SMART GOALS for 2022

Happy 2022. Can you believe we are entering our 3rd year of this crazy alternative universe, aka the Covid Pandemic? Many of us have made adaptations to our “new” way of living and learned a lot about ourselves, what makes us happy, what fulfills us, what our priorities are. The beginning of a new year always makes me reflective of the past year and entertain the possibilities of the new year. While I am not a person who makes resolutions, I do LOVE goals. I spent my little “staycation” these past three days setting my goals for this year. I have a few on my list, like running the NYC Half Marathon with my daughter in March and beginning to clean out the boxes and boxes of photos that I have stored away, organizing and tossing out bad or duplicate pictures. I have my training plan in place for the race and I have a goal of 1/2 a box every weekend from now until the end of April. Do you have any goals for this new year? I know you know this already, but when setting goals, make sure that they are SMART.

Our last half marathon, 3 years ago!

Specific.  Specific refers to what you are going to do.  Use action words such as exercise, eat, and coordinate.  Think about why you are choosing this particular goal.  A good idea of a SPECIFIC goal is: I am going to walk 3 miles in 45 minutes by March 1st.

Measurable.  If you can measure it, you can’t manage it.  Choose a goal with measurable progress.  You may have a long-term goal, but have smaller measurable steps along the way.  For example, if you want to run a 6-mile race in the spring, you should set your training program to build your mileage each week.  

Achievable.  Set goals that are achievable for YOU and you only.  Your friend may want to run a marathon in May.  This may not be important or attainable for you.  You may need to set a goal of running a 5k in September!

Realistic.  This does not mean easy.  It means Do-able.  Set the bar high enough to feel satisfied when you attain your goal, but not so high that the thought of your goal is overwhelming.  For example, rather than setting a goal not to eat sweets all month, it may be more realistic to set a goal to eat only one sweet per week.

Timely.  Set a time frame for your goal.  Next week, next month, by spring.  Putting a clear target in front of you gives you something to work toward and allows you start on it right away.  Remember though, if your time is more than a few weeks in the distance, set interim goals to get you there.

 I would love to hear from you about your goals for YOU in 2022. Good luck and let us know how we can help.

Habits, habit habits

If you haven’t read Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg or Atomic Habits by James Clear, I highly recommend both. The concepts in both books relate to all aspects of life. I am writing today about how a few big ones can relate to exercise, fitness and weight loss goals.

Most of us set goals with no clear plan of how we are going to achieve them. I know! I have done it myself (one of the reasons I read both of these books) It is often inspiring to set big goals, like run a marathon, bike 50 miles, do unassisted pull ups or lose 10 percent of your body weight. These are awesome ambitious goals but are meaningless if we don’t have a plan of how to achieve our goals.

If I want to run a marathon for the first time but I only run once a week and don’t do much else, things are not looking so good for me! If I want to run this marathon, I would need to make changes in my training, which would require me to build new habits and even perhaps shed old habits that are not working. This can be said for any goal, whether it is weight loss or fitness gains. Losing old habits and forming new ones need to be a part of your goal planning process.

Ah, but building new habits is hard work and anyone who says that isn’t so is lying. Around New Year’s people talk about a magic 21 days that it takes for our resolutions to stick. Truthfully, sometimes it takes LONGER than 21 days. Here are some things to keep in mind when trying to establish a new habit, whether it is eating more vegetables daily, exercising consistently or adding strength training.

1. Make it NON negotiable. If you have a walk scheduled after breakfast, DO IT. If you have a strength training workout planned at 2pm that day, DO IT. Don’t let yourself push it to the next day or make an excuse for why you can’t do it. When we procrastinate, we allow ourselves to let the habit forming opportunities slide by. I am talking about those times when we just don’t really FEEL like doing it or when we prioritize something over that behavior we are trying to implement. (Not when we are legitimately sick). If you consider the behavior optional, it probably won’t happen.

2. SOMETHING is better than nothing. If you have been my client for any period of time, you have probably heard me say this before. So, you hit the snooze button and have a long day of work ahead and only have time for 20 minutes of the scheduled workout. DO IT ANYWAY. You were supposed to run 3 miles that afternoon but you feel tired. Go walk at least 20 minutes. You will probably start to jog at some point, but even if you don’t you will have kept the commitment to yourself to MOVE. Say at breakfast you skipped that side of berries you had planned and instead stop at Starbucks for a latte and a scone. Put that behind you and eat the healthy lunch you packed. This reinforces the habit and moves you toward your goal. AND you will feel better for it.

3. DON”T miss twice. You missed a workout or binged on the chips your coworker brought in. It happens. Don’t beat yourself up over it. But make sure the next day you don’t miss that workout and/or you get back on track with the food plan you have set out. Don’t let yourself slide on your habits two days in a row. The more you miss that workout and the more you let your eating plan slide, the more THAT negative behavior will be come the habit. And that’s not the habit we are going for.

Motivation will not always be there and if we only rely on motivation to reach your goals, we won’t be reaching many goals. When it is dark and 20 degrees out, motivation does not get me out the door for my run. It takes discipline and that discipline is created from building solid habits. So as you are reflecting on the year and looking in to goals for 2022, consider your habits and which ones you will need lose and which ones you will need to focus on to achieve your biggest goals. Then make a plan and make that goal happen. Reach out to me if you want helping building habits so you can reach the goals you have in mind.

Week 8....Raise your hand if you need a little extra MOTIVATION right now!

Happy Monday!

Entering Week 8. WOW. It is normal and OKAY to hit the wall. Quarantine is affecting how we live our lives in all ways, exercise and nutrition included. We have been at this for a least two months, some even longer and it seems it will continue for the indefinite future. Lacking our social groups and face to face encounters with each other and our trainers may be making it difficult to stay motivated. After all, we here at APF feel like a very close knit community! Social fitness brings the buddy system to life no matter where you are. If you're going for a walk, vacuuming the house, running, or working out at the gym, you're not doing it alone - you are connected to others who are trying to increase their activity, too. One of the most motivating factors in group workouts, and therefore social fitness, is competition and SHARING!  

We would like to offer a challenge to motivate you for the remainder of MAY, starting today and ending Sunday May 31. No fees, no gimmicks. A goal of 280 minutes of exercise per week and logging your nutrition daily. The group challenge is set up through My Fitness Pal, (https://www.myfitnesspal.com) . Once you let me know you want to participate and activate your myfitnespal account, I will invite you to our private group. You can then encourage your fitness friends in the group and gain encouragement yourself! Remember, this is a NO JUDGEMENT ZONE! If you are a more private person you can go the your settings and click private. I will post daily encouragements in the group as well as call out people who have done a great job on the challenge! I hope you will all use this challenge as a way to motivate yourself and help motivate others to make it through the rest of MAY!

Addendum: article in the Wash Po that came out on Tuesday: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/losing-your-motivation-to-exercise-as-the-pandemic-drags-on-heres-how-to-get-it-back/2020/05/11/72e41a3c-93af-11ea-91d7-cf4423d47683_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_lean_and_fit&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_lean