Living Well — goals

Get SMART About Your Fitness Goals 0

You won’t get anywhere without setting calculated, meaningful goals. We can all say we want to go to the moon, but without the right preparation, planning, or training we won’t ever get there. Making goals with working out or weight loss work the same way. That’s why you should create SMART goals. This stands for specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time-bound. These restrictions allow you to give yourself goals that you’re better equipped to achieve.

Specific

If your goals are too broad, you won’t be able to determine how well you’re doing. If your goal is just to “work out” and you go to the gym once every two months, then congratulations, you’ve completed your goal and “worked out”, but you haven’t really achieved any meaningful goals. And we’re guessing that wasn’t what you meant when you made your goal. Make your goal specific to push yourself further and really get the best results. Instead of “work out”, try “run on the treadmill for 30 minutes”.

Measurable

Giving yourself an end goal that can actually be measured yields far better results than those that are broad. Your goal may be to lose weight. Well, weight is certainly something that can be measured, so give yourself a number that you can continuously check yourself against and gauge your progress in relation to it. If your goal was to “lose weight” and you lost 5 pounds, that would technically fall into the completion of your goal. But by giving yourself a measurable goal, like 30 pounds, you can see how much that 5 pounds really contributes to your true intention and how far you still have to go.

Action-Oriented

Goals that are action-oriented may involve a specific event or an action to take place in order for you to feel like you’ve completed this goal. Having a concrete action-oriented goal is also a great way to make sure your journey or progress along the way is making you prepared for this goal. For example, your action-oriented goal may be that you want to run a 5k. Every step that you take towards that goal, whether it be increasing the duration of your running time, running on different terrain, etc. will have the endgame of a 5k in mind. You then know which actions you need to take to complete this goal, which leaves you better prepared to complete it successfully.

Realistic

Oftentimes, when we create goals for ourselves we really shoot for the stars. Which isn’t always a bad thing! But, if your goal is to drop 7 pant sizes in less than a month, you’re probably setting yourself up for failure. Part of the reason why we don’t always achieve our goals is because we set an unrealistic goal to start with, and get frustrated when we don’t see ourselves obtaining it. Really think about your goal, and prepare for any setbacks or unexpected turns. Be honest with yourself, do you see your goal as something that is realistic and achievable given the circumstances, time frame, etc.? If so, you’ve gotten yourself onto the path for success, go for it!

Time-Bound

The most important part of a goal is arguably the time-bound aspect of it. If there is no sense of urgency, what incentive do you have to push yourself to complete this goal right now? ‘I want to lose 10 pounds, but I have as much time as I want to do that, so I’ll skip the gym today’. If your goal is to lose 10 pounds in 8 weeks, however, you would definitely think twice about skipping that gym day (and we hope you wouldn’t!). Creating a goal that is time-bound will give you the push to achieve your goals, because it makes you responsible and accountable. If you haven’t lost 10 pounds in 8 weeks, you can clearly see that you did not achieve your goal.

Now that we’ve talked about SMART goals, let’s see what one actually looks like. Some examples would be:

Lose 20 pounds by June 1st.

• 20 pounds is measurable, June 1st is time-bound and specific.

Complete a 5k by the end of the year. 

• Completing a 5k is action-oriented and specific, the end of the year is time-bound and realistic.

Fit into your old skinny jeans within the next two months.

• Your old skinny jeans are specific, the next two months are time-bound.

A SMART goal is simultaneously all 5 of these components in one simple phrase. Here’s a visual example.

We think you probably get the idea now. An organized, well crafted goal instead of a broad unrealistic one makes all the difference in achieving your goals. So go create some SMART goals for yourself on your fitness journey and immediately see the better path it puts you on. 

12 Quotes to Drive You to Fulfill Your New Years Resolutions 0

2017 is here! That means everyone is doing their best to stick to their resolutions, some being far more difficult than others. As we know by now, resolutions aren’t always a one-stop fix. They’re an uphill climb, hard to stick to, and you will most likely face many steps backwards while trying to move forward. When your resolution involves making healthier choices and getting your body in better shape, you’ll need some motivation to push you through those difficult times. We’re here to help motivate you — after all, we’re on this journey of health together. But some motivation from those who are more wise than we are can be immensely powerful. Here are 12 quotes we think represent this journey to a better you. We hope these quotes free you from what was holding you back in 2016, and get you in the healthiest mindset for the trials and triumphs of 2017.

15 Quotes About Healthy Living to Help You Through the Day 0

The Fear of Success 0

We’ve heard this phrase many times before - so how does this apply to your health and wellness goals? Whether it’s your goal to do one thing - like drink more water, or a more complex one, like lost 30 pounds, we need to realize what it is that might be holding us back in any of these scenarios. Most of the time, we know what we need to do, or we can find out what we need to do, i.e. get the help of a nutritionist. We may think that we simply don’t want it enough, otherwise we would have already done something about it and achieved this goal. However, that’s not the case. Even if you consider yourself a risky person, it can be the fear of taking the risk to achieve your goal and failing. An irrational fear, even, that is holding you back.

What do we mean by this? Well, we know now that simply having a 51% chance or more at succeeding at something is not nearly enough to get us to do it. The odds must be much greater, and when we don’t see the chances as being good, then we’re much less likely to follow that workout plan. Because we have a lot of doubts that it’s not going to work. These may not even be rational - in fact, they are probably irrational fears and reasons as to why we might fail. Nevertheless, they are real to us and keep us from trying to achieve our goals.

The best way to work through this? Help ourselves to realize that the outcomes that can be achieved are worth it to take that risk. This is done by breaking down what we deem to be the risks and what we would like to gain from this experience. Basically, what things are you willing to give up by not achieving your goal and what things you are willing to risk to get there - this can be anything from money, psychological or physical well-being, career, time with family and friends, etc. The point here is to realize your priorities and what matters to you. Plus, taking the time to actually write out or verbalize your fears and possible outcomes may bring you to the realization that this is worth the risk, and sooner than you thought.

Tips for Staying on Track with Your Health and Wellness Goals 0

Start Small—the same way our bad habits weren’t formed in a day, we can’t expect an entire lifestyle change to take place overnight. But if we can make ourselves try one thing differently—like get up in the morning and put your gym clothes on right away—over time we can form habits that make taking the next step that much easier. Before you know it, you won’t be able to put on those gym clothes fast enough!

Be SMART—many of us have heard of the powerful acronym for creating goals that actually have the potential to be achieved. The reason it’s so important to have specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound goals is that it gives us somewhere to go and differentiates our efforts from being just a dream. Essentially, using this method will help you to visualize the steps you need to take to make changes in your lifestyle. Instead of simply deciding you want to drink more water, planning out how much water you’ll drink and how you’ll gradually increase your intake over a certain amount of time takes out the guesswork of how to get started with making that change!

Tell Everyone!—accountability is key here. The advantage of announcing your health goals to the people around you is that if you don’t get up to put on your gym clothes that morning or if you didn’t drink that last glass of water, you’ll have those people to answer to. That alone can give someone the motivation to get things done! Better yet, if you have someone working towards the same goal as you, by supporting one another you can be there when the other person is feeling unmotivated, and vice versa. And don’t stop there, share it with your journal! Being able to read back and see how far you’ve come can also be a great motivator for those days you’re just not feeling it.

The Possibilities are Endless!—when we think of health goals, many times losing weight and eating healthier are the first to come to mind. The great news is there are so many other ways to improve our health and overall wellness. You can make a goal to go to the gym more and eat less, but you can also make goals to get outside with friends, always choose to take the stairs, add natural oils to your diet (we love CBD Hemp Oil), or try that new spin class your coworker has been telling you about! The point is to find something that excites you—and don’t be afraid to switch it up. Now get out there and start achieving!

7 Things You Can Do Today to Feel Healthier Tomorrow 0

Sometimes you’re just in need of a quick way to help get you back on track with your health and wellness goals. Well here are 7 of them that you can do right now to start improving your wellness routine and get back into the habit of being health conscious.

Oil Pulling—oil what?! Let us explain by thinking of it this way—rather than using mouthwash we’re using oil, like coconut oil, and instead of 30 seconds, try 15-20 minutes. But the benefits look so promising, you’ll want to get started right away! First off, we love coconut oil because by itself it has vitamins A, B, D and K. View our other blog post here to see vitamin benefits for your body. At the very least, coconut oil is a great organic substitute for mouthwash and can help improve skin and teeth. So what else is going on while you’re swishing around coconut oil for 20 minutes? The idea is that the toxins are being ‘pulled’ out into your mouth, so you’ll definitely want to spit it out afterwards (be sure to spit in the trash so you don’t risk the oil clogging up your sink). Try taking 1 tablespoon per day—people have claimed seeing results after just one use, but we recommend trying it for a whole week to see what it can do for you!

Breathing Exercises—who knew something so simple could have so many benefits? When you take several deep breaths—breathing slowly all the way in and all the way out—it activates your vagus nerve (in laymen’s terms, your body switches from storing fat to burning it). In addition, the process of breathing in so deeply rids your lungs of carbon dioxide and as a result increase your oxygen intake. So what are you waiting for—get breathing!

Drink Water—you know the saying, drink water now, because you’ll need it later! Whether you’ve heard it or not, it’s very true. If you’re someone who rarely drinks a glass of water, we guarantee you’ll notice a huge difference in the way you feel when you drink 2 to 3 liters a day. Although studies show differing recommendations on how much water you should drink, we’ve found the easiest way to drink water is to always carry it on your person, and when in doubt, take a sip! Not only does it keep you hydrated, but it regulates your body temperature, cushions your joints, and helps rid your body of harmful toxins. Another easy way to tell you’re getting enough water—your urine is light yellow or colorless!

Daily Oil Dosage—yep, we’re talking about CBD Hemp Oil! It comes in several different forms you can check out here, but a daily dose of it can help take you from distress to de-stress. Ahhh.

Tongue Scraping—another great way to extract toxins and bacteria from your body is by purchasing these scrapers inexpensively at health food stores and pharmacies. Throughout the day, bacteria and plaque covers up our tongue, so it makes sense that it can be more difficult to taste our food. But the effect doesn’t stop there—it can make us overcompensate with salt and sugar, ending in a series of overeating. To get the best effect, buy an actual tongue scraper instead of just using your toothbrush to really get those toxins off so you can start tasting again!

Sweat and Stretch—and in this order! Yet another way to get to release toxins from your body is through sweat, so get out and get moving! Exercise should be a daily occurrence anyways, and you want to make sure that you stretch after your warm up and before you start your full-fledged routine—that way your muscles have time to warm up and will stretch better and reduce the risk of injury.

Go to Bed!—although all of these options are great for feeling better as soon as the next day, they’ll all be for nothing if you stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Even though it might be difficult at times, your body will truly thank you the next day if you can squeeze in 7-8 hours of sleep the night before. On top of feeling more energized, it will help keep you on track with healthier eating and your skin will look a lot healthier—how could you pass up on these benefits just from getting a little more shuteye?!