By Louise Belle BHSc (Nut Med)

Can you feel the temperature rising and desperately want to fit into your old swimming costume? Are you carrying around a few extra kilos of cargo that you’d love to get rid of? Do you set yourself weight loss goals and fail to achieve them every time? Losing excess weight is never easy, but when you throw a few unachievable goals in the mix, it makes it even harder! If your goals are vague, unrealistic or down right impossible to achieve, you’ll never reach them. In fact, you will probably be so disheartened by the fact you didn’t achieve them, that you give up altogether. Your goals need to be S.M.A.R.T.  Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound. Setting SMART goals will give you a much greater chance of shedding those excess kilos and feeling fantastic.

What are SMART goals anyways?

Smart goals are:

• Specific

  There’s no room for blurry lines here. For example, ‘exercise more’ or ‘lose weight’ are very unspecific goals and are difficult to follow. You don’t really know what you are working towards, so you are unlikely to achieve the goal. Remove the blurry lines and set yourself a specific goal, such as ‘walk for 30 minutes, twice per week’ or ‘lose 2 kilos this month’. They are specific and you can work towards them.

• Measurable

  If you can’t measure your goal, how will you know when you’ve achieved it? If you have some type of measurement system for each of the goals you set, you will be more likely to accomplish them. A measurable goal might be ‘run for 10 minutes without stopping’ and you can use a stopwatch to time yourself, so you’ll know when you’ve reached your goal. For each goal you set, make sure it can be measured.

• Attainable

  If your goal is impossible to achieve, you are merely setting yourself up for failure. Your goals may be difficult, but they need to be achievable for you. Aiming to run a marathon when you have arthritis in your knees is probably not attainable. Look at your goals and ask yourself whether you have the resources and abilities to achieve them.

• Realistic

  The goal that you set needs to be realistic to you and your circumstances. For example, if your goal is to lose 20 kilos, but losing 12 kilos will give you a healthy BMI (Body Mass Index), is 20 kilos realistic? Probably not. Set goals that are realistic to you, so that you are able to achieve them. There is no point aiming for goals that can’t be reached.

• Time-bound

  If your goal is to get back into your favourite dress from three years ago, then you need to set a time frame to achieve this. Are you giving yourself a month or a year to fit into the dress? Setting a time frame allows you to track your progress and to determine whether or not you have achieved your goal. A time-bound goal holds you more accountable and makes you work harder towards achieving it. ‘Fit into my favourite dress within 3 months’ is a time-bound goal.

How do I develop my goals?

Now that you understand what a smart goal is, you are ready to develop your goals. There are three main focus areas that you can set your goals. These are diet, lifestyle and weight. Setting and achieving your goals in the diet and lifestyle areas, will ultimately help you to achieve your weight goals. First, look at your diet and areas where you could possibly improve. Review your intake of alcohol, soft drink, biscuits, hot chips or other foods you indulge in too often and set yourself a limit to one portion per week for example. Secondly, look at your lifestyle. How much activity are you currently doing and are you able to increase it? Get up 20 minutes earlier and go for a walk, or join a fitness class. Finally, set your weight goal. Be realistic and aim for ¼- ½ a kilo per week, or aim to go down a clothing size. Look at these three areas, pick a few goals and make them SMART.

What will help me achieve my goals?