Abundant Life - Healthy Living Series

Setting Goals for a Healthier You!!

Many of us have a lot of lifestyle changes we need to make and as a result find ourselves overwhelmed doing nothing. But get a made up mind about your health. Tell yourself, "in a year from now I will be in better health".  For me, it took a year to meet my first goals of weight loss and exercise. Be patient with yourself. Most of us have slowly gained weight through the years and it does not come off overnight. A slow weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week is the most effective and long lasting. One pound equals 3,500 calories. If you reduce your daily caloric intake by 500 calories a day, you should loose 1 pound a week. If you add exercise to your life, the weight should come off even faster.

Again, this is not a diet or a temporary change, it is a lifestyle change! You maybe asking yourself - where do I begin or what changes do I need to make first? As I recommended last week, see your physician and discuss with him or her what they feel are the changes you need to begin to make. I suggest not setting yourself up for failure by making too many lifestyle changes at one time. Begin slowly and make no more than one to three lifestyle changes at one time. Last year, I began with only one goal - healthier eating habits and did not add my exercise goal until 6 months later. We are wholistically made and are multi-dimensional as mentioned in a previous blog.  Every dimension of our life affects the other and if one area is out of balance your entire life is affected. For example, if you are depressed mentally, your physical health will eventually be strained as well.

Take a wellness inventory and write down the areas you need to change. As a result of making the list, the change or changes you need to make might become very obvious. I realized my weight was affecting many areas of my life, so there is where I began. A good tool to use in this process is found on the American Heart Association website at http://mylifecheck.heart.org/PledgePage.aspx?NavID=5&CultureCode=en-US. Or this Wellness Inventory tool created by a friend of mine, Anita Schambach.  (To access or make larger, just double click on the picture below. The two pages below go together. Pictures can be printed by using the right click option on your mouse once you have make them larger.)

Set goals for yourself and remember to make them realistic. Lindsay & Smith (2007) on page 36 in their book Leading Change in Your World suggests we use the S.M.A.R.T plan when setting goals. Make them "specific", "measurable", "agreeable with accountability partner", "right to pursue" and "time-bound".  Your goals should also be reachable.  For example, if you need to loose 50 pounds, a S.M.A.R.T goal would read "I plan to loose 50 pounds by January 2013". Then after you set the goal, begin to write objectives or the steps that will assist you in meeting the goal such as:

- see my physician to discuss my plan.

- get someone to be my accountability partner for this goal.

- weigh myself weekly.

- write down everything I eat each day.

- make sure I eat at least a combination of 5 fruits and vegetables everyday.

- drink at least 8 - 8oz. glasses of water per day.

- eat broiled or steamed fish at least 2 times a week.

- choose lean cuts of beef or chicken and eat at least one meatless meal a week.

- etc.....

Billie Hudson and I will be praying for each of you as you begin this new chapter in your life. Remember to spend time with the Lord daily asking Him for the power and strength to reach your goals to a healthier you. Philippians 1:6 (NIV) "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

In Christ,
Rhonda Johnson