Do you set definite goals?
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Tweaking_Time
Posts: 733 Member
I was wondering you you set definite goals?
Not like - I really wish, someday, I could lose 50 pounds
But rather a definite goal like - I want to lose 50 pounds in the next 8 months...and then you write it down, track it, and measure your progress.
I find setting goals keeps me accountable.
Not like - I really wish, someday, I could lose 50 pounds
But rather a definite goal like - I want to lose 50 pounds in the next 8 months...and then you write it down, track it, and measure your progress.
I find setting goals keeps me accountable.
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Replies
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Yes and no.
When I first started losing weight, I wanted to lose 52 pounds in 52 weeks (start at 202.5 down to 150.5) because it seemed like an attainable goal. Not too crazy fast and not overly slow. Since then, though, time-based weight goals have not been my thing. I have some complicating factors (medical) that tend to get in the way and once I see that I am not going to meet a time-based goal I tend to get anxious, which makes my complications worse. At this point I have to be very low-key with weight loss.
Performance-wise, I do like having specific goals but sometimes I struggle with trying to pinpoint them. Last year one of my goals was a 200 lb deadlift so it was easy to make a plan to move toward that. My other big goal was to "get better" at squatting, because that was something I struggled with a lot. My definition of getting better was feeling more comfortable with it and not completing loathing every workout that involved squatting, to the point of trying to find reasons to avoid it. That kind of thing is harder to measure along the way but I did meet the goal by the end of the years so whatever I did worked.
Right now my goal is to build more muscle, specifically in my lower body. I don't really know how to measure that outside of getting something like a DEXA scan.0 -
Yes I do.1
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Not really... I set general goals, squishy goals, long term goals. I practice and seem to improve, and don't want to push too hard because I get hurt when I do that and it slows progress instead of speeding it up, so I have desires and goals in athletic training but they are year long things, or things i am working toward but without real deadlines.
So yes, I have a goal of unassisted handstand because I'm close to it and working on it; and have goal of pushups for a similar reason, I feel like I have an incomplete skill set, like I'm fixing identified deficiencies?
But I do not say that I will achieve 6 pushups in the next 6 weeks, I work on them, get better, and when it happens it happens.0 -
Yes.1
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Yes.1
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I set goals but for fitness not for nutrition. I'll sign up for a 5K, 10K, 14K, Half Marathon. Or a Cycling Sportive. Something on the calendar that I Know i need to be [Fill In the Blank] by in time for it.
The reason I do that is, if I know I have a end activity the exercise and nutrition will follow.4 -
I set goals but for fitness not for nutrition. I'll sign up for a 5K, 10K, 14K, Half Marathon. Or a Cycling Sportive. Something on the calendar that I Know i need to be [Fill In the Blank] by in time for it.
The reason I do that is, if I know I have a end activity the exercise and nutrition will follow.
^^^This is exactly what I meant.^^^
I find myself to be a bit "adrift" if I do not have the "next goal" in place.
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Yes. Not only weight and body fat, but also performance, consistency, and body image goals. I'm a bit of an overthinker. Lol1
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For the most part. It helps to see where I went wrong if I'm not making much progress.0
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I set goals but for fitness not for nutrition. I'll sign up for a 5K, 10K, 14K, Half Marathon. Or a Cycling Sportive. Something on the calendar that I Know i need to be [Fill In the Blank] by in time for it.
The reason I do that is, if I know I have a end activity the exercise and nutrition will follow.
This is pretty much where I'm at.
I never had a specific weight loss target, nor did I put a timer on it...I always think that's a bad idea because we're not 100% in control over how we're going to lose weight and sometimes *kitten* just happens...but I do set training/fitness goals. Signing up for events and races also gives me purpose to my training rather than just kind of twisting in the wind "exercising."..it's one of the things I struggle with a bit in the winter because nothing is really going on until late spring...so I tend to just kind of twist in the wind a little and don't put in the kind of effort I generally would training...but it also gives my body a little break.2 -
Tweaking_Time wrote: »I set goals but for fitness not for nutrition. I'll sign up for a 5K, 10K, 14K, Half Marathon. Or a Cycling Sportive. Something on the calendar that I Know i need to be [Fill In the Blank] by in time for it.
The reason I do that is, if I know I have a end activity the exercise and nutrition will follow.
^^^This is exactly what I meant.^^^
I find myself to be a bit "adrift" if I do not have the "next goal" in place.
I try to plan something every 3-5 weeks outs.
May 1st I had the Flying Pig Half Marathon
June 30th I had the Freestore Foodbank 5K
June 12th I had the Ride Cincinnati for Breast Cancer Research / 45 mile Sportive
June 24th I had the Twilight Dash for the Cash Crit / and go my butt kicked
July 4th I have the Pray Hope Believe 5K
July 23rd I have the JTs Race for the Wind
August 6th, I have the Color Run Tropicolor 5K
September 11th I have the Sunflower Revolution for Parkinson and Movement Disorders
September 17th I have the Hudy 14K and the Color Run Night Life
October 15th I have the Raptor Run 5K
November 8th I have the DAV5K
I find that if I space them out close enough to keep me energized and willing to "keep at it" but far enough away I don't get burnt out it really helps me out.1 -
I used to but it never really helped me in any long-term way, and eventually I found it discouraging. I also don't like the idea of actively trying to lose weight quickly.
I'm not really a big goal-setter in general but when I do it's more like going to the gym x times per week or eating at home y times per week, etc.0 -
Yes. I know exactly where I want to be in two years and what it's going to take to get there. Every single day of training is building towards that goal.1
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I set goals but for fitness not for nutrition. I'll sign up for a 5K, 10K, 14K, Half Marathon. Or a Cycling Sportive. Something on the calendar that I Know i need to be [Fill In the Blank] by in time for it.
The reason I do that is, if I know I have a end activity the exercise and nutrition will follow.
THIS. Everything else falls into place with the big picture goal in place.1 -
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At first I set the goal of losing a pound a week, with an eye on a short term goal of getting to 190 (down 30) with a long term goal (could I, may I, is it at all possible) of getting to 185, my weight when I got out of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. After just less than a year, starting July 4 2015, I weighed in this morning at 185.8#s. That 0.8 pound is going to be a *kitten*, isn't it? ;- ). In reality all I was trying to do was to keep to that pound a week weight loss. It wasn't linear, but the general slope of the weight graph was/is down.
Then, once 190 was obtained, and weight loss stalled for several (6) months, (190 happened December 5, 2015) at 190 to 188 and back again (to 190/192) I started running goals. Enter and finish my first 5K (done @ 29:09). Then improve. Done @ 28:28. Improve further, scheduled 5K July 16, Four Miler August 20 and a Half Marathon September 25.
Of course, now I can finish the FitnessBlender workouts that were almost (who's kidding who, they were) impossible to finish when I started. And, instead of only being to walk 3 miles, I now run 5 miles twice a week and have my long Saturday run up to 10 miles.
Goals now, keep at about 185/188, survive that Half Marathon and get in under 2:30.
Did I answer the question? Setting a long term goal with intermediate goals, I feel, is important to keep you going. Regarding time frames, not so strict. Keep the general trend as your friend and don't get too caught up in short term fluxuations. One step at a time and when you trip, and you will, pick yourself up and continue.1 -
yes1
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Yes and I've achieved them.1
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All mine are performance related.
My goals at the moment are:
Getting a better time at my next 10k race - so I'm doing lots of speed training at the moment;
Increasing the distance on my long runs ready for my first 10 mile;
Training to do pull-ups;
And just for fun: training to do press-ups with my 4 year old daughter sitting on my back1
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