Make a SMART New Year's Resolution!

Most of our clients come to FitNut looking to lose weight and/or eat better. Everybody eats, so why is it so hard to eat right on our own? One of the problems could be that telling yourself to “lose weight” or “eat better” is simply too vague and overwhelming, making it difficult to take action.

SMART is an acronym often used in business for goal setting in project management or employee performance, but can be transferred to any sort of goal, including those for nutrition and health. While losing weight and eating better are great as general New Year’s resolutions, we will show you step-by-step how to turn these wishes into SMART goals so that you will actually achieve them!

Specific

The most obvious problem with simply resolving to “lose weight” or “eat better” is that they are not specific! How much weight would you like to lose? When would you like to lose it? What does eating “better” mean to you?

Start thinking about how to make your goal more specific now, though the SMART acronym will help answer the questions of what, when and how much/how often.

Measurable

A measurable goal answers the questions of “how much” and/or “how often”.  It ultimately allows you to evaluate whether you have achieved your goal. Weight is easily measured, but can be affected by many factors, like water weight or time of day. Thus, some people like to track other related measures, like waist circumference or pant size.

Eating better is harder to measure because it means something different for everyone. Would you like to eat more vegetables, fruit or whole grains? Eat less fast food or processed foods? Choose more local or organic produce? Take in less alcohol, caffeine or sugar? Drink more water? Cut down on late night snacks? Make it measurable by defining how much more or how much less you want to eat – maybe you would like to start by adding a piece of fruit at breakfast, or making sure your lunch always includes a serving of vegetables. Or, you may want to decrease your coffee intake by a cup a day, or lower the number of times you have a late night snack by a night per week.

Action

While “lose” and “eat” are both verbs, we unfortunately can’t simply will ourselves to lose weight or change our eating habits overnight. This step helps us to answer “what” we will do to achieve our goals.

For both “lose weight” and “eat better”, brainstorm a list of specific actions you can take to help you achieve your goal. For “lose weight”, you may want to split your list up into actions that “decrease energy in” and those that “increase energy out”. Some ideas: 

Lose Weight

Decrease Energy In	Increase Energy Out
Measure out proper portion sizes for meals and snacks Track intake using FitNut ONP, or another program that calculates the amount of calories consumed in a day Read nutrition labels to choose products that are lower in calories Replace sugary drinks (including juice!) with water Decrease alcohol intake Avoid eating after a certain time in the evening Use smaller plates and bowls	Change one aspect of the FITT formula (Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type) in your fitness routine Register in a fitness class or join a recreational sports team Plan a fun family activity at least once a month Schedule a 15-minute walk in your day Choose to walk or bike instead of driving whenever possible Take the stairs instead of the elevator Park further away from your destination

 

Eat Better

• Eat breakfast more often
• Include at least three of the four food groups at every meal and snack
• Carry a water bottle with you everywhere you go
• Bring lunch from home more often
• Plan your meals and grocery list ahead of time every week
• Try a new recipe or food every week
• Try “Meatless Mondays”
• Stock your car, purse and/or your desk at work with healthy snack options
• Do a “pantry purge” of unhealthy foods

Realistic

Now that you have brainstormed a bunch of ideas, it’s time to rein them in! Since we like to begin the New Year with the best of intentions, we are sometimes blinded to the many barriers that can keep us from achieving our goals.

Start by thinking about what’s kept you from losing weight or eating better in the first place – is it a matter of not knowing how to do it? Not having time? A loved one “sabotaging” your efforts with unhealthy treats? How are you going to overcome these barriers? Do your ideas address them, or do you have to put some extra effort in overcoming these barriers first before working on your health goals? Go through your list and pick out the ideas that are achievable given the amount of time you have, your energy and fitness level, your cooking abilities and the needs of those around you – be honest!

Time-sensitive

Setting a timeframe has a huge impact on whether your goal is attainable. For example, wanting to lose 10 pounds in 10 days is very different from trying to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks! Speak to your FitNut Dietitian about whether your weight loss and other fitness goals are realistic and work together to set an appropriate timeline.

While a year may seem like a long time to achieve your New Year’s resolution, the longer timeframe makes it easier to fall off track. It’s also plenty of time for new commitments and responsibilities to come your way. From your list, pick just one or two goals to work on and set a shorter deadline, like a month, or before your next appointment with your FitNut Dietitian. You can add more once you achieve your goal. If you don’t, achieve your goal, don't sweat it! Just ask yourself, why not? Then work through any barriers that came up and try again.

Now that you are armed with your specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and time-sensitive goals, you are one step closer to achieving your New Year’s resolutions – good luck!