Goals, challenges, achievements
I find that this time of year many of us try to work out some challenges, goals and achievements we’d like to do before or during the upcoming summer season.
We all have intensions at the start of the year, but to be quite honest the months fly by and before we know it – it’s June and we haven’t even got into first gear.
It can take 10 to 12 weeks of regular exercise to noticeably improve your fitness and have your body change shape. But in saying that, you should feel better after the first week of starting your exercise regime and changing of your diet. You will most likely feel a bit of soreness in your muscles, but at the same time feel energized as you will have started tapping into your endorphins.
I get very frustrated as a trainer with the attitudes of some people wanting a change overnight or in a week. You must be reasonable as to realize that it took some of you months/years to put on the weight and loose fitness, so you need to understand that it’ll take months/years to get back to a level of fitness or weight you would like.
Goals need to be set with a realistic time frame, as we get older it becomes harder for us to lose weight and our bodies are more prone to injury. So don’t have a goal of losing 5 kg in a fortnight, or running a 5km fun run within a month. Have your goals set out a few months in advance.
Within our goals we should set some minor challenges to help stay focused and be a part of the big picture. Have a 0.5kg loss a week or walking/jogging on off for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes etc until you can continually jog non-stop for 30 minutes, or work up to being able to swim continuous laps for 15 mins
Once we work these out, and have a few months with challenges and working towards our goals, that’s when the achievements begin to happen.
Don’t work on friends’ goals and wants, work on what you’d like to do and gain. You don’t have to have one set goal, it can be losing a few kilo’s and improve your speed of your regular 5km run. It can be to power lift a certain percentage of your body weight and improve your overall tone if that’s what you’d like to do.
But in all of these wants and goals, please remember and be honest within your diets, as many decisions we make are based on food choices that will either help us or let us down.
Overall be kind to yourself and look after your bodies – inside and out. The most important thing to remember is to be HAPPY within you. Unfortunately social media and instagram portray an unrealistic approach to health and fitness.
So work with a trainer or mentor and make real choices and goals, and give it the best shot you can.
Cheers
Kez.
