Goal setting and consistency

So the start of the New Year is here and everyone wants to use 2013 to be in the best shape of their life.  After all, the world didn't end and we didn't fall off of the fiscal cliff.  So here we are ready to make 2013, "The best year yet".  To work towards and accomplish goals is one of the most rewarding thing in life.  The problem with most peoples goals is that they do not understand what it takes or aren't willing to put forth the effort it takes to reach them.  When setting your fitness goals make sure that you understand what kind of commitment that you must put in to reach the goals you want to reach.   If you won't commit what it takes for certain goals then you need to change your goals or you will fail.  I see this most often in people who don't work out at all and want to start.  The first thing I hear is " I'm going to work out every day."  Well I have been training f0r twenty years and I don't even work out every day.  Your body needs rest to recover and get better.  I tell people to start with a more realistic goal of 3 days/week.  If you can consistently do this then bump it up to 4 days.  People want to start at 7 when they haven't been doing 1 day per week, this is just unrealistic and is a recipe for failure.

When setting your goals remember the story of the tortoise and the hare.  Exercise and diet change are about changing lifelong habits.  It took you a lifetime to acquire that belly, it's not just going to go away after a week of training and eating well.   The Spot Athletics recommends that you set your goal at 1/2 % of body fat loss per week.  This means that you want 2% loss per month.  Although this sounds like a small change, it is a huge change after six months or a year of training.  Consistency in training and eating will win the battle of the bulge.  One hard workout or a week of eating healthy won't do anything in the larger picture.  Our society has created a "I want it now" type of attitude which has further lead to our obesity problem as people can't look great or be in great shape after one workout or in "10 minutes/day".  If you are consistent and patient the changes will come and then people around you who don't have the discipline or work ethic to do it will start to make fun of you for training daily and eating well.  I see this a lot as society has created a culture where being "in shape" makes you a weirdo or an outcast.  Well if being in shape and looking good are wrong then I don't want to join the fat out of shape masses to fit in.  I want to stay consistent with my workouts, just as I have done for the last twenty years.

In closing I want to teach you the 90% principle.  People freak out and quit when they aren't perfect on their eating or miss one workout but one bad meal or one missed workout doesn't matter if you are consistent every day/month/year.   If you can eat well 90% of the time and make 90% of your workouts, you will be in great shape and look great as well.  Don't get hung up on being perfect because that is just undo stress that is another recipe for failure, and at The Spot Athletics we  create success, not failure.

Sweat Hard, See Results

JL