The New Year is an ideal time to take inventory of personal and professional goals. Since you've begun the 2019 Get Moving Challenge, you're already well on your way! Here are some guidelines to help keep you focused and your goals within reach:

Your goals should be S.M.A.R.T. This is an acronym coined by the journal Management Review, meaning Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Specific: Make your goals as concrete and clear as possible, and easily written. For example, instead of writing 'to lose weight", a more concrete goal is "to lose 20 pounds". Another example, instead of writing "to start running", write "to run a 5k".

Measurable: Being able to keep track of progress towards the goal is vital to keeping your stamina in gear to follow through with it. Different goals can be measured in different ways. For example, for weight loss, keeping a calendar/chart beside the bathroom scale is a great way to monitor progress. There are various Apps you can use to record this as well. If your goal is to eat at least 3-5 servings fruits and vegetables per day, keeping a food journal is a great way to check off the days you achieve this. A plus to this is, over time, you'll be able to find trends in your eating habits. This will help you sustain the new habits by finding ways to overcome key barriers to eating well.

Achievable: It's intuitive to think that the more specific and measurable a goal is, the more likely it can be achieved. But thinking about whether a goal is achievable to begin with can set people up for certain failure. For example, you may want to start meditating for 40-minutes twice a day, having only meditated a handful of times, infrequently for the past few years. While it is certainly doable, is this goal sustainable? The better route is to think about how a specific goal is achievable: can it be broken down into smaller steps that can be measured? Following our example, can you meditate for 5-minutes in the morning for a couple of weeks? By breaking a goal into smaller steps, we can identify the parts that work from the parts that do not. Thus, we don't have to scrap the whole program because a few pieces get in the way.

Relevant: You probably have many goals for your health, so start with the ones that matter most-to you. This will help build the efficacy and confidence to try other goals down the road. Sometimes, despite their good intentions, friends and family might press their concerns for your health, but it is important to start with the ones you are passionate about or most concerned about. Developing and maintaining your confidence will help you achieve many things beyond your primary goal.

Time-bound: Habits take time to develop. The most sustainable practices take time as well. Keeping your goals within a time frame will give you a cadence to your tracking and make them more routine. If you're goal is to lose 20lbs, are you setting this goal for three months or a year? Losing 20lbs over three months breaks down to 10lbs per month or 1.53lbs per week. Likewise, losing 20lbs over a year means 1.67lbs a month, which translates to roughly 0.38lbs per week. So if you're measuring your results weekly, your results would be 0.38 - 1.53lbs/week.

In all, keep the SMART criterion in mind when thinking about your goals this year. We look forward to having you with us during the Get Moving Challenge this year!

Sources: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-best-weight-loss-apps

Featured Weekly Recipes

Batch Cooking Recipes

Set yourself up for success with healthy eating throughout the week by practicing batch-cooking techniques for the week ahead. This week's recipes feature meals that can be made in large quantities and reheated throughout the week as needed for quick, easy, and healthy lunch and dinner options. By choosing one or two recipes to make at the beginning of the week, you will save yourself from reaching for take-out or fast food options when you are strapped for time.

Here is a list of this week's recipes to look forward to:

• Sausage, Mushroom, and Spinach Lasagna
• Black Bean Soup
• Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
• Roast Chicken and Sweet Potatoes
• Freezer Bean and Cheese Burritos