If you don't know what "it" is, you should read this first. And be warned, this is a loooooong post. But then again, setting goals and sticking to them is a big thing.
"It" all started with a very fuzzy thought:
I'm going to take control of my life, health, nutrition, weight, and fitness. I'm going to get back into shape. I am going to eat better. I am going to lose weight.
The above was a wish, a hope, a dream but it wasn't yet a goal. This is important because in order to create a goal, to achieve something, you need a specific, attainable, actionable, measurable item. That is when the thought becomes a goal and you are on your way!
As the title suggests, there are various sizes to goals. A Macro goal being the largest - the end result goal(s). Mini goals come next, they are smaller chunks of the Macro goal. And then there are Micro goals. Think of them as baby steps. Baby stepping to the Mini and Macro goals (thanks, Bob and FMM)!
So let's turn my wishes, hopes, and dreams into goals:
1. I'm going to lose weight. Okay, big sit down with self, looking self in the eyes and asking self... how much weight? You've got to have a number to make this work. My self looked right back at me and said: 163 pounds (Give or take 5lb as I hadn't been on a scale since June and this was November. We'll address scale-phobia later...). Great! Now I've got a Macro goal that needs a plan. HOW am I going to achieve this goal?
A. I am going to change my eating habits (another hope that needs to be turned into a goal - more on this later).
B. I am going to walk the dog for 1 hour a day, 2 days a week, every week - an actual actionable, achievable, measurable item!
C. Every time I go to the store, bank, etc., I'm going to park the car as far from the entrance as feasible and walk to the door - another measurable, item!
D. I am going to research exercise and understand how many calories are burned during different types of exercise. - an actionable item!
E. I am going to increase my exercise level as I become stronger, fitter, more capable - more of a hope than a goal unless you add an actual time frame so that you are increasing on a schedule. It is actionable but you need to have a HOW to make it work (sometimes even plans need plans!).
Now for the Mini and Micro goals to this Macro goal. The reason I started looking at this in smaller terms is that the total was too overwhelming for me. I couldn't even think about it without being taken over by self-defeating, paralyzing trepidation. A healthy weight loss average is 1 to 2.5 lb per week. Even losing 2.5 (the max) every week, week after week after week after week (see where I am going with this?), I could see that it was going to take me at least 65 weeks to reach my goal. MORE THAN A YEAR! That thought in itself was deflating. Yes, the end result is worth the time and effort but there was no reason to defeat myself before I got started.
Okay, how to handle this? Another sit down with myself and I decided to look at my goal in pieces. My Mini goals would be to lose the weight in 10 pound increments. Even this can be pretty daunting as it can take 4-10 weeks to reach this goal IF I lose the safe average. I needed even smaller goals, that I could achieve and celebrate (NEVER with a food reward) to stay motivated, so I broke my Mini goals down into Micro goals. Starting at 278, my first Micro goal was to get to 275. A tiny little 3 lb goal that I could reach in a couple of weeks. After that, I'd work towards the round number: 270. This Micro goal is slightly more than the first at 5lbs - but still less scary than 10lbs. Then, the next Micro goal: lose the last 2 pounds needed to reach the Mini goal! So each Mini goal is comprised of 3 Micro goals. And by concentrating on the Micro goals, the Mini goals JUST HAPPENED BY THEMSELVES! *BIG GRINS*. Where do I go from here? Repeat the cycle of Micro goals, of course! Next up, 265! As of today, 19 Micro goals later, I'm at 215lbs and headed south to 210.
Now you didn't think I did this all with just walking the dog and parking further away from the door did you? Nope, there is way more to it than that. Remember that eating hope from above? Yup, time to address it! (And after that is addressed, next comes increased activity/exercise goals from the above list.) Throughout my life I've been a researcher of healthful eating practices. In the 90's it was through "health" magazines, through the 00's and 10's it has been through the internet. For over 25 years I've learned a lot about nutrition, fads, diets, etc and the one thing that has stood out the most is that healthful eating is not a short term change that you do just to lose the weight. This is a lifestyle change that must be committed to 100% and then stuck to for life. So let's look at how I made this commitment. Remember, achievable, measurable, and actionable items are key here.
2. I am going to change my eating habits. Time to decide HOW to change my eating habits so that this can become a real goal and not just a wish.
A. I am going to eliminate processed sugar from my diet (the white stuff, the brown stuff, the stuff hiding in many packaged products, the fake stuff, all of it). - An actionable item!
B. I am going to eliminate empty calories from my diet. - An actionable item!
I covered Empty Calories in the Journeys Too post but as a recap:
In my book empty calorie foods are foods that have nothing in them but calories from sugar/carbs, and/or fats and not much else. No nutrients, vitamins, minerals - nothing that is actually naturally occurring in the ingredients of the "food". This includes enriched foods. If you can't get the nutrients from the ingredients because they have been processed out, what on earth is being added to make up for that?
C. I am going to count my calories - every. single. one. - An actionable item! (I recommend www.caloriecount.com or the iphone app Calorie Count - same program, different format. Or Livestrong's My Plate website or app).
D. I am going to learn just how many calories I need everyday and formulate an eating plan based on those calories. - an actionable item!
E. I am going to plan and cook all of my own meals - not eat out and not buy meals or snacks on the run (this is actually way easier than you might think). - An actionable item!
F. I am going to eat 3 regular meals a day with a morning and afternoon snack. - An actionable item!
Making a major lifestyle change when it comes to eating habits is not easy. I was used to eating convenience foods. I'd always loved to cook but had gotten out of the habit of cooking. I'd become more of a "just throw a few things together and call it a meal" eater. Granted those things would usually be fairly nutritional foods (carrots, cheese sticks, nuts, dried fruits, yogurt, fruits and veggies, a sandwich, soup, etc) but I had no problem calling a bag of chips dinner either. Time to change that.
First off, I needed to start eating breakfast. Breakfast and I had been enemies for many years. I never really felt like eating breakfast. I wasn't usually hungry when I woke up. Sometimes my stomach just didn't feel like it could handle breakfast (with a bag of chips for dinner, who could blame it!). I still didn't really feel like eating in the morning so I packed my breakfast and morning snack to take to work with me. Yogurt with cereal and a banana. I wasn't eating until at least 9am but it was better than skipping breakfast. This would change as I became more active. I now wake up by 6am and am pretty well "starving" for breakfast!
One way to manage the food you are consuming while making planning easy is to have the same breakfasts, snacks, and lunches for a week. I go a step further and have the same dinners for 7 days straight. I cook everything on the weekend, pack it up and I'm ready to go. This weeks menu:
Breakfast - 1 scrambled egg, 1/2 cup milk
Snack - a green apple, 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
Lunch - 1 can light tuna in water with 1 tbsp mayo, 1/2 cup milk
Snack - 1 small avocado or 1 cup red peppers and cauliflower, a smoothie (recipes here)
Dinner - 1.5-2 cups homemade kitchen sink chili
12+ cups of water throughout the day, 1 cup of coffee and 1+ cups of tea
I occasionally mix up the snacks but the format doesn't change. I don't have to think too hard about what to have. I have the snacks with me at work so when I am hungry, I eat. I'm never at the point where I feel like I am starving, and this is so less stressful than worrying about what to eat. I've checked out these foods. I know that if I eat the above, I'll consume ~1700 calories in a day. Adding in protein powder and electrolytes on workout days brings the total to ~1900, and bike days where I ride 45+ miles, I'll add in enough supplements to bring my intake to nearly 3000 as I am expending at least 1200 calories just in biking alone.
The second change was cutting out the sugars. Right after Christmas... I gave them up. Poof! Gone. No soda, no sugar in my coffee or tea, no foods with added sugars. After a couple of days I didn't miss it and now, if I do have a bite of something with sugar added, it tastes overly sweet and generally gives me an upset stomach. I than picked Lent to give up processed foods. I wasn't eating many by this time, down to whole grain breads, cereals, and some pasta. I cut them all out. I was eating only whole foods now. I replaced the processed grains with Quinoa, Brown Rice, Barley and am still searching for more whole grains (non-wheat because it upsets my system) to assure that I am getting a good balance of healthy carbs in my diet.
Okay, now that we know the basics of how I did/am doing it, remember: When making changes, start slowly. Pick a change that you KNOW 100% that you can make and then stick to. Once you have that change down for 2 weeks, make the next change. This is a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. YOU CAN DO IT!
As this is such a big topic, I'll write on it again soon and add some links, breaking down some of this stuff further. Good luck!
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