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Goal-Setting Words Of Wisdom From Top Health Bloggers

We were so honored to be featured in this article from NordicTrack on how top bloggers make their resolutions stick — and we’re so pumped to be able to share some fantastic snippets from it below! 

We’ve jumped feet first into a new year. Hello, 2018! Say goodbye to the yuck of 2017, cherish the good from the past year, and get ready for another roller coaster ride. We might not know exactly what’s coming for us in the future, but by setting a few goals for ourselves, we can take control and bring a little predictability to our daily lives.

Goal setting is tricky. Many people shy away from new year’s resolutions because of failed attempts in the past. But don’t give up yet! Plenty of people are able to bring their new year’s goals to fruition, so what’s it going to take to be one of them? NordicTrack has gathered insight from a number of popular bloggers to give you some tips and tricks to goal setting (and achieving). Let’s get right into it!

Brian St. Pierre, Precision Nutrition

Brian St. Pierre is the Director of Performance Nutrition at Precision Nutrition. Armed with technology and a forgiving mindset, he gave great insight on how to keep our resolutions.

Brian chose to floss more consistently this past year, shooting for 80 percent regularity. He chose this number because, “a larger number certainly felt beneficial, but more likely for me to backslide into that all-or-none mindset and approach again.”

He used a habit-tracking app to help him account for how he progressed with his goal. By keeping an accurate record and not trying to shoot for perfection, Brian avoided guilt, knowing, “I could skip that night and know that my goal wasn’t negatively impacted.”

So, try out Brian’s approach and avoid the trap of perfection. For the rest of Brian’s great advice, read the rest of his interview.

Aeshia DeVore Branch, Pretty Girls Sweat

Founder of Pretty Girls Sweat, Aeshia DeVore Branch had some top-notch advice on how to develop the mindset you need to set solid health and fitness goals.

No one wants to fail at their goals, least of all Aeshia, who said her big goal last year was to launch PRETTY GIRLS SWEAT fest in Atlanta, Georgia.

One of the things that helped Aeshia succeed was surrounding herself with positive and supportive people. She said, “Without them as well as setting small goals with deadlines, PGSF would have just remained a page of notes in my journal.”

Once you have the right support, Aeshia stressed the importance of having the right mindset. Weight loss is often set as a goal by many people, but without the right mindset, it is easy to go back to old eating habits.

To combat this, Aeshia recommends, “When setting a health or fitness goal, motivation tends to diminish over time, and old habits start creeping back in. You must be clear about which goal is most important to you and focus on easy ways to meet realistic expectations.” By making realistic lifestyle changes and narrowing your focus, you are much more likely to meet your goal.

Be sure to check out the rest of Aeshia’s full interview to get more advice that will help you reach your goals this year!

Lauren Abbott, Treadmill Reviews

Lauren Abbott is a fitness enthusiast, avid runner, and writer for for Treadmill Reviews. Not only is she a great resource for running tips and exercise routines, she is a huge fan of New Year’s Resolutions.

Like Brian St. Pierre, Lauren uses tech tools for tracking and reaching her fitness goals. She currently uses iFit for tracking every workout, planning her family’s meals, and more. However, she has learned that simply purchasing a workout program wasn’t going to guarantee her success. She still had to fight her inner demons telling her to take it easy and skip her run on days when she wasn’t feeling so motivated.

Lauren found success with a fitness app because of the following reasons:

  • She’s a frugal woman, saying: ”If I invest my money into it, I’ll invest my time into it”.
  • She also knew that with a clear display of her results and steady progress, she would be more motivated to continue working on herself.

“I dream of running ultramarathons through the mountains like my muses I follow on social media. But I’m currently not at that level athletically.” — Lauren

Instead of focusing her sights on conquering mountains, she focused her eyes on the baby steps it was going to take to build up to ultramarathon running: speed training, distance, endurance, and nutrition. Using her fitness app, she created a schedule for weekly training goals. Focusing her sights on shorter time frames helped her to navigate work, family life, and training and unplanned events arose.

Lauren’s advice: “By all means, set a large goal! But instead of sprinting from the starting line, pace yourself.”

See what else Lauren has to say about iFit and training in her full interview here.

Adam St. Pierre, CTS

As a CTS running coach and experienced long-distance runner, Adam St. Pierre knows all about the importance of patience in goal-setting.

He warns against setting goals that are too vague. They’re almost always guaranteed to fail. For example, a goal to “run 3 times a week” is less likely to be achieved than a goal to run a specific local running trail Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:30 p.m. each week.

Adam makes sure that he sets super exact goals for himself. He set out to run a local trail he enjoyed 100 times in one year. He paired this goal with an already existing running schedule he had set for himself. “Instead of wondering, ‘Where should I run today?’ I just defaulted to running Mt. Sanitas.”

For all goal-setters, Adam gives this encouraging advice: “A realistic goal is one that you can achieve. A worthwhile goal is one that will make you better. A goal should motivate you, not be such a reach as to discourage you.”

Take Adam’s advice: consider your strengths and weaknesses. How can you combine the two to create a worthwhile, achievable goal for yourself?

You can read more from Adam St. Pierre in our full interview here.

Dr. Lori Shemek, Dr. Lori Shemek

Dr. Lori Shemek is an experienced goal setter and achiever who has helped so many men and women do the same.

We were grateful that Dr. Lori Shemek was able to take some time to offer some goal-setting advice. As a best-selling author as well as being a leading health and weight-loss expert, Lori has helped countless people reach their goals.

Concerning personal goals she’s set, Lori committed to doing 5 pull-ups every time she walked through the doorway in her home which had a chin-up bar installed. She also decided to add extra push-ups into her nightly routine as she watched the news.

Lori said, “I already had both of these in my exercise program, but simply adding in a few more a day has allowed me to increase my strength and the number of them.”

When we asked her how she helps people set realistic goals, Lori said,”I believe that a worthy fitness goal must primarily be intrinsically motivated — coming from within or behavior that is driven by internal rewards.” Many of us seek motivation from others and try to rely on social feedback to keep us going. But when things become difficult, Lori said, “If the motivation is coming externally, it will not last, nor will there be quality workouts. “

Overall, Lori’s advice to anyone making new health and fitness goals for 2018 is to “Be That Person. Be the person who does XYZ.”

Check out the rest of Lori’s full interview to get more advice that will help you reach your goals this year!

Jennipher Walters, Fit Bottomed Girls (Hey, That’s Us!)

Jennipher is a health coach and certified personal trainer. As the Editor-In-Chief of Fit Bottomed Girls, she shares her wealth of fitness industry knowledge to her devoted readers.

Setting fitness goals comes down to being realistic and having the appropriate expectations for yourself: mind and body. If you plan to work out two hours a day, every single day, after being basically sedentary for a long time, you’re setting yourself up for failure — the goal is too great (for most people). One of Jennipher’s past fitness goals was to perform one pull-up, unassisted. Jennipher shows us that goal setting doesn’t have to be out-of-this world. More so, a goal needs to be just beyond our reach.

To reach her seemingly simple goal, Jennipher had to reach a list of many simpler goals. Imagine a ladder, each rung being a smaller goal to reach the goal at the top of her ladder. She focused on building strength in her back, arms, and hands. Months of hard work helped her to manage her goal.

“I was successful because the goal was realistic. I was patient, had a plan to do it and was consistent in working towards it.” Jennipher said.

More wise advice from Jennipher: “[Goals] have to be done with a lot of self-love and thought to what happens when you fall off track. Because no one is perfect — and you can learn so much from your ‘mistakes’.”

Before deciding on a goal for 2018, Jennipher suggests you “think about your why.” Recognizing deeper intentions for your goal-setting will give your more solid motivation for reaching them.

To read Jennipher’s entire interview, click here.

Ready to Set Some Goals?

Now, are you ready to set and crush your 2018 goals? We hope that you have been inspired by these interviews because we certainly enjoyed them. NordicTrack appreciated the time and thought the bloggers put into their responses and encourage you to visit their websites for more fantastic content.

For those of you setting health and fitness goals, be sure you have the right equipment at your fingertips. NordicTrack produces top-of-the-line treadmills, ellipticals, rowers, bikes, and more so we can help you meet all of your fitness and health goals. Be sure to check out what NordicTrack currently offers, as they are constantly innovating to help everyone live their best life.

Thanks so much for featuring us and sharing so much goal-setting wisdom, NordicTrack! —The FBGs

FTC disclosure: We often receive products from companies to review. All thoughts and opinions are always entirely our own. Unless otherwise stated, we have received no compensation for our review and the content is purely editorial. Affiliate links may be included. If you purchase something through one of those links we may receive a small commission. Thanks for your support!

Comments

3 Comments
  1. Dawaiyatra says:

    Your article is really helpful. There are so many new things I am learning. Much thanks for sharing these tips/ this article.

  2. I really admire these bloggers, they are very talented in my heart. No one wants to fail with their goals, a wonderful saying by Aeshia DeVore Branch. Plan your goals for yourself, which is very difficult, but you know what you will have to do, the best way to succeed.

  3. The blog is really informative and helpful. I appreciate your writing skills. Thanks for sharing it.

Comments are closed.