The following Family & Consumer Sciences article printed in the June 7, 2018 edition of the Oldham Era.

Fitness Beginnings: Fitness Goal Setting

Made a decision to get healthier but unsure where to start? Adding physical activity to your routine is a great way to improve your mind, mood, and body.

Adults need 150 minutes of physical activity each week. Don’t be overwhelmed! You can split this up into 10-minute segments of physical activity throughout the week. Make an appointment with yourself every day (and keep it!) to ensure you meet this goal.

Now that you are determined to increase your physical activity, think about your health goals and how increasing your movement will help you achieve them. Remember to set SMART goals, or ones that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

A specific goal should clearly spell out what you want to achieve, where it will take place, and the time period. An example of a specific goal is walking for at least 30 minutes, in your neighborhood, five days a week.

Once you’ve decided on specifics, figure out how you will measure your progress. Think about amounts of activity and the length of time.

Often, we want immediate success. That’s where the attainable part of SMART goal setting comes in. An attainable goal is realistic and something you can actually do. As much as we would all like lose 20 pounds in two weeks, the chances are highly unlikely that it will happen. In fact, most people trying to lose weight should aim to lose about 1-2 pounds per week for healthy and sustainable weight loss. Keep that in mind as you are setting your fitness goals.

The next step is for you to examine the importance of the goal relevant to where you are in your life. For example, you may not necessarily be interested in weight loss right now but may instead choose to add physical activity to reduce stress or improve your mood.

The last part of SMART is timeliness. This is when you set time to complete your goal, whether it is short or long term. A short-term goal may be to lose 15 pounds within two months, whereas a long-term goal could be to maintain that weight loss for an entire year.

For more information on physical activity goal setting, contact the Oldham County Extension office.

Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expressions, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability.

Written by Natalie Jones, University of Kentucky Physical Activity Program Coordinator, and Lauren Fernandez, Oldham County Extension Staff Assistant.