Goal setting ISN'T just for the New Year!!

Merriam-Webster defines a goal as, "the end toward which effor is directed". The end of a month is the perfect time for setting new goals and committing to a healthier YOU. Many people only set goals for themselves at the start of the new year, but why wait another 3 months when you can start making changes now!? Goals should provide you with guidance and direction, setting you on a path for success. Goals that are too vague - lose weight, eat healthier, get more sleep - will not be likely to lead you toward success. Taking a few minutes of your time to create effective goals ahead of time will lead you in the right direction in the future.
To set goals that will keep you focused and motivated through your endeavor, use the acronym S.M.A.R.T.. This system of goal setting will work with any type of not not just those that are health-related. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym that describes the different characteristics a goal statement shold have to increase your probability of success. The acronym has several different variations depending on the circumstances around which to goals are derived. Here are a few variations:

• S - specific, significant, stretching
• M - measurable, meaningful, motivational
• A - attainable, achievable, agreed upon, acceptable, action-oriented
• R - reasonable, relevant, realistic, rewarding, results-oriented
• T - timely, time-based, trackable

Steps to setting S.M.A.R.T. goals:
1. Be Specific
Start with a general idea for your goal. For example, "I want to run more". This goal is very vague but can be made more specific by answering a few questions, a.k.a. "W-questions".

• Who: Who is involved? "I..."
• What: What do I want to accomplish? "...want to be able to run a 5K in 28 minutes..."
• When: When do you want to accomplish this goal? "...by the end of October..."
• Why: Why to you want to accomplish this goal? "...so I can be healthier and more fit."
• Which: Which way are you going to do this? "...by running for 45 minutes 4 days a week..."
• Where: Where are you going to execute your plan? "...outside or on the indoor track..."

Now put your goal statement together. I want to run a 5K in 28 minutes by the end of October so I can be healthier and more fit. I will accomplish this by running for 45 minutes, 4 times a week either outside or on the indoor track.

2. Make your goals Measurable
So once you have put your plan into action, how will you know that your actions are leading you in the right direction. Measuring your progress is important and even small changes will help to keep you motivated. Using my example above, you could keep a exercise journal and track your time and distance each day that you run throughout the month.

3. Set Attainable Goals
Setting unrealistic goals will set you up for failure from the start. Your goal should be something that is attainable but not so simple that you don't have to challenge yourself to reach the goal. Setting a goal that you cannot accomplish will leave you discouraged and unmotivated to pursue other goals. For example, if you have never trained for or ran a race before and you set your goal at 15 minutes for the 5K, this is an unattainable goal.

4. Set Reasonable Goals
So our goal of running a 5K in 28 minutes by the end of October is definitely an attainable goal. This goal can become unreasonable for you in the method that you use for your training. "I will run 12 miles everyday until the end of October" is an unreasonable way to acheive your goal. Do you really have time to run 12 miles everyday? Can you even run 12 miles? You have a slim chance of sticking to an unreasonable plan and you be very unlikely to accomplish your goal. Be reasonable and realistic when setting up a plan for your goal. Sit down and ask yourself if this is a plan that you can really stick to and make time for.

5. Set a Time-frame for your Goals
There's no sense in setting goals without a deadline. Just as your homework assignments have due dates, your goal sould have an end date. Our goal statement has a end date of the end of Ocotber. So this means that by October 31st our runner should be able to log in his or her exercise journal a 5K run time of 28 minutes.

Remember, the S.M.A.R.T. system of setting goals can be used for any type of goal whether it is related to your career, finances, education, personal relationships, etc. Make sure that you write your goals down somewhere that you will be likely to see them everyday. Also, sharing your goals with someone will give you a higher chance of actually accomplishing them. Now that you know how to set a S.M.A.R.T. goal, try it out yourself! I would love to hear what your goals are, not only for the month of October, but also for the rest of 2011.

"Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage, but simply because they have never organised their energies around a goal."  - Elbert Hubbard

Calorie Balance

As a fitness professional, the 2 questions that I get asked the most frequently are both centered around calories. How many calories should I be eating? And, how many calories do we burn from this workout? Having the answers to these two questions is essential to finding the correct calorie balance. There are 3 factors that determine your calorie requirements.

1. Basal Metabolic Rate: This is the minimum amount of energy needed by the body at rest. It includes basic body functions such as respiration, cellular metabolism, circulation, gland activity, and body temperature control. It is affected by such things as age, gender, pregnancy, body composition, nutritional status, sleep, climate, and fever.
2. Physical Activity: The amount of calories needed for physical activity depends on the type of activity or work, the intensity and the duration.
3. Specific Dynamic Action of Food: This is the amount of calories needed to manage food intake and includes digestion, absorption, and metabolism of food.

Balancing the calories you take in with those you put out is the safest, healthiest way to control your weight – for the next two weeks, or the next 20 years. Finding the correct calorie balance is important whether you are someone trying to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your current weight. When calculating your calorie intake, make sure to calculate with your ideal weight. So if you are currently 160 pounds but are trying to lose 20 pounds, make sure to use 140 pounds when you calculate. Same thing if you are trying to gain weight, just add the weight you want to gain onto your current weight.
A word of caution for anyone who needs to lose more than 60 pounds; don't calculate your calorie needs with your final ideal weight. You should instead calculate your calorie needs in phases to ensure that your body is getting enough energy so that it doesn't enter "Starvation Mode" (i'll get to this later). Start by calculating your initial needs with a 30-40 lb. weight decrease from where you currently are. Then when you have 10 lbs. to go in phase 1 recalculate your calorie needs for the phase 2. Continue this process until you have reached your ideal weight.

Calculating Calorie Needs
Step 1: Calculate BMR  (W = weight in kg, H = height in cm, A = age in years)

For Males, BMR= 66 + 13.7W + 5H - 6.8A

For Females, BMR= 655 + 9.7W + 1.8H - 4.7A

W(kg) = W(lb.) x 0.4536          H(cm) = H(in.) x 2.54

Step 2: Add in calories for purposeful exercise. Since most people do not track their calories during exercise choose your activity level from the following:

• If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
• If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
• If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
• If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
• If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

So now you know how many calories you should be consuming eachday. If you are trying to lose weight, here's some advise.  It takes about 3500 calories to make one pound of fat. So to lose one pound, you can:

• Burn 3,500 excess calories (if you have a few hours to kill) 
• Eat 3,500 fewer calories (starvation diet, anyone?)
• A combination of exercise and diet (the best option)

For example, to lose one pound in a week, you could simple create a calorie deficit of 500 per day (7x500 = 3,500). That could be as simple as cutting out one donut (280 calories) and jogging for 25 minutes (240 calories) each day.

Starvation Mode
There is a common misperception that to lose weight, the lower the calories the better. Ironically, the key may be eating more calories. You can actually hurt your body's ability to lose weight by going too low. Here's why. The body has a protective mechanism, and when calories drop too low the body reacts as if it is starving and tries to conserve energy. It will lower your metabolism, conserve calories and fat, and you will not burn calories as quickly. This results in a slower weight loss or even no weight loss. This is what's know as "Starvation Mode". When calorie intake falls below 1,200 (females) to 1,500 (males) calories a day, it is also extremely difficult to follow a balanced diet and obtain all the nutrients that are needed by the body to stay strong and energetic and prevent disease. These very low calorie intakes can also lead to other health problems such as eating disorders, gout, gallstones, and heart complications.
No matter what your ideal weight, you should never go below 1,200 calories a day for females and 1,500 calories a day for males. Remember, your body is still burning calories for energy not matter what you are doing. You just burnt calories as you sat here reading this post (approximately 68 calories per hour for a 150 lb. individual). I will be adding some resources into the Fitness tab at the top of the page to estimate calorie burn during activity. So if you're curious approximately how many calories you burn while exercising, check out those resources for a quick estimate!!

And as always, if you have questions or comments about anything I have posted here or even something that I haven't posted about, please reach out to me! Either comment below, post in the Wildcat Wellness Support Group on Facebook, or email me.

All About Calories

You know by now that eating and physical activity affect your weight. Eating provides your body with the energy it needs while physical activity uses calories for energy. So whatever your goal - weight loss, maintenance, or weight gain - the key to success is finding the right ways to balance the calories you take in with the calories you burn off.

What is a Calorie?
The calorie is a unit of energy. When you eat something, the number of calories it contains is actually the amount of energy that the food provides the body. The calorie is also the measure that your body uses for energy output. The body uses calories for many fuctions such as breathing, sitting, and exercising. So the calorie is used to measure both the amount fo energy contained in foods that you consume, as well as the amount fo energy that your body uses during activity.

Where do Calories come from?
Calories come from 3 of the 6 classes of nutrients - carbohydrate, protein, and fat. The other 3 classes of nutrients (water, vitamins, and minerals) do not provide the body any energy.

• 1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
• 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories

Calories are also found in alcohol but  because it can't be used in the body to promote growth, maintenance, or repair, it is not considered a nutrient. Alcohol is a toxin that is broken down as an energy source and can be converted into fat.

• 1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories

How are Calories used and saved?
While the function of each calorie producing nutrient is different, the result of excessive intake is the same - FAT STORAGE!!
Carbohydrate is broken down into glucose for immediate energy needs, and the surplus is stored as glycogen for long-term energy needs and brain function. However, after the glycogen stores are filled, the excess carbohydrate is stored as FAT. The nutrient Fat is initially broken down and used for its primary functions, such as providing cell structure. However, any excess fat fragments will be reassembled and stored in the FAT cells. Protein will also encounter the same fate. Once protein has met immediate energy needs and provided the body with other building and repairing functions, the excess will be converted into FAT and stored away.

All foods supply energy in the form of calories; however, some provide more calories than others. No single food or class of food is “fattening” by itself. When the calories provided in food are not needed by the body, the excess is stored in the body in the form of fat. This storage process happens no matter what food the calories came from. And while the storage of most cells is limited, fat tissue is able to store an unending amount of fat. So all that being said, finding your personal balance of calories in to calories out is very important. Read my next post for strategies you can use to find that correct calorie balance!

Exercise or Eating Healthy: Which is more important??

To be a fit and healthy individual throughout college and beyond you must consider multiple factors. The way your body looks and feels is not just from the food that we eat or the amount of time we put in at the gym. Instead, it's a combination of nutrition, exercise/training, and genetics. Most people think that exercise and training is the majority of the battle, but in reality nutrition (ie. the food we eat everyday) is the main component in how we look and feel. For decades, fitness professional have been using an approach called the Healthy Body Formula to transform their clients' physique.

With the Healthy Body Formula, the way your body looks and feels is 10% genetics, 10% exercise/training, and 80% nutrition. YES, 80% NUTRITION!! So needless to say, the food that you eat everyday has a HUGE impact on your body.
If you can't fathom that food is the primary factor in shaping your health, take the current state of health in the U.S. into consideration. For the first time in the history of America, children may lead shorter lives that their parents because of the obesity epidemic that our country is facing. Prevalence of obesity-related diseases such as Hypertension (high blood pressure) and Type II Diabetes among children and adolescents has increased to rates much higher than ever before. There are numerous causes for this problem with the most signficant of these being the food we consume. Many of the foods that we eat are filled with additives that have little to no nutritional value. These processed foods are becoming staples of the "American diet" because of the convenience that they provide. Not only are these convenience snacks and meals packed with additives that most of us can't even begin to pronounce, but they also have more sodium, fat, and sugar than natural un-processed foods. We live in a culture that has a fast food, drive-thru, get it delivered, super size it, pull-up-to-the-buffet-and-stuff-yourself attitude toward food. Everyone wants "more bang for your buck"; therefore, restaurants serve meals that are often 2-3 times an actual serving size. This attitude toward food is a main contributor to the poor health of our country. If you weren't already aware of the importance of proper nutrition, hopefully this has at least given you a little insight.
Back to the other 20% of the Healthy Body Formula. Your genes obviously play a role in your physical appearance. Practically every physical feature you have from the shape of your eyes, the width of your hips, and the length of your legs are thanks to your parents, and your parents-parents, and so on. To a certain extent you must live with these physical attributes, but at the same time with proper training you may be able to make changes to your appearance. For example, I have worked with clients who want a slimmer waist but have genetically wider hips. Resistance training focused at the muscles of the shoulders, upper back, and specifically the Latissimus dorsi can create the illusion of a smaller waist. So this is where the other 10% of the Healthy Body Formula comes into play. Spending countless hours exercising won't make a healthy body. No matter how much time you spend at the gym, your body still needs proper nutrition to look and feel your best. This doesn't mean that you can't have a lean, sculpted body and eat poorly because you can; however, when exercise is combined with healthy eating you can spend less time in the gym and more time focusing on other things.
If you are unsure of what you need to do to eat healthier, don't worry!! Just keep reading my blog and I'll provide you with tips, recipes, and other information to help you work toward a healthy body.

Choose Healthy Living

The Freshman Fifteen. That dreaded phrase is something that every college student has heard many times. Studies have found that the average weight gain during the first year of college is actually closer to 7 pounds. That’s a relief, right?  While many students slip past this statistic and maintain their pre-college weight, there are also many students that gain more than 7 pounds during their freshman year. I have heard accounts of students gaining up to 60 pounds of unwanted weight during their first year of school!

So whether you are freshman trying to avoid the dreaded “Freshman Fifteen”, an upperclassman who has been able to keep your weight under control, or someone who has inevitably gained weight during your first years of school…THIS BLOG IS FOR YOU! This blog is not focused on weight loss. Instead, I will provide you with information and strategies to help you live a healthier life during college and into the future. If your goal is weight loss, the information and strategies I provide should help you on your journey.

College is really a critical point in your life for education. Sure you learn a lot in your college coursework that will help you in your future career, but most college students lack sufficient knowledge about healthy living. Through this blog I will help to provide you with that education. Please check back frequently as I will be posting multiple times per week. Also, I invite you to join the support group I have created on Facebook. This group will give students a place to ask questions, join discussions, suggest blog topics, and get more information on other Wildcat Wellness programming. The group is only for current University of Kentucky students. Search “Wildcat Wellness Support Group” on Facebook and request to join. Lastly, if you have questions or concerns that you would like to address in private, feel free to email me. Have a great day!!

Under Construction!

This blog is currently under construction and will be updated shortly. Come back tomorrow (9/20) for my first blog post!!