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PHOTO: D. SHUGAR
Fitness & Wellness
By Catherine Morisset
Wellness that Works
Strategy is the key to meeting wellness goals
Remember making those New Year’s resolutions
when you promised yourself that you would lose
weight, start exercising, make time for a new hobby,
eat better…? Good intentions, but for most people all real
action has stopped by now.
“How can I really meet my goals to improve my quality
of life, be healthier, fitter and better looking?” As a wellness
coach, this is probably the question I hear the most
often. So, what can you do? Well, let me give you an example.
Let’s assume you want to lose weight.You know what
you want — but how and when are you going to make it
happen? What you need to make it happen is to plan your
strategy — just as you would to meet any deadline or plan
a holiday.
How do you achieve a wellness goal — really make it
happen in real life, even though you are busy? There are
some things you need to do.
Define your goal
What do you want to achieve? Be clear, realistic and
specific. For instance, how much weight do you realistically
want to lose?
Determine why you’ve chosen that goal
Why do you want to lose weight? To fit into last year’s
clothes? To feel better about yourself ? To look good? To
please your partner? Be clear and honest about your reasons.
Is this goal meaningful to you or are you going along
May 2008 • 20 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
with expectations that “you should do something about it”?
If your goal is not important to you, if you are just trying to
please someone or an ideal standard — such as an unrealistic
body image — you are not likely going to be motivated
to make it happen. Be real: if you don’t really want it, be
honest and delete it from your agenda for now. Free yourself
from guilt and use your energy for something you do
want to do.
Break down your goals into milestones
If your initial goal is to lose 50 pounds, that’s great —
but that’s a big commitment. What about committing to
lose 10 pounds, then revisiting your goal? It’s always easier
to build on success that to feel discouraged or overwhelmed
by a goal too large to grasp.What are the steps or
milestones that will make it clear you are succeeding?
When will you start? Identify a realistic start date, milestones
and completion dates.
Determine what will need to change
It’s been said that insanity is repeating the same
behaviour while expecting to obtain different results. So
if you truly want to lose weight, you will probably have
to change your behaviours: what and how much you eat,
and what and how much you move. It’s a very simple
equation.To lose weight, you have to expend more energy
than you take in, regularly, consistently.Are you willing
to do it?