Death by Chocolate is not a goal

We all have the best of intentions when it comes to setting new resolutions, but often the reason these resolutions don’t stick is because we’re trying to change a habit overnight.

For sustainable, realistic changes, these habits should be overcome gradually and consistently.

First establish your goals, for example, becoming physically active, eating more healthfully, dealing better with stress etc. Don’t set these goals because someone else says you should.

Your goals should be yours alone and in setting them, not only will you buy into them, but you’ll also be fully accountable for their achievement.

Long-term goals

Something that excites you to think about completing, a long-term (LT) goal can be anything you feel is realistically achievable. Examples might be working fewer hours, cycling across the continent (!) or losing 6kg.

Setting LT goals within a 4 to 12 month period should work well – anything longer and it may be hard to maintain motivation or commitment. Anything shorter and you’re moving into dangerous territory, since dropout tends to be greater within the first three months of starting any new programme.

Medium-term goals

These help you achieve your LT goals. For example, if your LT goal is to lose 6kg within a 4-month period, your medium-term (MT) goal may be to lose 1.5kg per month. If your LT goal is to reduce by two hours, your working day, from 10 hours within a 6-month period, your MT goal may be to get home 15 minutes earlier every 2 weeks.

Short-term goals

These are immediate events that facilitate your MT goals and include things as simple as attempting to get to the gym three times a week; eating a good quality home-prepared lunch daily, meditating for 5 minutes every day etc.

Once again, make sure these are realistic – if you don’t normally take a lunch break, don’t opt for a one-hour walk at that time; rather attempt a 10-minute power walk until you become used to the idea of taking time for yourself during your working day.

The above make up your action plan. Write it down so that you can remind yourself of your goals regularly.

If you hit a rough spot and don’t manage to complete your ST goals for the week, don’t panic; simply start up again as soon as you can (don’t wait till Monday!).

If your lapse is happening frequently, revisit your ST and MT (and perhaps even your LT) goals, since they may not be as realistic as you thought they were.

Lastly, be sure to reward yourself when you do achieve your goals consistently. Perhaps not with a piece of ‘Death by Chocolate’, but with a new item of clothing, a weekend away, time by yourself … whatever floats your boat and makes you feel good. You’ll have deserved it!

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Tanya Wyatt

Owner at The Happy Body

Tanya started out as a professional ballet dancer. Swopping her pointe shoes for takkies, she decided being a hip hop dancer was way cooler, so chopped off her bun and joined a street dance company. For many years, she also taught dance and fitness classes in Cape Town before deciding that nutrition and lifestyle coaching was the way to help people change their state of health for the better. So, while writing two health and fitness books, she moved to London to study and began her ‘real life’ – that as a health and lifestyle coach. She’s been in private practice for 10 years now, is a mom of a 7-year old pig-tailed ball of energy, writes for various national and local health publications and is a health presenter when the occasion arises. Oh – and once a dancer, always a dancer – she’s also taken up ballet pole dancing 🙂 Click here to contact Tanya.

Latest posts by Tanya Wyatt (see all)

• DIE with a capital ‘T’ - 3 October 2014
• Time to ditch the wagon? - 1 September 2014
• Tips for avid Cheescake Eaters - 5 August 2014
• Falling off the Wagon - 2 July 2014
• The future’s a promissory note; the past a cancelled cheque - 3 June 2014