‘What are your goals?’ ?

This is a question that gets thrown about a lot, especially when it comes down to promoting physical activity and weight loss. However, goal setting may not necessarily be the best approach when you start on your journey to a healthier, sustainable lifestyle.

A group of researchers have looked at all the evidence around goal-setting and physical exercise and found that it relies on 4 things:

Ability ?
You need to have the knowledge and understanding of what needs to be done to be able to do it.

Commitment ?
To start making changes, you need to be sure that these changes are important to YOU. The more important something is to you, the more likely you’ll commit and stick to the changes you make.

Feedback ?
Everyone benefits from a ‘how are things going?’ every now and again. When things are going well, having a cheerleader will keep you motivated. If things aren’t going to plan, you don’t want someone there to pile on the pressure, stress, and feeling of failure. It’s even more important to have someone in your corner to give you support, look at what’s going on, and making tweaks to your plan to get you back on track.

Situational resources ?
We all know that life is never plain sailing. Jobs, family, finances…the list could go on. It’s important to think about how ‘life’ may help or hinder you in what you want to achieve.

So what does this all mean? ?
Instead of diving straight in and making changes, you’re more likely to succeed if you:

• are aware of what’s going on in your life
• understand how and why what’s going on is affecting you
• learn what can be done to improve your lifestyle and eating habits

At SCALE Plan, we feel strongly about this way of doing things. We can help with all these things, while giving you bucketloads of feedback and support you need to keep you on track to a healthier, happier you. ⚖

We'd love to know if you have any experience on this and what your thoughts are. Drop us a comment below!