Setting targets

[Do Make Say Think]

Good day everyone

I'm 32, weigh 236 pounds, am 6'2 and body fat is likely around 25% (gonna get it measured later today)

I'm looking to get healthy and need a bit of guidance on setting goals: I've had a personal trainer in the past and that worked great but it's expensive as hell, I tried going solo but have a hard time sticking to it. I think one issue is setting unrealistic goals and I'd love to get some tips on setting goals that keep you looking ahead but aren't downers.

How do you all go about it?

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[not a troll]

Downloading Myfitnesspal app should be step one for anybody trying to lose weight. Next, read up in HIIT workouts and learn to love them because the two of you are going to be close buds for the next few months.

Once you have those two things down you should be able to set realistic goals for yourself.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Well I had already found that app yesterday so I guess I'm off to a decent start

Thanks for the tip!

 

[UnrealMachine]

I find a proper mix of solid long-term and dynamic short-term goals helps a lot. For example, say you want to lose 30 lbs over the next 6 months?

180-day goal = 30 lbs
90-day goal = 15 lbs
30-day goal = 5 lbs
15-day goal = 2.5 lbs

While there is nothing complicated about that, you have to realize that your body is a dynamic system and will be changing along the way. What I mean by that is your progress is unlikely to be linear and you will have to work harder to maintain progress the closer you get to your goal. You may lose the first 20 lbs rather easily but then hit a wall on the last 10 or something along that manner? Don't be afraid to adjust the short term goals, but do so in a way that maintains overall progress. Lastly, don't beat yourself up over not achieving a goal. Instead, evaluate yourself on what you actually did accomplish and what you can improve upon.

And since you will probably be looking to lose body fat and perhaps gain some muscle, bodyweight isn't the best metric to use (although it shouldn't be ignored). Get some measuring tape and measure the widest part of your waistline first thing in the morning (at least once per week). You could make another goal out of that. Anecdotally, I've lost 2 inches on my waistline over last two years and my bodyweight is within 1lb of where it was back then (re: I lost body fat and gained muscle mass).

 

[kanuck87]

Here's what I wrote in the other thread that you posted your comment on:

Personally, I wouldn't track calories yet. You're not severely overweight, so you don't need to take this drastic of an action. Tracking gets very tedious and exhausting at times, which as the last two posters before you have mentioned, it gets stressful after a while. The old saying "Sometimes it's better if you don't know" applies here.

Instead of tracking calories, just focus on good eating habits. Here's a few that I try to focus on myself and might help you(if you don't already do so):

- Eat only three meals a day. Some people might prefer to have 5 or 6 smaller meals a day, but that just increases the possibility of over-eating. If possible, I would just stick with breakfast, lunch and dinner.

- More veggies in your meals and less starchy foods (like rice, pasta and even potatoes). Starchy foods generally have more calories and you can eat a lot of veggies without packing on the calories.

- Eat more leaner meats (generally white meat) instead of red meat in your meals. White meat has fewer calories usually.

- Your snacks should be something low in calories like perhaps oatmeal, pudding, yogurt or some fruits and vegetables. For snacks, it may be a good idea to look at calories and limit snacks to less than 150 calories in total.

- And of course, eat fewer sweets. In general, you shouldn't have more than the equivalent of a chocolate bar a day, not that you should be anyways. If you're on a diet, it goes without saying that you probably should be eating sweets a lot less frequently than that. I have a massive sweet tooth just like you and I try to limit myself to sweets twice a week. The key for me is to not to have it around my apartment so I don't get tempted to eat it. That also means having the willpower to not buy it whenever I go grocery shopping and I feel like I've gotten pretty good at that.

These are just some rules that I follow for myself. Some people may disagree, but I'm trying to get off of counting calories and these rules have helped me stave off of gaining back the weight that I've lost without having to count calories.

 

[not a troll]

Tracking literally takes a few seconds. Just do it before you eat. I lost 25 pounds in 3 months just by logging my calories and making sure not to go over. Since then, it has been an essential part of my cutting and bulking cycle.

Yes, the end goal is a balanced and nutritional diet but that's arguably harder to change overnight than tracking your calories which is much more simple.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Well I've chosen to aim for losing 30 pounds in 5 months and 10% body fat in however long that takes

 

[not a troll]

Well I've chosen to aim for losing 30 pounds in 5 months and 10% body fat in however long that takes

30 pounds in 5 months is easy and in the safe range. Getting down to 10% body fat is on the border of bodybuilder territory. Is there a reason why you're shooting for that number?

Just a warning, there are side effects to prolonged deficits.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I picked 10 because it seemed like a good number but after doing some research it's probably not a realistic goal.

12-15 sounds more reasonable.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

good sustainable habits should be your target, not a specific number i mean we all can get mind****ed by the scale sometimes. 30 pounds in 5 months is doable as long as you are doing things you will stick with, and not stop as soon as you reach that weight, otherwise you will put alot of it back on

 

[not a troll]

I picked 10 because it seemed like a good number but after doing some research it's probably not a realistic goal.

12-15 sounds more reasonable.

As long as you're exercising regularly and eating relatively healthy I wouldn't even worry about body fat percentage. Those handheld devices and calipers aren't that accurate anyways if you want an accurate measurement you need to shell out money for a DXA or hydrostatic test. I think the tolerance on the handheld devices and calipers is something like +/- 5%.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Changing to:

Monday, Wedensday, Friday: Stronglifts
Tuesday: 4.5 mile jog/walk + Core exercise
Thursday: Sprints (10 40 meter 60-70% effort) + Core Exercise

From:

Monday Wed Friday: Sprints or 4.5 mile
Tuesday Thursday: Weight training that hits every upper body muscle, one that I arbitrarily made up

Generally I've been doing a lot of exercise, not necessarily strenuous or consistent, but a big mix of running, weight training, and cycling (lots of cycling). Not fit but my overall fitness has improved from where it was a year ago.

This plus dieting led me to achieve my dieting goals, now to start builking come winter. Question: Stronglifts features a 5 x 5 squats every day. Is it a bad idea to go running on off days, even if it's relatively light?

 

[radicalcenter]

I picked 10 because it seemed like a good number but after doing some research it's probably not a realistic goal.

12-15 sounds more reasonable.

here's 10% bodyfat

As long as you're exercising regularly and eating relatively healthy I wouldn't even worry about body fat percentage. Those handheld devices and calipers aren't that accurate anyways if you want an accurate measurement you need to shell out money for a DXA or hydrostatic test. I think the tolerance on the handheld devices and calipers is something like +/- 5%.

It can be even worse than that

Another problem we have is similar to the problem we had with BIA. Like with BIA, skinfold testing is a prediction based off of a prediction. Skinfold testing equations, like the Jackson-Pollock equation, were developed off of hydrostatic weighing measurements (which themselves are predictions with error). Thus, if hydrostatic weighing can have an error rate of up to 5-6% in individuals, then skinfold testing equations are going to compound that error.

Skinfolds can have pretty sizeable errors when compared to a 4-compartment model, whether you're looking at group averages or individuals. In one study, skinfolds (using the Jackson-Pollock equation) underpredicted body fat percentage in white women by 6%, and that's the average for the entire group. The individual error rates were huge, ranging from an overprediction of 10% to an underprediction of over 15%. For men, the error rates were no better. Using the Durnin and Womersley equation, the individual error rates got as high as 10-15% in both directions.

http://weightology.net/weightologyw...lls-of-body-fat-measurement-part-5-skinfolds/