Obstacles and Excuses: Goal Setting

Shivers. The idea of goal setting sends shivers down my spine. It is a major block for me, if you can't tell. Last time I wrote in this blog I set a goal to stay within my calorie count for 1 whole week. NO MATTER WHAT. It was a lofty goal and not only did I not achieve it, but it put me in a place that has taken me months to get back to the point where I want to blog about weight loss again.

For some reason the setting of a goal, making something a task, immediately puts me in the mindset that I don't want to do it. EVEN IF IT IS SOMETHING I LOVE. For instance, I could set a goal to go to Disneyland every day this week. And since I made it my goal, I bet you by day 3 I would be dreading going. I would HATE it, because it is now a requirement, a task. Something I HAVE to do rather than something I WANT to do. And I spent a good part of my life avoiding doing anything I feel like I HAVE to do. It's a major issue in my life, not just with food, but with exercise, school, church, and any other area in life I may want to set my goals in.

So what is the answer? Where is the switch in my brain that I flip, the Jedi Mind Trick I play on myself so I can believe this is fun?

Here are a few things that help:

1. I LOVE trying out new recipes. I have purchased multiple healthy cookbooks. From Weight Watchers to Cooking light I have an endless supply of new recipes to try. One of my favorites is the 5 ingredient 15 minute recipes from cooking light. It usually comes in magazine form and has many incarnations.



Pinterest has also been a really fun place to find great healthy recipes. The fun part for me is that instead of calorie counting I am simply trying something new and I am ALL about trying new things. It just so happens that these new things are healthy for me.

2. Cool technology. Never have I been so motivated to go running as when I bought my iPhone and found out it had a really cool running app on it. The app tracks how far, how fast, and how long I run. It pulls the music from my phone (using a playlist of my choice) and starts the music when I start the workout. Then when the workout it over, I can compare this workout with my previous workouts. So not only have I found yet another way to be using my phone as much as possible, I find it super motivating to see that today I did my 3.5 mile loop 43 seconds faster than I did it last time.



3. Nice weather. I hate being stuck inside in the summertime so much, that when it is actually cool enough to go outside I find it a shame to stay inside and be lazy. Phoenix has so many great places to go hiking. The neighborhoods have beautiful walking paths and sidewalks that make for pleasant runs.



So you see, I have some fun ways to stay healthy without making things too goal oriented. But is it enough to provide for some real weight loss? What makes weightloss fun for you?