SMART goals - setting yourself up for success

Hi all!  This is something that I did for the first month before I tried to count calories or add exercise.  I found it really helpful!  Actually, I think that I would probably have failed if I tried calorie counting right away - I was addicted to caffeine and bread and couldn't imagine eating a lot of fruit and veges!

SMART GOALS - Setting yourself up for success!

I read that making a resolution such as "Eat healthy in 2008!" was almost certainly doomed to failure.  Why?  Not specific enough!   The idea is to make S>M>A>R>T> goals (an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely).

So instead of saying "Eat healthy", the idea is to make a S>M>A>R>T> goal, eg. I'll eat 2 pieces of fruit every day, ticking them off on a chart, and reward myself by going to the movies if I get 50 ticks within 4 weeks (in 4 weeks, you could actually tick off 56 if you never missed a fruit snack!).  That's a good goal because it is very specific, you can measure it, -  it is achievable (provided you can afford the fruit), it is realistic (you can maintain it) and it is timely. 

The idea of doing it for four weeks is that research shows that it takes at least 21 days to form a habit.  So after your fruit challenge you should be so used to adding fruit to your shopping trolley and snacking on it, it will be a habit that stays with you!

///////////////////////////////////////////// ///////////////////////////////////////////// ////////

what to do - post your goal here and check in to let us know how you are going!  Be very specific and realistic - that way you set yourself up for success.

* waves! *

Glad you came, Lynnhaslost!

Shinking_caro-- Sorry 'bout the hour...! Never heard the blame on Bush for THAT one, lol! He certainly gets blamed for plenty!

If you are 5 ahead of New Jersey, I think that must be Eastern Time, which is one hour ahead of my Central time... so I have to wait another hour to see the sun you folks see waayyyy ahead of me, lol! That is a 6 hour difference in time for me with  your UK, which is much closer to Jella's Australian time. Her prime time of 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. will be about 6 a.m.- 11 a.m. for you...?

{{{Brain Strain, lol!!!}}}

She's still ahead of you, but not nearly as much!

I think this will be a Great group! Quite a wide time difference, but that's easy to adapt to, and FUN! Nice to get to know someone from the UK!

I WILL MEET MY EXERCISE GOALS TODAY!!!!! GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

This is a great idea jella.  Thanks for the acronym...I'm gonna have to think about it for awhile and then post my goal with this format in mind. I just wanted to say hello for now.

My goals for the next 4 weeks (which is exactly how long it is until I have to be in a bathing suit in public):

1. Exercise 4 days a week for at least 30 minutes (I average 2 right now).
2. Implement these eating habits: unlimited fruits and veggies; limit dessert to fresh fruit, sugar free pudding, sugar free fudge lites, or sugar free popsicles; eat 1 salad for dinner per week, 1 soup for dinner per week, 1 fish entree for dinner per week; drink at least 64 oz. of water a day; eat whole grain instead of white stuff (and only 2 grains a day at that).
   
3. Stop these eating habits:  no candy (sugar free hard candy permissible) or fried foods (I have fried at least once a week and a candy bar 2-3 times per week).
4. Take a multi-vitamin every day.
5. Eat out 2 times or less per week (I average 4-5 right now).
6. No self deprecating comments.

Rewards:  1 meal of my choosing each week.  A mani/pedi before my trip if I do the very best I can to achieve the above goals.

G'day Ladytrekki!  I look forward ot seeing what your goals are!

Everyone -  I'm celebrating!  Had a sneaky weighin this morning to see that i have dropped to 202lb - down from 204 on Monday.  So that's a 2lb loss in just 5 days.  Struth! I know that it must be the extra salads and all this exercise that I've been doing that has caused me to finally break the plateau I've been on for about 6 weeks!   If the exercise is doing this for me then I've decided that I don't have a love hate relationship with it all!  My sister reckons she has two love affairs going - one wilth Jim (GYM) and the other one with Ron (RUN).... I think I'm going to start too!

I'm really happy - I posted this SMART goal thread as a way of breaking the plateau.  I just found that focussing only on calorie counting wasn't really working for me and I had to think of some behaviours that I could change.  Seems that just a fortnight of these new behaviours is beginning to boost my metabolism back into weight loss mode!  I also feel healthier already and so far, touch wood, haven't caught the cold my husband has been suffering from all week!

G'day mbz! Wow - you have lots of changes you want to make! I did too in my first month! 

Remember small steps are easier to take then leaping bounds - less likely to fall flat on your face!

If you are averaging 2 exercise sessions a week now then try to aim for four but make your SMART goal a little less - eg. 4x4 is 16 - a perfect score if you don't miss any sessions over four weeks - make your SMART goal a little less like 12 sessions in 4 weeks. This makes it very realistic as it allows for bad weather, feeling sick, and lazy days! If you go over your SMART goal and do more then you feel even better about your efforts. 

Being a primary school teacher and principal, I tend to be pretty visual - i love sticker charts and little diagrams!  I was reading your eating goal and trying to think how I would go about recording my success if I had this goal.  It is really important that you take the time to work out how you are going to record your success! A little complicated because you are trying to do so many things!  Here's my idea for what I'd do - maybe it'll help you.

Draw/use clip art or google images... imagine a visual menu of food items that you want to eat each week.  Cut&paste/draw these images in a column down the left side of your page - eg. a bowl of fruit, a plate of salad. fish, lean meat, grilled vegetables, whole grain bread, soup... and add tally marks beside these each time you eat a serve.  I'd put in some of those diet treats as well the high cal foods you wish to avoid such as fried foods and candy bars.  Aim to only get one tally mark beside that high cal treat!  The next week, make the same chart again and aim to get in more serves of fruit, salad and lean meats, less treats etc.  You should feel really proud of yourself when you compare your tally chart from week one to week 4! 

I've seen some people use the tickers on theri profiles to record the amount of water they drink.

I totally agree with you - no self-depreciating comments!  Be positive and happy - celebrate every achievement!  Make sure that you are not too hard on yourself and set goals that are too hard to achieve at first.  We all feel better about ourselves when we achieve success - you are making these changes for a lifetim so go slow and steady and feel proud of each step!

Keep us posted on how you go!  Let us know if you need ideas to up the amount of veges you eat or the amount of water you drink.

I got my walk in this morning, so I'm up to THREE now.  Am planning a couple of walks over the weekend to get my numbers up!

Well done on getting off the plateau jella - way to go :-)

This sounds like a fantastic way to keep yourself going! Great idea to incorporate with my goal ( which seems so unreachable sometimes) It will give me something to work for kinda of a short term faster reaching goal to keep me motivated!!! Thanks again for the idea!!!

Hi Jella & 2beittybitty

I got my SMART PLAN all ready to go.

2 Servings of Fruit Daily  62 total ( 31 days)
2 Servings of 1 salad and 2 cups of steamed Veggies  62 total ( 31 days)
1 Serving of Animal Protein (Fish or Chicken 3oz.-4oz.) (31 days)
{None of my Meat will be breaded or Cooked in OIL}

NOW! My legs ;)
Lunges and Squats
Lunges> 2 sets of 15 Reps= 30 Sun-Tues-Thur  3 60 Reps in (31 days) 
Squats> 5 sets of  10 Reps= 50 Sun-Tues-Thur  600 Reps in (31 days)

I got my chart all ready for next week. I already do these things, but this will give me better records of it, and staying on track with the amount.. This will really cut down on my writing about the amount, because I already have it set, how many calories are in these things.  Before bed. I plan on fixing my Salad amounts before bed.. I got me some of those glad Bowls last night... :) Wish me luck...

This is really good, I know with this plan I can cut down on if I logged this today or not ... Sometimes I forget... EXTRA BONUS 4 ME! I will not eat nothing from a can... For 31 days..

My reward for doing this for 31 days. Will be---SHOES & JEANS 3 Pair of EACH... :) A Woman can never have enough Clothes or shoes..
THANKS,

Lynn

i have been reading the posts here and trying to figure out a good goal for myself. My problem is I do not have 31 days to completely give to exercise. I am having surgery on May 12th, they are going to fuse my ankle together. It is an extensive surgery and I will not be able to do any cardio for almost 6 weeks. I have been thinking about a food goal. I am thinking the fruit and vegetables goals I have been seeing sound good. So here are my goals.

56 fruits in 31 days. 56 vegetables in 31 days. 64 oz of water for 28 of the 31 days.

I made these goals considering that I would probable not eat much the day of surgery and the days after. I did not want to set myself up for failure.

This is a great idea. I have been ona plateau for a while and am getting frustrated. Hopefully this will help me start losing again. I have lost 30 pounds in the last year and have 50 more to go. Thanks for the great idea!

* waves to everybody! Nice to see folks here with good plans! *

Ouch!!! That's a tough deal, Aptaylor!

My husband had that done after a fall crushed his heel bone... have you had any experience with this before? I might could give a couple tips that helped my husband-- because my daughter's husband had the same surgery a month or so before my husband did, and she helped by knowing a little from that experience...

Congratulations on your Success! GOOD JOB!!!!

We are close in a year's effort-- I'm around 40 lost and nearly a year, with about 60 to go, from 206.5 down to 168.2, with about 3 lbs. of muscle gained. I'm short so my goal is 2beittybitty-but-Healthy!

Plateau's and up-and-downs are a problem for me, too, Grrrrrr!!!!

With your determination, in spite of your surgery, you'll reach your goals!

Anybody else have trouble with company hindering your exercise goals...??? I got de-railed from my plans last night by LATE puzzle-working guests and shopping earlier in the day...!

I think I can still reach my SMART goals, but extra's will be difficult now! Especially since I had to sleep late...

Maybe a SMART goal is to re-instate my earlier bed time and rising... at least most of the time... Gotta' figure that into a SMART-style goal, lol!!!! I'm sure it would help!

I have not had this surgery before. I was ina car accident 4 years ago and had plates and screws inserted at that time. There are now bone spurs and arthritis so bad I can not bend my ankle as it is some days and have pain everyday. When I could not walk the tread mill anymore and woke up unable to walk I figured it was time to head back to the doctor. That is when he told me this was my best option. He said that I should be able to be as active as I was a year ago when all is said and done. Thanks for the support. Good Luck as Well!

That IS hard!!! My former son-in-law was injured in a car accident, too, and the fusing and later removal of the screws, etc. seemed to really help reduce his pain level.

My husband fell as a result of Hurricane Katrina damages, but had the same injury. He lives with pain, so I understand a little of the challenges you face-- glad you can get some improvement!!!

The tips that helped us were- first! Have someone to help you and communicate for you if you are medicated and unable to explain your needs!

Second-- they placed a 'boot' on my daughter's husband's foot during surgery that the Dr. intended to have the nurses remove-- but the nurses were not told! It caused a GREAT deal of unnecessary pain due to restriction while the foot swelled after the surgery... my daughter knew this when my husband had the same surgery-- and asked the nurses, who were not told-- again! As soon as they left, we removed it, and my husband had far less pain...

Third-- some people need different medications after surgery! My husband has several surgeries due to multiple injuries, so we learned a vast difference in pain meds... Morphine in a pump caused a constant every-9 minute-in-pain effect, where he could not rest... as well as intense all-over itching. (A $50.00 cansistor of creme the nurses went and got for him helped, but changing meds stopped it from happening the next surgery!) Also, the bladder was affected in a miserable way...

The next surgery we got the Dr. to give him Dim-er-ol (uncertain spelling), instead of morphine, and he was able to sleep!!!! For hours!!! Without itching and feeling the need to go, while being unable... There are different types of meds, so what would work for you could well differ... but ask! This is also why I Hope you have help that can tell the nurses if you need to change something... it was hard for my husband to explain what he needed, and he had to depend on me and my daughter to help him...

If you know what to expect, you'll get to ask the Dr. about stuff like the 'boot' he might use-- and whether you can remove it! The nurses don't like to do things they are not told, and catching the Dr. to ask can be very slow...!

Hope this helps you have a better time of it-- praying for you!

Thank You again for the support! My mom, sister and Boyfriend will be there to help. My hope is that the surgery will go according to plan.

Good!!!

Wished I could help-- but you've got what you need! It should help a lot, according to what the former son-in-law said!

Glad you'll be a part of Jella's SMART Team so we can support you through it all!!! You'll help Inspire us!!!!

Hi Girls,

I've read through many of the other forums but I've found nothing as inspiring as this one. You've already got me thinking smart and moving.

My Birthdays coming up and it would be a great day of celebration if I moved the scale down. So, I'm setting that goal at 147lbs. I plan to achieve that by sticking to the plan. I'm also going to post a forum showing my plan, what I've actually done and my progress. To stick it out there for all to see is a good motivation for me.

I dont' know how SMART I am but this is my plan:

Specific: Move the scale down by my Birthday.

Measurable: 8 cups of water - Daily

Achievable: Bicycle Abs-3 sets-25 reps, tri cep dips- 3 sets-12reps-Daily

Curls & Shoulder Extensions, Squats & Lunges-15lbs-3 sets-15 reps-4xWkly

Realistic: Dancing with the Seniors - Twice Weekly

Timely: 21 days makes a habit. 21 Days breaks a habit. Its a good start anyway. No Smoking!!

WOW!!! Britt10!!! I just read your story!!!

* bows deeply and sincerely, sweeping large hat off head in Honor! *

What a life Journey you've already had! I'm proud to share this SMART goals Challenge with someone as Positive as you!!!

Go, Girl!!!!!!

Wish we shared time zones, Jella!!!!!

Hi britt10!  I just popped into your profile to meet you properly - what a great story of survival and refusing to let circumstances beat you!

It's great to have you here!  Your goals all sound fantastic!

Watch out - I'm going into teacher mode now, can't help myself!!!  With the SMART goal idea each seperate goal needs to be smart.  You have actually got 5 goals so you need to check that each one is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. 

Your first goal is a tricky one - it is something you hope will happen as a result of achieving the other goals, but can't really be a SMART goal in itself.  Losing weight is not actually a voluntary behaviour is it - but is a body's response to other behaviours that you CAN control, like calorie control, exercise, reducing toxins... Does that make sense?  I still record my body changes and write what I hope will happen in one month, three months etc - but I kind of keep it seperate from the SMART goal idea.

ALL of your goals have been described specifically (eg. drink 8 glasses of water is specific whereas drink more water is not!).  So top marks there!

They all seem achievable!  None look like they are impossible (though I have never smoked so couldn't begin to understand the difficulties of kicking that habit!)  If you have been a heavy or long term smoker, you should probably see your doctor or professional service for advice.  This'll give you the very best chance of success.

The other 3 aspects of a SMART goal need to be considered together.  Give yourself a time frame to work on the goal.  You have got the idea of needing to have at least 3 weeks which is great! Then consider how you are going to measure and record it.  When I went from lots of sweet milky coffee to plain black tea I made it progressive, gradually cutting the number of cups of coffee and replacing it with other drinks.  My current exercise goal has 2 parts - a goal of at least 20 interval walk/jog sessions in 4 weeks and also a gradual increase in the duration of the jogs. 

You need to think of a way of recording your success so that you can know if you are achieving you goals, going beyond or need to work harder. 

That's where the last idea comes in - Realistic!  You hope to do your exercise program 4 times a week - if you aim for a perfect score (eg, 16 sessions in 4 weeks), you will stress if you have to miss a session!  A SMART goal might be to aim for 13 - (knowing that you are capable of doing more, but giving you some breathing space for bad weather, having unexpected company, feeling down!). 

GOOD LUCK WITH THE GOALS!  MAKE SURE YOU POST IN A PROGRESS REPORT SO WE CAN CHEER YOU ON! 

APTaylor! Welcome!  Do you shorten this name at all? AP? Taylor?

Bummer about the ankle!  Most cardio is definitely out!  You can definitely make positive healthy life changes without focussion on the cardio yet.

Until I started this SMART goal a fortnight ago, exercise had only really been a good intention for me!  Apart from the occasional walk, it was something that I was "gunna-do" soon... but never got round to!  For me, the first 3 months was about dealing with my overeating issues - increasing the healthy foods, decreasing the toxins, reducing my bread...  I actually lost 15lb doing just that - so you can have good results!  When I plateaued for over a month that motivated me into making a SMART exercise goal.

Your goals are all great and give you a bit of room to move.  You're not demanding perfection of your self everyday. How are you going to record your progress?

Once your operation is done, your physiotherapist might be able to give you advice on exercises to strengthen your whole body and ideas for low impact or upper body cardio.

Let us know how you get on!