My Health Goals For 2015

I suspect that most youth workers have even crazier schedules than I do. Most have day jobs, late nights, lots of pizza. Add family, and time gets even more scarce. And as you pursue the many urgent tasks before you, oftentimes health gets placed on the backburner.

For me, last year was a very good year in many ways. I wrote a book! I wrote many new songs. I spoke at many conferences and events.

But the one area that made it a step backward was my health: I had a prior goal to lose ten-twenty pounds; but because of my end-of-year rush to complete a book, I wound up gaining ten more pounds. Ugh.

Flummoxed, I had to really reconsider how to lose the weight and get back to where I need to be. Enough is enough.

I had to come up with a plan that was realistic, worked within my time-frame, but didn’t slow me down.

My New Approach to Fitness

First thing that I did was that I stopped making “lose 20-30 pounds” as a goal. The problem with that is that it is not in the SMARTER paradigm: it’s realistic, but it’s not actionable; it doesn’t give me a path to pursue.

In its place, I opted to find a routine/program to follow, one that will have my ultimate goals in mind (which will be to lose that weight). The goal is to keep with the routine, both in diet and exercise, and for a reason I have “to lose 20-30 pounds.”

Instead of saying my goal is “Lose 20-30 pounds,” I will replace it with “Eat this diet” and “commit to this exercise routine.”

Finding the Right Routine

The next step was to find the right routine. And what tripped me up is that I am married, two kids, with a day job and only so much time to spend working out. I did not want to join a gym–an added expense that may not be needed, as I have some exercise equipment in my basement.

I suppose that everybody has a different circumstance that is similar to mine. Perhaps there are some who could figure out how to carve out extra time to go to the gym; I’ve been there/done that. My unique circumstances simply prevented me from doing so.

If there is one thing to gain from this post, it’s this: Hire a virtual personal trainer.

I did, from Fiverr.

I did a search on personal trainers, and found one with a high rating (and, to be honest, also evidenting the type of body I’d wish to best have).

I asked a few questions in advance, and told him of my severe limitations towards accomplishing this goal. After a few back and forths, he gave me the good news: I had everything I needed to do this.

He sent me a modified menu for my week, a list of approved foods, and a four-day-a-week exercise routine that has a little bit in the morning, a little around lunch, and a significant amount at night, all using my own bodyweight and/or exercises that I already had access to.

He told me to contact him in four-to-six weeks, to have it upgraded. I plan to.

Current Results

Since doing this, I have already seen results on the scale (six pounds in two weeks!). I haven’t needed to take too much time out of my day. I have been quite motivated to stick to my menu. And, over time, I am confident that this will help me complete my dream task for this year.

What are your current health goals? How are you pursuing them?