Category: Nutrition Group

NOTE: Before you can check this module off as "done" you must complete the action items you will find below.

Before starting any journey, we need to set a destination. Here, that destination is our goal.

Outcome-Based vs. Habit-Based Goals

Outcome-based goals are important in a general sense. They're the end result you are hoping to achieve after putting in the hard work. Outcome-based goals are goals like “dropping a pants size” or “losing 20 pounds.” The goal is to attain a specific outcome. This is the primary goal you'll be setting and sharing today.

Habit- and performance-based goals are much more important to the actual process of losing weight and will be the focus of the checklists you'll get here for the rest of the group. A habit-based goal is the type of goal that leads to “doing.” For instance, a good goal to have is “I will get 8 hours of sleep every night.” This type of goal will help you repeat certain positive actions.

Getting SMART

You can easily remember what makes a goal a good goal by remembering the acronym SMART.

Specific: “I will drop one dress/pants size" vs. "My clothes will fit better."
Measurable: “I will lose 10 pounds” vs. “I will lose weight.”
Accountable: Share your goal with the group vs. Trying to do it alone.
Realistic: “I will lose 50 pounds in 1 year” vs. “I will lose 50 pounds by the end of the month.”
Timely: “I will lose 10 pounds in 12 weeks" vs. "I will lose 10 pounds."

Setting Goals and Taking Action: The Value of “Why”

When you are setting goals or charting out a course of action, asking the question “why?” is something most people overlook. Yes, we all want to burn fat, eat healthier, and live better lives. However, it can be easy to lose sight of our goals if we have no sense of purpose driving us forward.

When you decide why your goal is important to you, it will provide a source of motivation throughout your journey. For example, let’s say you come up with a goal: “I want to lose 9 pounds in 12 weeks.”

By asking yourself why this goal is important to you, you can create a clearly defined reason for pursuing it. Whatever your answer is--to look better for your wedding, to drop a dress size in time for vacation in Maui--it will be something you can turn to if you question why you’re making the changes presented during the next 12 weeks.

ACTION #1: The link below is to a PDF file you need to download, print, and fill out. Seriously, write on a piece of paper. I know it's old-fashioned, but do it anyway and keep it in a safe place for the remainder of the group.

http://strongfastfitness.com/localassets/Goal_Setter.pdf

Writing is a powerful tool. The act of writing affects your brain. So don't take it lightly. Be sure to give real thought to your answers. This isn't an English composition class, so don't be afraid about your wordagosity or punctuationisms. Just say what you think and, more importantly, feel about your goal.

ACTION #2: Then post your outcome goal for the end of the group (remember, it's six months long) as a comment on the Blitz. Word it as "My goal is ..." and take it from there. Most people prefer to use changes as opposed to final numbers; for example, "lose 10 pounds" rather than "get down to 160 pounds." Use whatever you're comfortable with, but share your goal in one form or another. It's important to share your commitment with the group so we can help hold each other accountable!

Refer back to your goal sheet periodically, especially when you feel like you're struggling. It's a great reminder as to why you're here in the first place and can help you through tough times. But so can all of us in the group! So be sure to use the Blitz comments to share any trials and tribulations (and successes!) with the group. We're all in this together!

Now go ahead: develop and share your goal! And remember, you can't check this module off as "done" until you do!

Remember way back when we started, we did some detailed nutrition logging? Sure you do. Like it was yesterday.

Tracking everything you eat is the only reliable way to detect unhealthy patterns and measure your progress in correcting them. (The same is true for fitness, but that's another story.)

But there's more to it than that. The very act of tracking what you eat can help you lose weight. One study showed that keeping a food log doubled the weight-loss of people on a diet and exercise plan.

But wait, there's still more!

In his book The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg discussed keystone habits: habits that can "shift, dislodge, and remake other patterns." One such habit is exercise. (Of course it is.) Another is...drum roll please...food logging.

Then, in 2009 a group of researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health published a study of a different approach to weight loss. They had assembled a group of sixteen hundred obese people and asked them to concentrate on writing down everything they ate at least one day a week.

... Then something unexpected happened. The participants started looking at their entries and finding patterns they didn't know existed. Some noticed they always seemed to snack at about 10 A.M., so they began keeping an apple or banana on their desks for midmorning munchies. Others started using their journals to plan future menus, and when dinner rolled around, they ate the healthy meal they had written down, rather than junk food from the fridge.

We'll be logging more than one day a week...because we're freakin' awesome!

This isn't nutrition tracking, like we did previously. It's just logging. The type of logging you do is not nearly so important as doing it, so you don't have to count calories or carbs or weigh and measure everything you eat and drink. Unless you're into that sort of thing, of course.

As noted in our previous Blitz, there are lots of diet tracking tools available online (most with associated mobile apps) including myfitnesspal.com, fitday.com and fatsecret.com . But you can also use old school pen and paper to get it done, using a Hipster PDA or our StrongFast tracking sheets available for download at http://strongfast.blitzometer.com/assets/food-journal.pdf .

Here are some sample entries (not necessarily recommended eating!):

8:10 am - 2 bowls of Cheerios with banana and 2% milk. Small glass of orange juice.     

12:05 pm - Big salad with head of romaine lettuce, apple, sweet apple chicken sausage, baby carrots,  ¼ cucumber, raisins, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

3:10 pm - Bottle of Diet Snapple and a small bag of pretzels.

More detail is fine, but don't have too much less or you'll be missing some potentially critical information to help identify patterns or "bad habits."

Other things that can be helpful to track include your energy level, sleep quality, and bathroom experiences. This can help you track down foods that are causing you physical problems your may not be aware of. (A long history of eating a food is no guarantee it's not causing problems: it may have always been trouble but you got used to it and consider it "normal" or you may have developed an intolerance to it over time.) But the crucial part is to log what you eat.

It's common for people to "cheat" on their food logs, usually by failing to write in unhealthy items, or by under-reporting quantities. One rationalization is that "it's not something I usually eat" so it's omitted as an aberration. But it's funny how those aberrations accumulate over time, so put them all in. You won't have to publish it online or anything.

Quantities are a tougher problem. People frequently underestimate how much they consume, not (usually) in a deliberate attempt to mislead but simply from miscalculating. One solution is to weigh and measure. A simpler one is to use standard approximations. Here's an easy way to estimate portion sizes:

• Protein: size of your palm
• Veggie: size of your fist
• Carbs: cup of your hand
• Fats: size of your thumb

Note that these will vary depending on your physical size, and that's good: a portion for a 6'4" man should not be the same size as for a 5'4" woman. And, of course, these will differ from standard serving sizes. The important thing is to choose one method of measuring or approximating how much you consume and staying consistent with that method.

So now you could be logging entries like this:

5:30 pm - 2 servings of chicken breast, 1 serving of broccoli with butter.

7:50 pm - 5 servings of popcorn, 3 servings of peanuts, large diet pop

Pick your method of logging, whether it's on paper, on a website or mobile device, or some other method, and get to it. It's best to log as soon as possible after eating or drinking since our memories for these things tend to be unreliable. And check off the food log activity on your Blitz every day it's scheduled so I know you're on top of things. Extra credit for adding some Blitz comments to let everyone know how it's going.