Guide to Fitness Goal Setting

Guest Post by Kathy Tafti from Huntington and Smithtown Fit Body Boot Camp

January is the beginning of a new year and I think many of us become more goal oriented as we try and guess what 2014 will bring. When clients start my Huntington boot camp and nutrition program, I ask them to set goals about body fat, clean eating, and physical goals. Your ability to succeed in getting fit and healthy is increased dramatically when you have a goal that you are working towards. For instance, I have always wanted to run the NYC marathon and I decided in March of 2013 that I was going to do it that year.  I set the goal and followed through by signing up for it that day so I would be committed immediately.

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After completing the marathon, 14 of my clients have committed to running it this year!  Many of them had called me to let me know that they wanted a solid goal that they could work towards and start right away. Now, we are working on weekly and monthly goals to achieve along the way which will lead up to success with the ultimate goal of running the NYC marathon in upcoming November.

Your goals should be based on what is important to you. The easiest way to accomplish your goals is to pick what you want to accomplish and then map out the plan of how you are going to get here.

Here are some steps you can take to set a goal and achieve it:

1.) Set an exact goal. Losing weight, building more muscle, or toning up are usually the goals I see most often, which is okay, but I recommend adding a physical goal to it. That way you can measure your progress better.  For example: being able to do 20 pushups on your toes or being able to do 20 full sit ups, where you could only do 10 before. Not only will setting a specific physical goal help you lose weight, it will help you feel positive, accomplished, and reassured that you are moving in the right direction.

2.) Set a date for your goal.  Be realistic with your time frames.  Set dates for achieving the smaller goals that will lead you to the big goal. For example, “I will be able to do 5 push ups on my toes in 2 weeks.

3.) Make a road map of how you’ll get there. Exercising and eating clean must be on your daily list of things to do. Take out your calendar and write in what days you will workout, what type of exercise you will do to reach your goal, and what you will eat each day.  For example, “Monday/Wednesday/Friday I will do as many pushups on my toes as possible then continue on my knees for 10 more repetitions.”

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4.) Re-evaluate your goals. I re-evaluate my goals every one to two weeks to see if I am on track or if I need to change my “road map” to get me there. This is an important step because it will help keep you focused on accomplishing your goal.

5.) Celebrate your victory. Once you achieved the goal you set for yourself, it’s time to celebrate! But to avoid slacking off, set a new goal and start the process all over again! Make this new goal a little more challenging than your last.

Remember to make your goals easily attainable and keep them reasonable. The reason most people fail when it comes to goal setting is because they don’t set specific enough goals, so don’t let that keep you from reaching your true potential.

Cheers to a successful 2014 from the boot camp in Huntington and Smithtown!

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