Set goals before starting fitness plan

Fitness expert Gary Dawkins, of Dunedin's Creative Conditioning, has prepared the second of our 10-week 2009 fat loss and fitness programmes.

But before we launch the programme in a fortnight, Dawkins has some tips to help you prepare the mind for the challenges ahead.

If you did not complete any of the weeks of our first 10-week programme - no worries - you can start our second programme from scratch. It is for everyone.

If you are well on the road to fitness, having completed our programme, then you are now in the maintenance phase where you should be moving between weeks 9 and 10 of the schedule.

If you did not keep the earlier programmes or it has fallen off the fridge and been eaten by the dog, well, no excuses, you can go to www.odt.co.nz for the full 10-part programme.

So, before we tackle another programme, let us use the next couple of weeks to establish some life-changing goals.

Determine your health and fitness values. These are the drivers of success.

The values are typically one word or short two to three-word phrases: e.g., "100% commitment, fun, true to myself".

Write down all your values in the context of health and fitness.

Now number them in terms of their importance.

Don't list them in order of importance that you wish they were.

Ask yourself, where have your health and fitness values really been up until this point?Now, go back and number them as they will be from now on.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being no willingness to change and 10 being you will change at all costs) decide your willingness to change to ensure your new values stick.

Create your goals.

Remember, if you don't write them down you can't have them.

Write down your desired health and fitness outcomes with as much clarity and detail as possible in one to two sentences, maximum.

Be realistic. Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in a lifetime.

If you've never reached your goals before, scale back.

If you always reach your goals, stretch yourself and make them bigger.

Don't "tomorrow" or "next month" yourself. Write your goal as if it is happening right now. Keep in the present tense.

Put a date for when your goal will occur (e.g., it is now April 24, 2009, I am telling my family all about my journey of losing 15kg).

Also, make sure your goal is stated in the positive (e.g., I am going to have fun eating a balanced food plan on a daily basis).

The final and most important step.

Ask yourself what is the final puzzle piece which has to happen in order to know you have achieved your goal? This is exactly how you should write your goal.