Start by setting SMART goals
By Katie Watts, Nutritionist
With the new year right around the corner, many people will use this time to set resolutions for self-improvement. Two of the most common resolutions are “eating healthier” or “losing weight.” However, even if we set out the new year with the best of intentions, many people find themselves wavering from their initial goals within a few weeks. Changing behaviors that have been in place for years can be incredibly challenging. That is why having a framework to set realistic, achievable goals is important if you are looking to make long-lasting changes. Setting SMART goals is one such framework that I use with my clients looking to improve their eating habits. SMART is an acronym for “Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.” Let’s walk through an example to see how it works.
Let’s say your goal is to eat healthier this year. While this is a great goal, it’s not very specific. Why do you want to eat healthier? What does eating healthier look like to you? After some reflection, maybe you refine your goal to “cooking more meals at home.” This goal falls under the umbrella of “eating healthier,” but is much more specific.
Next, let’s make our goal measurable. How will we track progress toward our goal of cooking more meals at home? One way is to commit to cooking a number of meals per week, for example—“I will commit to cooking seven meals per week from home.” By having a metric we can track (number of meals cooked at home), we can easily measure how we are progressing and keep ourselves accountable.
Then, we need to make sure our goal is attainable and relevant. Many people fail with their New Year’s resolutions because they are unrealistic about what they can feasibly change in a short amount of time. We’re much more likely to succeed over the long run if we break down bigger goals into smaller goals that we know we can knock out of the park. Maybe we decide that cooking seven meals per week from home isn’t likely to happen due to the kids’ busy schedules, so we reduce that number to three meals per week. Three meals per week is more attainable, and it is relevant to our overarching goal of eating healthier.
Finally, we want to make sure our goal is time-bound. Defining a timeline creates a sense of urgency which makes us more likely to take action. For our example, this might look like, “I will cook three meals per week from home for the next eight weeks.” After eight weeks we can assess our progress. Was I able to successfully execute on my goal and now I’m ready to increase three meals per week to five meals? Or do we need to take a different approach because cooking three meals per week from home wasn’t attainable? It’s important we don’t become too rigid with our interpretation of “success” or “failure,” and give ourselves the grace to experiment, learn and grow.
Katie Watts, founder of Katie Watts Nutrition, is a Functional and Integrative Medical Nutrition Consultant for 1° Performance & Longevity. Reach Katie Watts Nutrition and 1° Performance & Longevity at 46 N. Central Park Plz. in downtown Jacksonville, on Facebook or by phone at 217-243-6358.
