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Get SMART

Welcome to the first week of the Burn Calorie Burn challenge. As it is a short week, US holiday yesterday, and to give folks a chance to come up with a personal game plan, before we dive right into burning calories, we'll use this week to do 3 things.

1) Determine SMART Fitness Goals
2) Come up with a personal Mission Statement
3) Choose how we are going to burn our calories and put it in writing.

Pretty simple right?

Running more than my fair share of personal and public challenges, once the initial frenzy of week 1 dies down, people peter out. This challenge is going to take a slow and consistent approach to weight loss. Not sexy or glamorous, but deep down, I believe it'll work.

Today's homework, 1) Determine SMART Fitness Goals

What do I mean by SMART?

S = Specific - When setting your goals, don't be too general. Decide exactly what you want to achieve. That will be the starting point of your goals.

M = Measurable - Choose goals that can be monitored so you can watch your progress.

A = Attainable - Set goals you think you will be able to achieve in a reasonable amount of time. Then plan the specific steps you'll use to establish your goals.

R = Realistic - Goals are realistic if they are ones you truly believe you can achieve. Set goals for yourself, and not for anyone else. Choosing goals that are unrealistic for you and that are based on someone else’s wishes, you will just be setting yourself up for failure.

T = Timely - To be more focused, choose dates or occasions as target times for achieving your goals. Saying you want to lose all the weight you’ve put on since you broke up with your boyfriend is not very specific, measurable, realistic, or time-centered.

A better way to state your goal is to say that you want to lose 10 pounds by Halloween.

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I'll use me as an example and you can either follow along on your blog & post a link back so we can check out what you posted, leave a comment here if you don't have a blog, or do it in your head if you lurk

Renee's SMART Goals:

S = Specific
By the end of 2006, I will lose 20lbs and run, non-stop, 45 mins.

M = Measurable
To lose 20lbs, each week I will attempt to lose .8lbs.
To run 45 mins, each week I'll add 2.5 minutes to my running time.

A = Attainable
By aiming to lose .8lbs, it's means I need to burn 2800 calories a week, or 400 calories a day. Running 2.5 minutes more isn't hard to do.

R = Realistic
My goals are realistic for me because it takes a lot of effort to lose 1lb each week, my body tends to shed weight very slowly.

T = Timely
My first milestone will be to lose 7lbs by Halloween.

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It's a bit crude, but you get the idea. Tomorrow, coming up with a personal mission statement.

Setting Fitness Goals

You read my laymans approach to goal setting, today the experts weigh in:

1) Ask Yourself Questions

The first thing you should do when starting a fitness program is ask yourself some questions that will help you figure out what your fitness goals are. Here are some questions to get you started:

• What do you hope to get out of this fitness program?
• Are your expectations realistic?
• When do you want to accomplish your goals?
• How will you measure your success as you go?
• How will you reward yourself when you achieve your goals?

2) Be Specific

What is your long-term goal? Can it be broken into smaller steps? If you break your long-term objective into “mini goals” that you can accomplish more quickly, you will be more likely to stay motivated and stick with your fitness program. For instance, if you are hoping to lose 20 pounds, you might consider setting the following mini goals:

• Exercise for at least 30 minutes three times each week.
• Be able to walk/jog for three miles at the end of six months.
• Lose five pounds in one month.

3) Write It Down
After you’ve come up with the specifics of your goals, write them down. Putting your plan on paper will help you commit and will give you something to turn to in a week or a month, when you may begin veering off track. Write down all of your goals (including mini goals) and when you expect to achieve them. Leave room to log your successes and the challenges you face. You can modify your goals and timetable as you go to be more realistic.

Post your goals some place where you will see them often—your bathroom mirror, the refrigerator, your office bulletin board. This will keep you motivated and increase your chances for success.

While you’re writing down your goals, make a schedule that you can follow. Decide how many times a week you will exercise, what time of day will be best for you, and which days of the week work best for your schedule. By having a concrete schedule on paper, you’re one step closer to incorporating exercise into your weekly routine

4) Measure Your Success
If you don’t measure your progress, it will be hard to stay motivated. Schedule regular intervals when you will measure your success. For example, if you are trying to lose weight, you might log your weight first thing every Monday morning. If you want to build muscle, you can log how much weight you lift each time you workout. As your muscles get stronger, you will be able to lift more weight.

If you are trying to bring your blood pressure or cholesterol under control, you can still measure your progress as you go. Instead of heading to your doctor every week for a blood test, log the number of times you exercise in a week or the weight you have lost. Consider these accomplishments as progress toward your ultimate goal. Then, when the doctor gives you the results, you can study your own log and modify it according to your success or failure.

5) Reward Yourself
Yes, by adopting a regular fitness program, you will be rewarded with a better physique, better health, and more energy. But, why not add a little extra motivation to your plan—in the form of rewards. As you set your goals (pounds lost, trips to the gym, extra weight lifted), plan ways to reward your progress. You might consider buying yourself a new outfit, treating yourself to a round at a new golf course, or going to a new restaurant you’ve been wanting to try.

Taking some time to set goals before you begin a fitness program will do wonders to keep you motivated and on the right track. Remember, patience is essential in any exercise program. Keep your mind focused on your goal, and enjoy both the pleasure and the benefits of exercise that you will gain along the way.

Source: University of Nebraska Medical Center & Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Goal Setting

One thing I'm going to do for the duration of this challenge is to share my experience doing the very same homework assignments each week dishes out. This way the things I post aren't from an expert, I'm going to get you into shape, point of view. Rather from a peer who is also trying to lose weight. For those who don't know, my name is Renee

Ok, you figured that out already, but I am Renee from reneegetsfit.com. Renee who started the year at 181 and as of 2 weeks ago, was 196. Renee who is also pretty fed up.

But, I never think to give up, mostly because I'm too stubborn. I go through bouts of being pumped and raring to go and others where I'm under the covers inhaling Oreo McFlurries. Now that you know my sordid ways, let me tell you how good I can be.

If you know my personal weight loss blog, you'll also know I love challenges. I mostly love naming them but I love doing them. They seemed fairly popular so I'd do group challenges from time to time, which was part of the reason I set up this blog, to keep it a bit separate from my site.

I'm pretty good at setting goals and tracking various stats, all to keep me focused on the big picture vs. the fluctuation the scale brings, so I wanted to share some tips and suggestions for how to set goal that may help you with this challenge.

A key I find to goal setting is, I need to make it doable, yet slightly out of my reach. For instance, I think beets are the most disgusting vegetable in the entire world. No way on earth can I force myself to eat a beet a day to make a goal. But, I can compromise and eat broccoli. Even with that, I'm doing it frozen, eventually I'll eat it raw, but I'm sure I'll go through a stage where I douse it in Ranch dressing.

Using broccoli, were I not already eating veggies, my goal for the 8 week challenge would be to eat a cup of raw broccoli.

I'd start with what's doable: a cup of frozen broccoli at least once a week. Then I'd go for twice a week. By the end of a month, I'll aim for 3 days of week of frozen broccoli. To celebrate doing it for a month, by weeks 5 & 6 I'll bump it up to 5 days a week. Week 7 will attempt one day to eating it raw, doused in Ranch dressing of course, and voila, by the end of 8 weeks I have made my goal.

That will give me my starting point for challenge number 2 and the new challenge of eating a cup of raw broccoli. Without Ranch dressing

My point is, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. We have nothing to lose but time. Rather than dive head first into 60 minutes of cardio this week, when you barely get off the couch. Do 5 minutes for 3 days. That's it. Each week add 5 minutes, no more.

You'll end the challenge, not only being consistent, because you totally know 60 minutes of cardio will last a whopping 2 days before it gets chucked, but in 8 weeks you may have worked yourself up to 40 minutes and done it slowly enough to get used to the new routine, allow it to fit your lifestyle and personality and most importantly, made it a habit.

Tomorrow I'll share some of my favorite expert tips for goal setting, in particular fitness goal setting.