Look good in your BIRTHDAY SUIT?. Is that S.M.A.R.T?

You’ve made a commitment….well several attempts at commitments to become healthier, look and feel better, maybe even start cooking. Whether you decided you need to lose ten pounds, or you’ve sat on that little factoid for a year now (it happens); What’s stopping you? If you had the answer to this question you’d have lost those ten pounds right? Not necessarily. Whether you want to lose weight, start cooking, eat more vegetables, maintain an exercise routine that lasts more than the 2 weeks (remember that pole dancing fitness class you signed up for?) or you just want  to Look Good in your Birthday Suit, you need to be REALISTIC with a healthy motivational driving force!

This brings me to my point. What are your goals, and are they SMART?

“YOUR HEAD WAS IN THE GUTTER” GOALS:

• Start running 7 days a week
• Completely change your eating habits overnight
• Lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks
• Get back into a size OO by next week
• Stop eating out all together

NOW WHAT?

START being SMART!

By using the S.M.A.R.T. goal approach, you will likely be able to stay on track without feeling guilty about not achieving something that wasn’t so realistic to start out with.  Once you’ve succeeded, and I promise you will, you can build upon your current goals accordingly. So what does the acronym mean?

S-smart (Think When, Where, What)

M-measurable (I’ll exercise often, this has no form of measurement, the frequency to an activity, such as committing to eating out twice a week versus 5 is measurable!)

A-attainable (Let’s be honest, you weren’t going to run that marathon next week, so what will fit your current schedule?, you have to start somewhere!)

R-realistic (Similar to being attainable, again, don’t assume you can stop eating french fries FOREVER!)

T-timely (A goal must have a timeframe, without it there seems to be no sense of urgency). Saying you’ll exercise often has no timeframe.

“GOOD TO GO” GOALS:

Based on the acronym, all the goals below fulfill the SMART goal checklist!

• I will  walk  for 30 minutes, three times a week, for 2 weeks during my lunch break.
• I will replace my daily breakfast donut with an apple and yogurt 5 days a week.
• I will eat breakfast 3 days a week (something to start with if you’re dodging breakfast all together) and it will consist of a banana with almonds for 1 week.
• I will replace sitting in front of the TV for 2 hours with exercising for 1 hour 3 days this week (via videos, DVD’s or go outside for a walk!
• I will try one new vegetable, once a week for  4 weeks.
• I will pack 2 healthy snacks 5 workdays out of the week for 3 weeks.

Now that your goals are SMART you’re one bite and one crunch away from looking good NAKED. Remember, short-term goals are NOT PERMANENT!

What are your SMART GOALS? Do share!