How to Tackle Intimidating Health Goals

by WiredBerries Editors — September 26, 2007

It's easy to get militant on yourself when you want to drop a dress-size, but taking things too seriously may do more harm than good says fitness expert Allison Chopra of Indiana University. Chopra advises her personal training clients to break down their more ambiguous goals of say, feeling better or dropping a few dress sizes, into smaller goals that can be achieved in three to four weeks.

Chopra says you have to be SMART when it comes to goal setting. The industry catch-phrase SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reward (as in, give yourself one when you've achieved a goal), and Time (set a time for reaching the goal). Some of her other tips include:

• Make goals attainable and realistic. Challenging yourself to eat no fat for a week, for example, is setting yourself up for failure.
• Be specific. Goals of "eating better or exercising more are worthwhile but too ambiguous to keep track of. A more effective or specific goal might be to limit sweets to one a day for the next week, or to do a particular physical activity for 20 minutes 3 days that week.
• Don't get upset with yourself if you mess up a few times. If you're always berating yourself, you're more likely to feel hopeless and start giving up on other goals.

But Chopra is definitely a big fan of small steps and a forgiving temperament. If a goal is not met, she said, it should be reassessed to make sure it's reasonable and then sought after again--after a brief break.

"Getting fit or feeling well is a long process," she reminds. "It doesn't happen overnight."