Turning Your New Year's Resolutions Into Real Results

STEP 2: WHAT Do You Want...? And WHEN Do You Want It By...?

(If you missed Step 1, go here:  http://ftspringfield.com/realresults.html)

In Step 1 we established your "WHY" -- now, we need to start the process of turning this goal into reality.

You need to write your goal down (e.g. "I want to wear a size 32 pants") and you also need to specify by when you would like to do this (e.g. "I want to wear a size 32 pants by March 31").

Now, I am a firm believer in the saying "if you can't measure it, you can't manage it". All this means is that you need to find a cost effective way to measure your progress towards your goal. Here are a few of my favorites:

Scale Weight:

While this is often very cost effective and easy to do, it can be very misleading. Tracking your body fat is a much better method, but also has its drawbacks. Your weight can fluctuate quite dramatically based on time of day and menstrual cycle (for women) and so I would advise only checking your weight every two weeks.

I do however feel that the other two methods listed below are much better for motivation and real results.

Dress / Pants Size:

This is probably the most under-utilized method available to track your progress. I believe that this is one of the best ways to track whether you are looking better.

Choose a pair of pants or dress that you want to fit into and then assess your progress on a bi-weekly basis. If the clothes are fitting better, then you are moving in the right direction.

We have many clients dropping a clothes size per month. It is a great feeling to fit into those "goal clothes".

Digital Photos:

I do not think there is a better way to track the way you look! A picture is not going to lie. Taking a few "before" pictures demonstrates that you are truly committed to changing the way you look.

It's amazing how motivating it is preparing for the next "photo shoot". It is a great motivation to keep you focused knowing that you have to stand in front of the camera. It is also incredibly rewarding to see the changes!!

Take a front, side and rear picture and be sure to note the conditions under which the picture is taken (e.g. lighting, distance from camera, time of day / week, etc.). This is to ensure that when you take your follow up pictures (I recommend a picture every 2 weeks or monthly) you do them under the same conditions.

This is a fantastic method and extremely motivating to see your body changing before your very eyes.

Next time...Step 3.