How many times have you said, “I’m going to lose this weight”, “I’m going to workout regularly”, “I want to do an unassisted pull up”, but not really planned much further than that?
It’s so easy to get distracted and forget how much you want to achieve X goal. Three months go by and you feel sad that nothing has changed. The unfortunate truth, especially when it comes to changing your body or gaining strength, is that it takes real dedication, effort and noticeable changes in your routine to reach those goals.
In Regards to Weight Loss
As a promoter of gradual habit change, this is where it gets tricky. Limiting soda intake or taking the stairs isn’t going to win you any transformation contests in a month. BUT, limiting soda, taking the stairs and other habits you stack up for 6 months could lead to an INCREDIBLE transformation that actually LASTS.
Yes, drastic change = drastic results. But at what price? Which option would you choose:
- Lose 20 pounds in 2 months and then gain 30 pounds in the next 6 months.
- Lose 20 pounds in 4 months and keep if off without having to eliminate all the foods you love for those 4 months.
So the important thing is to set realistic expectations (like losing 1-2 lbs per week max) and keeping your eye on the long game, not just the short game.
In Regards to Exercise Goals
If you have a goal in the gym or related to exercise, you better be devoting a good chunk of times working towards it. It’s also important to note that you can either:
- Improve a bunch of things gradually OR
- Improve a few things more quickly
I would recommend focusing on 2-4 exercises max to really improve (you’ll still be doing other exercises to help with the main ones your focusing on) so that you can see progress and be inspired by that.
A common example among my clients is pull ups. For best results, you want to be doing at least some variation of a pull up or lat pulldown 5-7 times per week. For example if you can’t do a pull up yet, try doing 1-3 sets of 5 eccentric pull ups every single time you’re in the gym or walk by a playground.
So set choose some specific goals, set realistic expectations and set a plan in place (with a deadline) to make those things happen in 2019!