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Why You Should Evaluate Your Goals Every Three Months

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How many times have you set a goal at the start of the new year and practically forgotten about it halfway through?

Goals are like flowers – you can’t just plant the seeds and walk away.  You need to tend to them, check in on them, and cultivate them.

The best way to tend to your goals is to evaluate them at least every three months.  Even the most basic review will keep them fresh in your mind.  Here’s why:

Why You Should Evaluate Your Goals Every Three Months

You Renew Your Commitment

You know that motivation you feel when you kick off your New Year’s resolutions?  It’s usually enough to power you through the first few weeks at least.

Checking in on your goals once a quarter is like giving yourself a restart button.  Imagine having that invigorating burst of focus three more times in a year.  If nothing else, it will get you that much closer to achieving your goals.

Start by reviewing your list of goals.  For each one, remind yourself why you set it and what you have to gain by reaching it.  Then either continue your current plan of action or create a new one.  Commit to those new steps and surround yourself with inspiration.

You Make Adjustments

It’s easy to have grand plans at the start of the year.  But sometimes those plans aren’t as realistic as you thought.  Or they just aren’t as effective as you thought.

Looking over your goals every few months gives you the opportunity to review what’s working and what’s not.  This is the only way you can make adjustments that will really have an impact.

If it’s not working, you have a few options:

  1. Adjust your plan of action.  Maybe you expected to workout for an hour each day and realized you just don’t have the time.  So instead you could change your plan to working out for 30 minutes or an hour three times per week.
  2. Adjust the goal itself.  Maybe you set a goal of saving up for your dream house within in the year.  Halfway though you realize it’s just not feasible in that time frame.  So instead you change your objective to saving half of the down payment.
  3. Adjust your mindset.  Maybe you were excited to start fresh but lost motivation when things didn’t progress as quickly as you wanted.  This is a great time to build up your support system and recommit.

On the other hand, perhaps your progress is going better than you thought.  You may have even reached your goal already.  In this case you have two options:

  1. Stretch your goal.  Maybe you set a business goal of reaching $50,000 in sales but you’re already at $60,000.  Why not stretch your goal to $100,000 and see if you can push yourself that much further.
  2. Celebrate and move on to other goals.  If you’ve reached your goal and you’re content with it, hooray!  Put that one aside and make one of your others a priority.

Speaking of celebration…

You Celebrate More Successes

Celebrate Your Successes

Most people prefer instant gratification over waiting on progress.  Waiting is hard – you put in all this effort and for a while you may not even know if it’s paying off.  When progress is slow we lose confidence in our abilities and willpower.

Performing a quarterly check-in gives you the chance to take a look back at how far you’ve come in the past three months.  Celebrate the wins, even if they’re small.  And if you haven’t reached any milestones yet, celebrate the effort you’ve put in so far.

If it helps you, set up a reward for reaching each milestone.  Plan it at the start of the year so you know what you have to look forward to.

You Keep Yourself on a Deadline

It’s easy to procrastinate when you feel like you have an entire year ahead of you.  You start off with your action steps on your to do list, but they quickly get pushed to the next day, and the next day, and the next day, because they don’t feel time-sensitive.

When you set three month milestones you’ve suddenly narrowed your schedule.  Instead of having 365 days to reach a goal, you now have only 90.  You can even narrow that down further into monthly goals.  This keeps you focused on making your goals a priority in your life.

 

Creating Quarterly Goal Reviews

So how do you set up these check-ins?  Here’s how to get started:

  1. Schedule four reviews in your calendar.  Set reminders and consider them mandatory appointments with yourself.
  2. Break your larger goals into 2-4 milestones.  These are stepping stones to your overall objectives.  Assign them to each quarter.
  3. During each quarterly review, ask yourself the following:
    1. Why do I want to reach this goal?
    2. What progress have I made so far?  Have I reached my goal?
    3. What has been working?  How can I keep this up?
    4. What hasn’t been working?  How can I make adjustments?
    5. What am I grateful for in the past three months?
    6. What is my new plan of action?
  4. Update your calendars with your new plans.

If you’re looking for a planner or journal set up to accommodate quarterly reviews, check out the Powersheets Goal Planner or the Daily Greatness Journal (I love both of these).

Keep cultivating those goals and you’re sure to make those dreams come true!

21 Ways to Stay Accountable to Your [Health and Fitness] Goals

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21 Ways to Stay Accountable to Your Health & Fitness Goals

Raise your hand if you’ve ever set a health or fitness resolution.

Now raise your hand if you’ve ever struggled with achieving your health or fitness resolution.

I doubt you actually raised your hand (I wouldn’t), but I know you’re thinking about goals you’ve set in the past that fizzled out after a few weeks of attempts.  Reaching our goals is hard.  But that’s not a bad thing.  The best goals push us forward and show us who we can be.

I have several of my own health goals for this year, so I’ve been studying ways to stay focused. I’ve learned that the process is the same for almost any type of goal.  It’s about accountability and letting our values and personality drive our efforts.

Here are 21 ways to stay accountable to your health and fitness goals!

 

Establish Your Goals

1. Set Specific, Achievable Goals

How can you hold yourself accountable to a goal if you haven’t defined it?  It would be like shooting an arrow with no target.  Make sure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based (i.e. S.M.A.R.T. goals).

2. Know Your “Why”

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • How will your life be different once you achieve your goals?
  • How will you feel if you don’t make progress?
  • What do you value in life?

When you understand why you want to reach your goals and how they fit within your values you’ll have powerful motivation to complete them.

3. Break Your Goals into Bite-Sized Pieces

Big goals are great, but it’s easy to feel like you’re not making any progress.  Break each goal into milestones, and then break those down into weekly tasks or daily habits.  When you have steps to focus on each day/week/month, you’ll know you’re moving closer to your goals.

4. Write Down Your Goals Officially

Writing down your goals is like signing a contract with yourself.  State your resolutions and lay out your plan for accomplishing them.  Include your motivations, timeline, and milestones.

5. Post Your Goals Where You Can See Them Frequently

Out of sight is often out of mind, so post your goals in a few places around your house or on your phone.  I use reminder apps to send me a notification daily.  I also love posting index cards to my bulletin board in my office.  Another idea is to write your goals in your journal every day to keep them fresh in your mind.

6. Share Your Goals

It’s been shown that people feel more accountable to their goals when they share their intentions with friends and family.  Discuss your goals with loved ones and ask them to support you.  Social media has similar abilities, so why not share your resolutions in a Facebook or Twitter post?

 

Stay Motivated

7. Create a Schedule and Set Timers

Create a meal plan, add workouts to your calendar, and set reminders to alert you of your plans.  We get so caught up in our current lives and distractions that it can seem impossible to add anything else to our plates.  You can make it all work if you stick to your plans and trust your timers.

8. Help Your Future Self (Plan Ahead)

Be your own accountability partner by doing as much preparation and planning in advance as you can.  Lay out your workout clothes the night before, prep healthy meals, fill the fridge with fresh, filtered water, and do anything else you can to make life easier for your “future self”.

9. Fill Your Inbox/News Feed with Inspiration

Follow some of your favorite health and fitness pages on Facebook or Twitter.  Subscribe to daily tips or meal ideas straight to your inbox.  When you surround yourself with support for your goals you’ll get inspiration even when you’re distracting yourself with a social media break.

10. Educate Yourself on Your Goals

Take the time to learn more about your health and fitness goals, whether that means studying nutrition via an online course or watching videos on proper weightlifting form.  The more you understand the benefits of what you are trying to achieve, the more committed you will be.

Marathon

11. Sign Up for a Competition

Competitions are great because they give you specific goals and a deadline.  Races are fun for runners (or soon-to-be-runners), but you can also consider weightlifting competitions, tournaments, or even friendly weight loss competitions.

12. Support a Cause

If you’d like to help others while helping yourself, why not sign up for a charity run?  You can also volunteer time for projects that involve physical activity, such as Habitat for Humanity.

13. Join a Health or Fitness Challenge

Many health bloggers host free mini-challenges throughout the year.  I’ve seen some focused on drinking more water, improving mindfulness, better meal planning, and battling cravings.  You can also search Pinterest for 30-day fitness challenges, such as a 30-Day Abs Challenge.

14. Create Your Own Rewards Program

For each of your milestones, determine a reward you will earn for achieving it.  It can be as small as a new article of clothing or as large as a weekend getaway.  Make them personal and relevant to your goals so you’ll know you’re working towards them.

15. Create Contingency Plans

You know those excuses and distractions that constantly get in the way of your good intentions?  Get in front of them by creating contingency plans for your obstacles.  Example: If you know you’ll skip your workout when you hit snooze a few too many times, find a 10 minute workout you can keep on reserve.

 

Track Your Progress

16. Use a Fitness App or Habit Tracker to Log Your Progress

One of the biggest struggles is feeling like you’re not getting any closer to your goals.  Tracking your progress, even in small intervals, will prove to you that your methods are working.  I love the My Fitness Pal app for measuring my progress and keeping track of my nutrition.  I also use paper habit trackers to check goals off my list daily.  Here are a few great apps and tools:

17. Keep a Journal

Journals serve two great purposes when it comes to goals: you can write down your goals daily (some recommend twice per day) and you can reflect on how you feel throughout your journey.  Write about your progress, your struggles, your victories, and your emotions each day.

Track Your Progress

18. Schedule Check-Ins With Yourself

It’s helpful to reevaluate your goals and methods every now and then to ensure you’re still on the track you want to be on.  Schedule sessions once a quarter, or even once per month.  Ask yourself what’s working and what isn’t, and make adjustments to your plans as necessary.

 

Build a Support System

19. Work with a Friend

Combining fitness with social time is typically a win-win.  Find a friend who will be your “accountability buddy” (preferably one who has similar goals).  Plan activities together and share tips and ideas.  Check in with each other regularly to share your victories.

20. Work with a Trainer/Coach

Depending on your situation, you can choose from a personal trainer at your local gym or a virtual health and fitness coach.  Do your research before signing on with someone, and be sure they understand your current state and long-term goals.

21. Join a Support Group

Thanks to Facebook Groups, you can easily find a group that will fit your needs no matter where you are located.  If you’re following a specific diet or fitness plan, there are specialized groups and sometimes local chapters.  Wellness communities work to inspire members and offer assistance overcoming obstacles and answering questions.

 

The best way to stay accountable to your goals is to choose a combination of these strategies that aligns with your personality and needs.  Remember, you get a chance every second to make a decision that will move you closer to your goals!

Which strategies will you choose this year?

 

 

 

The Best Shows for Healthy Food Swaps

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The Best Shows for Healthy Food Swaps

It’s that time of year again: many of us are suddenly watching our plates, trying new foods, and making an effort to make healthier choices.  And while the excitement of resolutions can push us through the first few weeks, that motivation tends to wane as time passes.  So how do we remedy this?  New ideas can reinvigorate our goals, particularly tasty ones.  I’ve found that I’ve been able to stay on track the longest when I surround myself with new recipes that are both appetizing and good for me.

Recently I got sucked into ABC’s new show, My Diet is Better Than Yours.  It’s about five people trying to make major lifestyle changes as guided by five diet founders.  The one that struck me the most is called the “Superfood Swap Diet“, created by nutritionist Dawn Jackson Blatner.  It’s aim is to help you eat the foods you crave, but substituting them for healthier versions based on nutrition-packed “superfoods”.  Of all the diet plans presented I feel this is the most sustainable and satisfying for the average person.  While I may not be able to give up hamburgers, I have no problem swapping them for whole grain buns and leaner cuts of meat, for example.  So with this in mind, I’ve been searching out shows full of recipes that help solve such cravings with enticing alternatives.

Most of these shows air on Cooking Channel (CC), but there are a few options that air (or have aired) on Food Network (FN) or other network channels.  Don’t worry if you don’t get one of these channels; many full episodes and videos are available on their websites for free, in addition to nearly all of their recipes.  You can also check out their Pinterest boards (such as Hungry Girl or The Biggest Loser) for encouragement.

Cooking Shows

  • Hungry Girl (Cooking Channel) – focused on low-calorie/low-fat food swaps for all of your favorite meals
  • Not My Mama’s Meals (Cooking Channel) – Paula Deen’s son recreates her famous recipes with healthy twists
  • How to Live to 100 (Cooking Channel) – vegan and vegetarian recipes based on “superfoods”
  • Drop 5 lbs with Good Housekeeping (Cooking Channel) – a 10-episode series focused on healthy meal planning
  • Junk Food Flip (Cooking Channel) – chefs create lighter versions of restaurants’ guilty pleasures
  • Ingredient Intel (Cooking Channel) – 2-minute shorts about fresh foods and cooking fundamentals
  • Giada at Home (Food Network) – while not technically a health-based show, episodes frequently focus on lighter meals

Health & Fitness Shows

  • The Biggest Loser (NBC) – contestants compete to lose weight with the support of experienced personal trainers
  • My Diet is Better Than Yours (ABC) – contestants guided by the creators of different nutrition plans compete to see which is most effective

Previously Aired Shows – These shows are not currently airing, but have recipes and videos preserved online focused on healthy eating.

I hope this helps you stay on track with your health and fitness goals for the year!  As always, if you have any options to add to this list feel free to comment below!

How to Set Up Your Summer Bucket List

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Summer Bucket List

If New Year’s is for resolutions, then summer is for fun.  Make the most of your summer by listing out your goals in the following lists:

  • Activities to try (surfing, painting, dancing)
  • Projects to work on (organize garage, catalog books, write a book)
  • Places to go (museum, Grand Canyon, planetarium)
  • Things to see/photograph (sunset on the beach, family portrait, fireworks)
  • Foods to make/eat (ice cream cake, BBQ chicken, s’mores)
  • Things to create (homemade scrub, scrapbook, DIY throw pillows)
  • Places to help out (Habitat for Humanity, letters to soldiers, toy donation)
  • Things to do (marathon a TV show, go for a hike, host a reunion)

One of my big goals for this summer is to make a homemade ice cream cake (I’ve already completed my goal of finishing all 10 seasons of Friends).  What are your fun plans for this summer?

The 10 Best Health Tools to Keep Your Resolutions

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How have you been doing towards your goals this year?  Are you right on track or could you use a little boost?  I know I fall into the latter category.  Sometimes all you need is a new tool to help solve some of the obstacles in your way.  If you’ve got a health goal this year, check out some of these health tools to help you reach your resolution goals.

Health Tools

Fitness Tracker
These wristbands have become more and more popular over the past year, and they are great at providing data on how you move during the day.  This data shows you how well you’re meeting your activity and calorie burning targets, and is a great way to challenge yourself to make incremental improvements (it’s easier to try to hit 10,000 steps a day when you know how much further you need to go).  My favorite is the Basis Peak, a smart watch that excels in continuously monitoring your heart rate (I have a heart condition so that’s a priority for me).  Other great options are the Fitbit, Jawbone, Garmin, and Misfit.  This article provides a great list to help you choose the one that best meets your activity and budget needs.

Brita Bottle
I do not like water.  Yes, I’m well aware that it’s a necessity, but I do not like the taste.  Especially in California (sorry, I’ve been spoiled by New York water).  So the first thing I did when I moved here was to get my husband a Brita filter for the fridge.  However, that didn’t help me when I was at my desk at work.  Then I found out that Brita has 20-24oz water bottles with built-in filters, and I was sold.  They solve my complaint about the taste of Cali water and I know that I can get clean, refreshing water anywhere I go.  I rotate between two at any given time (one in the fridge, one in use).  They come in several types, including the hard-sided model (my pick) and a soft sport bottle.  And, if you’ve been buying water all this time, the refill ability makes it much better for the environment (and your wallet).

My Fitness Pal
This is my favorite health app, even though at times the accountability factor makes me hate it.  This free app tracks your daily food journal, exercise, and weight loss progress.  It also has a community function that lets you share your victories with friends.  Food journals are frequently advised by nutritionists to help you determine where you can make changes in your diet.  Entering meals is easy based on its catalog of thousands of food items, a bar code reader, and the ability to enter in your own recipes.  The latter is great for checking the nutrition information for recipes you find on the web or for ones you make yourself (or for seeing where you can swap ingredients for healthier options).  You can access the app from the web or any device.

Smart Scale
I know, scales are everyone’s best friend, right?  Yet they do help us stay on track.  If you know where you are, you know how much further you have to go.  So why not use a scale that gives you more information than just your weight?  I use the Smart Weigh Digital Precision Scale that shows weight, BMI, body fat, body water, muscle and bone mass.  There are other similar models that can connect to your smart phone and automatically log your weigh-ins too (although it takes 30 seconds to manually log into My Fitness Pal).  Prices vary from $25-$150, so balance your requirements against the features that are most important to you and your family.  The extra data gives you a better picture of your overall health than just your weight alone.

Kindara
Whether you’re a fan of NFP (Natural Family Planning), trying to get pregnant, or you’re just interested in projecting “that time of the month”, Kindara is a great free app for keeping track of what your body is doing.  It’s set up to record your basal body temperature and other data, and it projects the date of your next period.  In terms of resolutions, scheduling workouts around your period can help you create better contingency plans for times you’ll make the most excuses.  You can also use it as a fertility tool as it will project your most fertile days in the cycle.  If you’re interested in learning more about NFP, check out this site from the American Pregnancy Association.

Door Gym
I have a bad knee, plus 50 excuses not to get to the gym at the end of the day.  So my husband found a resistance band gym that can attach to any door in our house.  These gyms are easy on joints and the workouts can be modified to nearly any intensity level desired.  Plus they take up minimal space.  If you don’t have an available door, there are plenty of great resistance band kits that can be used without an attach point.  In fact, purchase a set of these anyway to bring when you travel (see?  no more excuses).

iHealth
If you’re an Apple user, this app comes in handy when you want to view a variety of your health information in one place.  It can integrate data from My Fitness Pal and tons of other apps, plus you can manually enter data directly into iHealth.  When you open it you’ll see pretty graphs for your weight, steps taken, calories, etc all in one view.  However, one of my favorite features of iHealth is the Medical ID that lets you input your emergency medical information and contacts in the app.  It can be viewed from the lock screen in case of emergency.

CVS App
If you fill your prescriptions at CVS, this app really comes in handy.  It can keep track of your medications and dosages, remind you when you need a refill, and text you when your refills are ready.  You can actually refill eligible prescriptions directly from the app (no calling required).  It also stores your CVS card and discounts.  On top of all this it has the features of your standard store app, so you can look for sales and make purchases.

Pinterest
Yes, it’s another great use for Pinterest.  I’ve collected boards for all different workouts, exercise challenges, food swaps, health and wellness ideas, and more.  To keep myself from getting overwhelmed, I keep one board specifically for my current workouts and another for my favorite recipes.  So log in and start creating some new boards.  Here are some specific ideas: motivational quotes, running programs, healthy lunch ideas, better sleep habits, and morning yoga stretches.

Messenger App
It’s no secret that support systems are crucial to accomplishing your goals.  I’m not alone in my health goals this year, and my two best friends are only a group message away.  Facebook Messenger is a great tool for keeping a running group message for your support system where you can share successes and trials.  It’s also great to share favorite quotes, playlists, workouts, and new recipes.  So use your favorite messenger app, join in your friends and family, and get moving.

I hope these tools can help you reach your health goals this year.  If you’re looking for more ideas on how to tackle your resolutions, check out my post on why 12 resolutions are better than 1!  Or learn more about health resources available to you with this list of 30 nutrition sites.  Good luck!