HOW TO MAKE HEALTH GOALS THAT ACTUALLY STICK

Oct 29, 2021

How many times have you said to yourself that this is going to be the year that you transform your health once and for all and that nothing is going to stop you? Or how about that starting on Monday, actually Thursday, ahhhh next week works better (sound familiar… 😬) that you’re going to start going to the gym and eating more salads?

Or maybe you’re the person who has no problem getting started, but you find yourself fizzling out and reverting back to your not so favourable habits three weeks later. Whichever it is that’s preventing you from reaching that healthier and happier version of you, I’m here to bring you my Top 5 Tips to creating and sticking to LIFELONG healthy habits:

1. Create a Health Vision

What’s your WHY? Before you start on your health journey, the first thing you need to do is to write down your why. It should make you cry. Okay maybe not everyone, but it should definitely strike an emotional cord. Ask yourself, what do you want to gain by improving your health? Do you want to be stronger so you can keep up with your kids? Do you want to get back into a hobby you once enjoyed before? Or maybe you just want to feel confident in your own skin again. Whatever it is, take the time to write down your why, then stick it up somewhere so you can see it everyday. This is going to ignite you on the days that you’re feeling sad, unmotivated, angry, down, frustrated, tired…you get it :)

Click here to learn more about how to create your own meaningful Health Vision!

2. Focus on Lifestyle Change, Not Weight-Loss

Weight is NOT the only indicator of your health and should never be your sole focus! In fact, many studies have shown that people who are obese can still be metabolically healthy while in some cases thin people (or those that appear healthy), can be more at risk for heart disease than those with obesity. So instead of focusing on a number that’s such a small component of your overall health anyways, focus on making long-lasting lifestyle change. If you’re looking to measure your progress, focus on how you’re feeling, whether that’s if you’re getting stronger, the pants are feeling a bit more loose, or you’ve noticed that your energy levels have increased. *If you’re motivated by numbers, lose the scale and break out the measuring tape. In some cases, people won’t notice a significant change in their weight, but their hip and waist measurements will show otherwise! Plus, it has been shown that the higher your waist circumference is, the more at risk you are for heart disease and NO scale can tell you that!

3. Take Baby Steps

When people feel fired up and ready to change their lifestyle, they feel like they need to do an entire overhaul of their diet, hire a personal trainer and start exercising every single day….BUT whoa nelly, not so fast! You’re going to either overwhelm yourself creating change paralysis (i.e., when there’s so much to do and you end up doing nothing) or you’re going to burn yourself out! Remember, it’s all about the little changes that add up overtime and equate to the BIGGEST and long-term changes. Start with two or three little habits a week that you believe are going to get you closer to your health vision, such as going to the gym 3x/week, meal planning every Sunday or having salad with dinner each evening. Once those behaviours become second nature to you, create new ones and keep building on those healthy habits.

4. Be Specific

“I’m going to start exercising more.” This is a very common goal that many people will make, which is a great goal to have but it’s way too vague! You need to be SPECIFIC when you’re setting healthy habits. “I’m going to start going for walks on Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:00am”, is a much better example of a specific goal. The more specific you are, the clearer your actions are that you need to follow, which will make it WAY more likely that you will carry out the behaviour.

5. Focus On Progress, Not Perfection

Let’s face it…nobody is perfect! “Messing up” or getting derailed from your goals is inevitable time to time, but what matters the most is having the ability to steer yourself back on track. So, instead of looking at your at your setbacks as complete failures and throwing in the towel, view it was a learning opportunity. Ask yourself, what can you do better next time? What did you learn from that experience that will prevent it from happening again in the future? Making mistakes are a blessing in disguise and will only make you stronger…but only if you allow it to.