professed Lover of All Foods Containing Cheese or Gravy... Sometimes Cheese and Gravy.