Failed another health goal?

Commitment. One dirty little word that makes me go “ugh, another one?!” There are commitments I must do like work. Then there are others I put on myself like feeding and caring for my cute fat furr ball, Loki. I find it ironic that this dietitian has an obese cat. Never mind though, I love him the same. 

Loki stretching it out

A commitment I will often break is the promise to workout. Yes, I, a health professional, admit to having problems sticking to physical activity.  I will start a plan, do it for a while, get bored and then quit. Sound familiar? On the other hand, I can stick to a 1200 calorie diet with no problems. This is why I am a dietitian and not a fitness professional. 

However, one way we are called to honor God is by honoring our personal commitments (Pr 16:3, Jas 5:12). I often marvel at Paul and Peter’s devotion to Christ. Their commitment was so intense they followed thru to death. And I can’t commit to a workout routine? I wonder what Paul was unable to commit to. Perhaps after a long day on the dirty roads he wouldn’t consistently wash his feet. Just speculation…

The secret to making commitments and sticking to them are to make goals and action plans surrounding your commitment. This topic can apply to almost anything in life, but for the sake of this blog, I will attempt to tackle my fitness problem. Most of us may make goals but no action plans around it. Example: You may say, “I want to run a 5K.” Great, me too! But that goal is vague and without an action plan. 

• Make it realistic. I’m not about to run a marathon any time soon. Better start with a 5K. It’s realistic and achievable but will require some effort on my part.

• Make it measurable. If I were an experienced runner, I could add another qualifier here. I could say, “I would like to run a 5K in less than 30 minutes.” But for me right now, 5K will be my measurement.

• Make it specific. Simply saying you want to run everyday won’t get you very far, literally. I could run to the corner of my block and technically meet that goal.  But would I achieve anything? Try adding a timeline too.

My fitness goal: I want to run a 5K by the end of 2012. It’s realistic, measurable, and specific. Now I would need to make action plans that help me achieve my goal. For example, I can download the Couch to 5K on my phone and follow that program. It’s an action step that brings me back to my goal. 

Well, that’s the goal. And now that it’s on the world wide web, I have to do it. Ugh! Commitment.

For more on setting goals, see “Personal Goal Setting”

 

Today’s verse: “Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3.

Next blog: Fad Diets are like False Prophets