2018 Goal Breakdown

You all know how I feel about making resolutions! Nevertheless, I'm all here for goal setting...at any time of the year! It's 2018 and I just so happen to have reason to refresh my list of goals at the beginning of this new year and new quarter! Whenever I set goals for myself, they usually fall into the same areas: hair, fitness, & finance. This year's post has to be broken into a few parts because it's a lot of ground to cover. This time around I wanted to give an in-depth look at the 'how' I'm accomplishing my goals as opposed to just talking about 'what' my goals are. What do I mean? Let's get into it!

My Goals

I'm working on a few areas this year. One of those areas is health and fitness. Under this area, I have three subcategories:

Losing weight - I will lose 19 pounds. This goal is really more about inches than pounds. I love the weight I've put on but my tummy is out of control!! So...that's my main focus. I will lose the weight by working out and "dieting" which leads me to the next two goals.
Working out - I will work out at least twice a week, to start. Getting back in the gym has felt good. I realize that my strength hasn't diminished which makes me feel empowered! It gives me the push I need because working out fell to the bottom of my 'Favorites' list last year.
Eating better - I will count macronutrients (macros), changing my numbers (as needed) from week to week. I'll slowly decrease these numbers until I have reached my goal of 19 pounds lost.

I've talked about macros before but never went into detail about it. Now I'm here to get a little more specific about it!

Macronutrients

What are macronutrients?! Macronutrients, or macros, are "any of the nutritional components of the diet that are required in relatively large amounts: protein, carbohydrate, fat, and the macrominerals" Source. There was a time when I was super serious about counting macros and counted things like my sodium intake but now, I'm counting basic macros. It truly just depends on how disciplined you want to get.

There are many diets out there. Here's a look at three popular diets folks are using these days:

Weight Watchers - "Assigns different foods a SmartPoints value. Nutritious foods that fill you up have fewer points than junk with empty calories. But the eating plan now factors sugar, fat, and protein into its points calculations to steer you toward fruits, veggies, and lean protein, and away from stuff that's high in sugar and saturated fat." Source
Whole 30 - A program where you "eat moderate portions of meat, seafood, and eggs; lots of vegetables; some fruit; plenty of natural fats; and herbs, spices, and seasonings. Eat foods with very few ingredients or...no ingredients listed at all because they're whole and unprocessed." Source
Keto Diet - "The ketogenic diet is a low carb, moderate protein, and high fat diet which puts the body into a metabolic state known as ketosis. When your body is in a state of ketosis, the liver produces ketones which become the main energy source for the body. It completely reverses how your body functions…. It's based around the premise that your body was designed to run more efficiently as a fat burner than a sugar burner." Source

I know people who use the first two diets and I just recently learned about the last diet. I'm not here to say one diet is better than the other. There are all kinds of effective ways to lose weight but everybody's body is different. The best method to use when you decide you want to lose weight is to find something that works for your body! Dieting takes time. It can be weeks or months before you see major changes in your body, so get your mind wrapped around that early!

Up next, I'll cover why I like counting macros, why it's my 'diet' of choice, and what it looks like for me.

If dieting is one of your resolutions, which diet are you using??

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Tuesday, January 9, 2018