No Man is a Mountain

On Monday, I wrote about the importance of social interaction as it relates to your weight loss success.

People who "go it alone" never enjoy the success of those who lean on their peers.  That applies to more than weight loss.  Few things we do in our lives are improved by solitude.  The support of our circle of family and friends makes us better equipped to pursue our goals.

There are some very important ways you can incorporate family and friends to improve your odds of having success.

First, make sure you tell your friends what you're hoping to accomplish.  They want you to succeed.

Second, ask for their help changing your lifestyle.  If you go out to restaurants with your friends, suggest that you center your conversations around a walk instead of around food.  Ask a friend to workout with you or get involved in their own similar effort to lose weight.

Third, make sure they know when you're struggling.  Strangers seldom offer us much encouragement.  But when someone close to you tells you they believe in you, it somehow makes things much easier.

Now, don't expect any one friend to be everything - they won't appreciate being the constant pillar for you to lean on.  Make sure to use everyone in your network that you're comfortable talking to.

If you insist on keeping your goals in the dark, weight loss can become a lonely endeavor - not something anyone wants.

What's Your Excuse?

There's a rather crude expression that creates a simile for excuses.  Rather than repeat it here, I'll just say "everyone's got one."

I've talked a lot recently about how important goal setting is.  Without it, you have no way of answering the question I talked about Monday - WHY is your goal important to you?  If you haven't established a value for your goal, it's easy to let it be trumped.

Let me just say this as simply as possible.  There's a million reasons not to commit to your fitness goals, but only one reason you will.

There's a lot that goes into losing weight, for instance.  You can't do it if you turn your job, your family and friends, or anything else into an excuse.  Everyone's got their stuff to deal with, but only a few people make the choice to pursue their goals regardless of all the obstacles.

I never promise anyone that getting in shape is easy - I tell them it's simple.  Weight loss isn't as complex as everyone makes it out to be.  The problem is that everyone wants the result but has an excuse as to why they can't put in the work.

Set your goals well.  Answer the WHY about your goals.  The answer to that question is what you need to keep in mind when the excuses start to grow.  It will help you decide if your reason for not working out, eating right, tracking calories, etc. is a pothole turns into a sinkhole.

Think about it.

The Magic Question

My Shoreline fitcamp just had their first of twelve sessions over the next four weeks.

I'm really emphasizing goal-setting in this round of camps.

Everyone thinks they've set goals, but few have set meaningful goals.  They haven't set SMART goals.  And most importantly, they haven't answered the real questions.

SMART goal setting is all about considering every aspect of the goal.  Is it Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely?  Very few people set goals that can be measured, but it's the only way to know if you've really accomplished what you set out to accomplish.  And even fewer people set timely goals.  You have to have a deadline for your goal.  Open-ended goals are never met - they just get pushed off 'til tomorrow, the "8th day of the week."

Make sure that your goals are SMART, and make sure that you answer the Magic Question - why?

Why is the goal important to you?

That will tell you all you need to know, and it will help you answer other questions.

What are you willing to sacrifice to attain the goal?

Who will you affect by attaining it?  Not attaining it?

How do you hope to feel when you accomplish the goal?

Answer the Magic Question - it will put you on the right path.