Guide to Setting Effective Diet and Exercise Goals

Oftentimes, what can be even more difficult than actually dieting and exercising is setting effective, realistic goals for dieting and exercising. Many who use New Year’s to resolve to get in better shape often find themselves losing momentum, direction and motivation after only a few short weeks and a pricey gym membership later. However, there are some guidelines to setting goals that are both achievable and measurable for those who find themselves perpetually between New Year’s and those who are just looking for a leg up but don’t know where to start.

Body Image and Goal Making

For many, the first dead end to dieting and exercising comes very, very quickly. This is due largely to people positing as their end-goal an impossible body image, like, say, Brad Pitt in Troy. Dieting and exercising, like any skill-set, is a slow, time-intensive process that takes commitment, training and retraining. By starting with the goal of having, say, a Mel Brooks physique by month 3 is more achievable and positive than setting yourself up for the inevitable disappointment that will come at the end of your first 3 months when you don’t, like 99.99% of the world, look like Brad Pitt in Troy. Start slowly, especially when it comes to body image goals.

Holding Yourself Accountable

Dieting and Exercising, like most matters of self control, is very, very difficult. Just like one purchase on a credit card that has been “retired” can trigger a series of impulsive purchases and decisions, so too can straying from set goals end up taking you back to square one. The “oh, just one won’t hurt” mentality is the most common sand pit that those resolving to get into shape fall into. What begins as indulging in a snack or skipping out on a day of exercise can soon snowball into a complete poor health relapse. By holding yourself accountable, especially when it comes to the every-so-often indulgences, you are retraining yourself to avoid the very impulses that motivated you to begin dieting and exercising in the first place. Best of all, this retraining is easily and likely applied to other aspects of your life beyond your physical health and physique.

Challenging and Measuring

Most who have exercised and dieted at any length have likely found their results leveling at some point. This can be just as discouraging as setting a body image goal too high. However, one of the most effective methods that should be used from the onset of any goal but can also lend leverage over plateaus is progressive self-challenging with scrupulous measuring. Software programs like Crosstrainer and VidaOne both offer self-measurement tools, but challenges can only be directed by you. So, while you should never push yourself beyond what you can recover from by your next workout, you should also never grow complacent in a routine. Maintaining a health standard or a physique might be suited for some, but for those looking to get into shape with a realistic end-goal in mind, compromising through complacency should never be an option.

Sustainable Change vs. Rapid Change

As mentioned earlier, dieting and exercise is slow, time-intensive process that takes commitment, training and, more often than not, lots and lots of retraining. Trying to fast-track results will rarely help address, let alone solve, the decision-making and time-management issues that led to dieting and exercise in the first place. And, more often than not, overexertion can lead to exhaustion and injury. Sustainable dieting and exercise efforts will always give yield results that can be maintained and will also provide the training and retraining necessary to lend those results serious longevity.

Avoid Negativity

Many are compelled to diet and exercise out of negative sentiments and feelings, such as self-loathing or low self-esteem, only to find that those feelings never quite subside even after goals have been met and progress has been made. Dieting and exercise should only be approached from a positive mental and emotional vector. You should, in actuality, see dieting and exercise as a method for giving and receiving what is best for you, for rewarding yourself with better health and a more finely-tuned physique, as opposed to a punishment for being out of shape or in poor health. Moreover, only through positivity can diet and exercise be used towards long-term success and lasting results.
 

Reward Yourself

…but not through vice. One of the largest problems faced by those turning to diet and exercise is that rewards are often conceived of in the very terms that are contrary to diet and exercise: indulgence and idleness. So, instead of rewarding yourself for sticking to your planned exercise goals by spending a day on the couch, why not make your reward a hike in the mountains or a walk around town? And instead of rewarding yourself for sticking to your diet by indulging in a finger-food marathon, why not treat yourself to a health-conscious restaurant with a dieter-friendly menu. Rewards shouldn’t be used to take a step back for the five steps forward you’ve taken. Rather, rewards should only be used to keep diet and exercise goals and efforts from becoming dull and grueling without overtly contradicting those goals and efforts.