Have you ever made a health goal for yourself only to forget about it in a few weeks time? You’re not alone! In fact, it happened to me for years. Today I want to talk to you about turning your health goals into lifelong habits.
Why do Health Goals Fail?
When we set health related goals for ourselves we can fall flat for a lot of different reasons.
1// Setting unrealistic goals: if you’re a night person and you set a goal to get up at 5am to workout everyday there’s a good chance you might not reach your goal. Or perhaps you set a goal to lose 30lbs in one month. Obviously that is going to be extremely hard and potentially dangerous.
2// Not understanding your ‘why’: when we can recognize why we want to lose weight we have a better chance of accomplishing our goal.
3// Not being intentional: this is a big one. When we set a health goal it’s important to remember it all day everyday and make choices based on that goal.
Health Goals: a Series of small decisions
Ultimately, achieving your health goals comes down to every little decision you make. This is why it is so important to get crystal clear on your goals, write them down and figure out your why. It’s a lot easier to say no to a mid-day cookies smorgasbord when you know that your “why” is to have more energy to play with your kids. In this scenario, you understand that when you eat sugar you inevitably crash and it’s harder for you to play with your kids. You have a choice to make when you are staring at that bag of cookies, you can choose to eat them mindlessly or you can be intentional and choose to eat a piece of fruit. This is an example of a small decision that will lead to big changes over time.
Create lifelong healthy habits by choosing again
When we set a goal for ourselves we’re saying we want something to change. But big health changes don’t happen overnight. Small changes over time will lead you to your goal and in the process you will create healthy habits that will last you a lifetime. All day everyday we get the opportunity to make choices for ourselves, good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. It’s your choice, that’s so empowering!
For example my “why” is to feel good, be the healthiest I’ve ever been and have as much energy as possible. The other day I was lacking all of the above. I was about to lean into that feeling by eating and vegging out in front of the tv. But I chose again. I knew that laying around was not what my body needed. My body was asking for more energy. So I put on my cycling shoes and did a 30 min workout. Afterward I treated myself to a protein smoothie and I was so happy with how that felt. Every time we chose again in light of our goals we are retraining our brains. My brain now knows daytime fatigue means we need to move our body and fuel it with healthy foods!
Break your goals into Small action Steps
Breaking your goals down into smaller action steps is your roadmap to sustainable healthy habits. For instance if you’re looking to lose weight your steps might look something like this:
Goal// Lose 10 lbs
Why// To feel more confident on the beach and in my body
Step 1// Drink 64 oz water a day
Step 2// Add in 4-6 cups of greens a day
Step 3// Get 7+ hours a sleep a night
Step 4// Move my body for 30 minutes 5-7 days a week
Step 5// Journal daily
As you can see, just having a goal to lose weight isn’t enough. All of these small steps will amount to change. If you’re drinking 64 oz of water a day it’s going to be a lot harder to drink anything else like soda. If you’re eating 4-6 cups of greens a day it’s going to be hard to fit in processed food (nor will you want to because you’ll likely be satiated from fiber!). If you’re sleep enough, you’ll be less stressed thus producing less cortisol and you will be more likely to make healthy food choices.
small choices help you ACHIEVE your health goals
Long story long it comes down to the choices of “this or that”. I could have soda (this) or water (that). Which one of these choices is in line with my goal of being more confident on the beach? Friends, this is what intention looks like and this is how you stick to your goals!
What are your health goals?
I’d love to know what your current health goals are, comment and let me know or find me via email or instagram! Oh and don’t forget to print out the Health Goals Roadmap (see below) that I created for you. If you’re looking for more help with your health journey and want to know more about my health coaching program fill out this form and I’ll get in touch with you!
XOXO-
Amanda
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