To prepare for the start of April’s challenge and DietBet this coming Monday (the pot is nearing $1,000 and counting!), I wanted to put together a sort of guide to help you all out. And even you’re opting out of the health challenge, I thought this could be a helpful activity for any sort of goal or project you might need to tackle for work or your personal life—especially if you’ve been feeling unproductive lately.
Planning is so helpful in being successful, especially if you’re like me: Sometimes I find myself so completely overwhelmed by all the things I want to do and accomplish right this instant that I end up being almost paralyzed and not getting anything done. Do you ever feel that way? When I have one task on my mind, I’ll see it through to the end and get it done quickly. When I have a million tasks to do, I get so stressed and don’t even know where to start and I usually end up … taking a nap. Seriously. I cope with overly ambitious to-do lists by doing the least productive thing possible. Go me.
It’s a work in progress, but to avoid this, I find it’s best to break down a big goal into smaller goals and focus on one step at a time. Multitasking is great to an extent, but rather than chipping away at multiple projects at once, it’s a lot more satisfying to give myself one or two smaller projects a day and immediately see them through to completion.
Planning to Achieve a Monthly Goal
STEP 1 | Pick a goal that’s realistic to achieve in a month’s time.
If you’re new to running, don’t set out to finish a marathon in four weeks. If you’re 100lbs overweight, don’t challenge yourself to lose it all this month. When it comes to transforming our bodies and lifestyle, slow change is often the most sustainable type of change.
STEP 2 | Identify the challenges you’ll face.
This is important! Take some time for honest self-reflection. What’s prevented you from achieving this goal in the past? What aspects of your life (crazy work schedule, bad habits, social calendar) are going to make achieving your goal difficult? Identify the speed bumps you’ll encounter so that you can plan ahead to avoid them. Keep these in mind as you complete step four.
STEP 3 | Break your month goal into four weekly stepping-stone goals.
If you’re participating in the DietBet, this is easy: each week set a goal of 1% weight loss. Similarly, if your challenge is to drink a gallon of water a day or stretch for 20 minutes a day before bed, your weekly stepping stone goals can be the same each week (“drink 7 gallons of water”; “stretch for 20 minutes every day this week”). If the challenge you set for yourself is based on mastering a specific skill or completing a large task, then it’ll take a little more thought in determining where you want your progress to be by the end of each week.
For example, my goal of learning to hold a handstand unassisted could be broken down into these four weekly goals:
- Week 1: Be able to hold a handstand with feet supported against wall, using a spotter to help me get into the pose.
- Week 2: Be able to kick up unassisted into a handstand with feet supported against wall.
- Week 3: Be able to hold a handstand without a wall for support, using a spotter to help me get into the pose.
- Week 4: Be able to kick up unassisted into a handstand without a wall for support.
I’m scared just typing that. Is it too late to change my month’s challenge?? 😉
STEP 4 | Make a list of what it’ll take to achieve each week’s goal.
Keep in mind your list of challenges! For example, if you’re participating in the DietBet and know that one of your personal issues with losing weight is your tendency to snack on sugary foods late at night, maybe you prepare for that by keeping carrot and celery sticks in the refrigerator. Write down on your list for each week: If I get the urge to snack on sweets after dinner, I’ll opt for raw veggie sticks instead at least five nights this week. If you know you lose motivation to workout after a long day at the office, maybe you add “sign up for three 6AM bootcamp classes at my gym” to your weekly list.
Possible DietBet example
When you’re writing out how you’ll achieve each weekly stepping stone, be realistically ambitious. Feed off the excitement and initial motivation of taking on a new challenge, but know that nothing goes completely as planned. Make sure to allot for a little wiggle room so that you don’t end up feeling guilty and being hard on yourself for little “slip ups” (aka life).
STEP 5 | Plan the week ahead.
I try to plan no more than a week at a time because things come up and schedules change. This is where you get specific. On Tuesday I’m going to the 6AM yoga class at my gym. On Sunday I’m meal planning for the following week. On Wednesday I’m packing a lunch for work to avoid unhealthy food at the company’s catered meeting.
DietBet goal example continued from above image
I like to use my at-a-glance planner, I know a lot of people use their smart phone’s calendar, and I’ve also created a downloadable daily to-do list for each week that you can print off if that is more your cup of tea.
STEP 6 | Pick a reward.
Succeeding in your month goal is reward enough, but it never hurts to dangle a carrot in front of your nose either. If you’re doing the DietBet, your reward is getting to split the pot with the other winners. I’ll also be hosting a giveaway each week for everyone who hits their weekly stepping-stone goals. But since there’s no guarantee you’ll win the giveaway, pick a reward you’ll give yourself at the end of the month as well. I’ve been eyeing a ton of cute workout gear at Lululemon lately, so if I can nail my handstand by the end of the challenge, I’m going to treat myself to an outfit.
Printable Monthly Health/Fitness Goal Planner
CLICK TO VIEW PDF AND DOWNLOAD
You can simply follow the steps I’ve outlined above and jot down your game plan in whatever form of planner you currently use or, if you’re looking for something separate, I’ve put together a month’s guide to crushing whatever goal you’re setting out on. Click above to view the printable PDF. You’ll then have the option to download (it shouldn’t do it automatically if you’re worried about being on a work computer).
If you’re going to play along with the weekly giveaways and set a health & fitness goal this month, leave a comment and let me know what your challenge is! Knowing what everyone is shooting for will help me create relevant content all month long. 🙂
Hey there! I'm Nicole, a group fitness instructor, healthy lifestyle blogger (you probably figured that one out by now) and Certified Personal Trainer living in Boston, MA.
I’ve completed and won dietbets in the past, but then gain the 4% back once I get back to my bad habits…I want to participate with a goal but need suggestions…I love working out, love rewarding myself with food so maybe my goal should be something like journaling my feelings??
That could be a great one! If you find yourself using food as a reward, maybe try keeping a food journal and writing down why you’re eating/how you feel so that you can then go back and look for patterns.
I definitely feel you on doing nothing when getting overwhelmed. I think of all the things to do and then decide to watch episode after episode of Downton Abbey instead. I’ve found that making a list and prioritizing it has helped me a lot and also just tackling one thing at a time. When I start working on my blog I will have a million ideas pop up and before I used to stop what I was doing to start doing something else. Then my brain would explode. Now I keep paper next to me so I can write that idea down and come to it when I have finished the first thing!
I have that same problem with blogging! I get blog post ADHD and before you know it, I have seven half-written posts and nothing finished haha
12 push-ups in a row on my toes instead of knees by the end of the month! I’ll start with 3 the first week of April and add 3 every week. Drink more water. Focus on drinking 1-2 glasses before I leave the house every day. If I start drinking water early, I am more inclined to continue drinking throughout the day.
I’m the same way–if I don’t drink a big glass of water first thing in the morning, my chances for the day are slim to none haha. Good luck with the push ups–love that goal!
I’m challenging myself to work on strength instead of just cardio this month. I’m going to accomplish this by trying at least 2 new strength workouts per week.
Good one! Strength training is so important, and you’ll find that doing it helps improve your cardio workout as well 🙂
I am participating in the DietBet! My biggest challenge is to overcome emotional eating/binging, which has caused me to gain 10 pounds in the past few months.
Stress is always a huge cause of poor eating habits for me! The emotion-food connection is a toughie. Hope the DietBet helps you out! 🙂
My goal for the month is not to drink wine! I love wine but I easily lose control over my snacking when I’m having it. So I will avoid having any in my house. I’m planning to play around with different fruits and berries and add them into my sparkling water to sip when I feel like having a glass of wine.
I hear ya sistah–two glasses of wine deep and suddenly I’ve eaten an entire block of cheese. Whoopsies. 🙂
I am thinking about signing up for the DietBet because I certainly have enough weight to lose. But I’m also going to increase my water intake & walking and decrease late night snacking. This should be fun!
I’m participating in the Dietbet and going to try and hold a plank for 2:30. I can do 1 minute now and will add 30 seconds each week.
I’m actually posting a plank workout on Monday–keep an eye out for it! 🙂
Love the planner page- just downloaded it, thank you!
Love these tips and the printable!
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I’m going to focus on getting into headstand without a wall!
It’s so exciting when you nail it! Best of luck! 🙂
This is my first dietbet. I am going to start small and start some good habits to continue.I would like to lose 4% of my body weight by May 1 (already April3, yikes) I love baking, that is my downfall and tortilla chips. so I plan on having no chips in the house. My willpower is nil at night. Any pointers about that, would be helpful. Thanks,
Keeping “trigger” foods out of the house is #1! I know for me, I can’t keep cheese and crackers in the house at the same time or else next thing you know, that ENTIRE block of cheese will be gone haha. Late night snacking is a tough one–instead of telling yourself you can’t eat anything after dinner (putting something off limits makes it 10x more desirable haha), tell yourself you can have as much [insert healthy option here] as you want. My dad does this and will snack on celery and carrot sticks after dinner. You could also try designating a night when you’ll let yourself eat whatever you want at night. Sometimes knowing you will have that treat day makes it easier to stay on track the rest of the week. 🙂
My goal is to drink 80 oz. of water per day this month. That’s four of my standard camelback water bottles + other fluids during the day. I know I’ll be having coffee and tea but I want to drink the water on top of all of that!
Drinking more water is something I need to be better about, too!
My goal is to learn how to run. I lift weights and do cardio every week, but have no stamina for running. I want to participate in a local pentathlon next year, but will need to learn how to run in order to do it. My goal for this month is to work up to doing four 10 minute running intervals separated by 1 minute walking recoveries. When I reach my goal, I will buy myself new running shoes.
My goal is to learn how to run. I lift weights and do cardio weekly, but have no stamina for running. I want to participate in a local pentathlon next year, but will need to learn how to run in order to do it. My goal for this month is to work up to doing four 10 minute running intervals separated by 1 minute walking recoveries. When I reach my goal, I will buy myself new running shoes.
Ooops! Accidently posted my comment twice. Sorry…
Love this goal (and reward!) 🙂
My goal this month is sticking to working out for 30 minutes 4X a week–No Excuses!
Thank you for the FREE downloadable calendar! Not only am I using it for the challenge, I’m also gonna use it for other areas in my life that I procrastinate about.
I’m glad you find it helpful! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this!