01 Feb Developing Habit based Goals

The one thing many people do when they first start on their fat loss journey is they set a weight they want to hit, and they aim for that “goal”.

This is great to give you direction, but really that is all this goal does. Many times, it is just an arbitrary number that someone told you that you should be at or a number picked out of the sky for some random reason e.g. “it sounds right”, “it’s a round number” – I’ve literally been told that before.

Then they start restricting foods or counting calories or counting macros, without really thinking how it is going to truly effect their lifestyles and what needs to change. They see the end result goal, but the journey between that vision and now is blank.

The reality is, our lifestyles are generally the reason why we find ourselves in the position we are in. Our lifestyles dictate our routine which results in who and what we are. Understanding this can take a lot of the stress and save a lot of time on your fat loss journey.

Our lifestyles generally sets up the fact that we:

– have to have a sweet snack at around 3pm

–  go to sleep late watching television shows

–  use our phones before we go to bed

–  spend all day at our desks not getting any sun

–  don’t ensure we are drinking water regularly throughout the day

–  eat all our meals on the run and don’t sit down and chew through our food mindfully.

– prioritize health lower than everything else – the is probably the biggest factor across all of them

These are the factors that cause us to have less than optimal health and body composition and so these are the factors we should be creating habits AGAINST to achieve our MILESTONE of that weight we are aiming for.

Some of the HABIT BASED GOALS we should be aiming to develop are:

– I am going to eat protein with every meal (this keeps us full so we don’t have to snack around 3pm)

– I am going to turn off all technology an hour before I go to bed

– I am going to take a walk outside for my lunch break everyday (extra burnt calories for the win!)

Creating these HABIT BASED GOALS that you can tick off daily will more likely keep you on track on a day to day basis and give you a boost of confidence every time you achieve them. They are also great because you have complete control over whether these goals actually take place, unlike stepping on a scale where weight can fluctuate based on how much you’ve eaten throughout the day, menstrual cycle or even if you’ve gone to the toilet or not.

So start your journey by looking at what your lifestyle is like and what HABIT BASED GOALS you need to develop to ensure you are on the path to change