The ultimate guide to crushing your nutrition goals
You know the saying, “Fail to plan. Plan to fail,” well today we are going to attack this full throttle.
Have you ever found yourself asking, Why can’t I force myself to go to the gym before work? Meal prep on Sundays? Stop snacking when I am not hungry? Why am I so friggin’ bad at changing?
Even the most motivated people can get stuck, frustrated, and lose hope during the process of behavioral change. Change is really, really, really hard. But if we set ourselves up to succeed by establishing clear nutritional goals that are strategic and sustainable we increase the likelihood of our success. Today we are going to outline the critical steps we need to take to be successful with our nutrition goals. While these steps may sound easy in theory, following through with them is the hardest part. When things get hard – what do we do? We give up. And I am here to make sure that doesn’t happen 🙂
Establish a strong ‘why’
Just around this time each year everyone seems to start losing their mojo when it comes to their hard-set New Year’s resolutions. As Elon Musk once said, “When you are not progressing, you are regressing.” So, in order to progress, you need to have your “why” firmly planted in your mind. If you don’t, you’ll likely lose focus and back peddle. So I am here to give you the kick in the booty to hit that reset button and get your head back in the game.
Goal setting is SO important. But to be honest with you most people set some pretty ‘weak’ nutrition goals. I am not saying their intentions are poor. I am just saying that after 20 years of working in the fitness and nutrition industry I very rarely see well composed nutrition goals. Most people’s goals tend to be far too ambiguous. They tend to be vague and focus on outcomes we have very little control over rather than behaviors.
But don’t freak out my friend – you are not in trouble. Truth be told – no one probably ever taught you how to set solid goals. But guess what? That is all going to end today. Professor P is in the house! I am going to give you the 411 on how to set effective nutrition goals and smash every one of them.
The five critical steps to setting nutrition goals
This blog is going to be part of a series on goal setting. There are 5 key critical steps necessary to be successful with executing your nutrition goals. We don’t want to rush through them. Instead we are going to take our time and tackle each one step by step. The five key steps to setting and accomplishing goals like a boss are as follows:
- Define clear nutrition goals
- Establish a realistic game plan
- Create an effective monitoring tool
- Execute your goals like the champ you are
- Assess your goals at regular intervals
Let’s get started with the most important step of them all.
Step1: clearly define your nutrition goals
Ask yourself: what is really most important right now for me to accomplish?
What is my numero uno nutrition goal? Think lowest hanging fruit here! What is the one thing, if I changed right now, would provide the biggest return on my health investment? No need to go crazy with creating a gazillion goals. Choose 1-2 goals which are MOST important to YOU and can have the biggest potential impact on your health.
Let’s set some hard and fast rules. Rule number 1 – all of your goals MUST be S.M.A.R.T. goals. They must have the following criteria no matter what.
We will circle back to these confines in one moment. So hang tight.
Focus on what you can change – your behavior
It is critical to focus your goals on BEHAVIOR change NOT outcomes. The truth of the matter is that the journey to success starts with a goal and finishes with a desired outcome. Goals pave the path to achieving our desired outcomes.
An example of an outcome would be = I want to lose 15 pounds. If the intended outcome is to lose 15 pounds I want you to think about what specific behaviors need to be modified to help you achieve this outcome. Zero in on the behaviors – forget the outcomes. What matters most is modifying the behavior change.
Outcomes like weight loss are often dependent on outside forces we cannot control. Therefore, by focusing on behavior change we have complete control over whether or not we are successful with our goals. Some examples of modifiable behaviors are – excessive snacking, minimal exercise, increased consumption of fast-food or convenience foods, going too long without eating, not taking the time to plan and not making the time to cook.
So let’s stick with the example of the outcome that you want to lose 15 pounds by April 1st. How do we turn that into a S.M.A.R.T. goal? Easy peasy – we pick the associated behavior that if we modified helps bring us closer to reaching our outcome.
Meal prep – an admirable goal
Let’s say you are a sub-par meal planner. And because of this you end up eating high calorie convenience foods that are loaded in calories and unsavory ingredients. This behavior supports your current weight; rather than bringing you closer to your goal weight of being 15 pounds lighter. So let’s create a clear S.M.A.R.T. goal to combat this behavior.
Every Sunday and Wednesday I will set aside 1.5 hours per day to meal prep all my meals for the week.
This goal is very specific and time sensitive. We know exactly when we will be meal prepping as well as how much time we are going to block out in our schedule. It is attainable and realistic as it is only requiring 3 hours out of our week. [Note – there are 168 hours in each week. Three hours towards meal prep consumes < 1 % of our available hours.] Lastly, it is easy to measure. We have either meal prepped our meals for the week on those two days – or we didn’t. It is therefore easy to determine whether or not you accomplished your goal.
Write it down
Lastly, write your nutrition goals down in a visible place. Whether that be in your day planner, directly in your schedule, in a journal, on a post-it note on your desk, or on a scrap piece of paper in your wallet.
Get your goals on!
Tattoo them on your arm if you think you might forget! And just to be clear you need to look at your goals often to keep them fresh on your mind. I suggest the bare minimum would be reading them first thing in the morning and right before you go to bed.
Find an accountability buddy
Got goals? I bet you do! Find someone whether they be a close friend, family member or a spouse and share your nutrition goals with someone you trust. That way not only can that person help you fine-tine them to ensure they are S.M.A.R.T (like you!) – but you also have someone to hold you accountable.
Next week we will tackle: Step # 2 in our goal setting series – Establishing a realistic game plan.
Need some help? We have your back!
Head spinning? Need help defining clearly defined your hard pressed nutrition goals? Well I have your back. Please feel free to schedule a one-one nutrition visit to get started on making 2019 your best nutrition year yet. Best part? My team and I accept most health insurances. Biggity boom!
Hugs & High Fives,
