Last week, I got you motivated to make positive changes to your health & wellbeing by setting goals. Did you set some yourself? If not, catch up by following my step by step guide from last week. If you have set your goals the chances are you’ll have been thinking about them quite a bit since. Do they feel more real now? Have you talked about them to a friend? This week, I’m going to teach you the next step to achieving your goals – making a plan of action!
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” Benjamin Franklin once said. No matter what your goal is you need to make a plan for how to achieve it. The plan can change over time and it most likely will, but that doesn’t matter because we can also have a back up plan for overcoming any obstacles that might get in the way of you achieving your goals.
Let’s take a typical weight loss goal to start with – “I want to lose 2 stone by my holiday in July” – and follow these steps for making a plan:
- 26 weeks to achieve your goal = small weekly targets of 1-1.5lbs weight loss per week
- 1lb weight loss requires 3,500 calorie deficit per week = 500 calorie deficit per day
- Burn 250 calories by rebounding (mini trampoline exercise) for 30 minutes before work 3-5 times per week
- Save 250 calories by swapping a cappuccino for an Americano with a splash of milk and a lunchtime bag of crisps for an apple everyday
- Exercise every day for at least 30 minutes (walking counts) and if you miss a day of exercise no problem – just add on 10 minutes of walking to the next 3 days
- Aim to reduce portion sizes and eliminate any unnecessary calories – e.g. alcohol, snacking when you’re not hungry, puddings, drinks etc
- Do this consistently for 1 week and see how much weight you lose
- Repeat each week and treat this as your new healthier lifestyle plan (not a diet or a fad) to achieve your summer goal!
You see, it’s not so difficult after all! Now you’ve just got to put the plan into action to ensure you achieve your goal. Next week, I’ll be talking about the various forms of exercise that are fun and suitable for beginners to help you achieve your weight loss and fitness goals this year.
Feel free to comment or ask any questions
Becky 🙂