Intermittent Fasting For Dummies. Janet Bond Brill

which will increase the likelihood of attaining your goals

       Be written in the form of SMART goals

      These sections examine in greater detail what SMART goals are and how you can form your own goals.

      Understanding what SMART goals are

      A SMART goal is created with the following in mind:

       Specific: Say exactly what you want to achieve such as “I’ll confine my eating window to a specified eight-hour window, every day for the next seven days,” instead of “I want to follow the 16:8 intermittent fasting plan.”

       Measurable: You need to be able to verify that you attained your goal. For example, “I’ll mark off on my intermittent fasting schedule that I ate during my set fasting window every day,” instead of “I’ll choose what time I want to eat, each day as it comes.”

       Actionable: Meaning your goal is action oriented. “I’ll eat between the hours of 12 p.m. and 8 p.m., every day and only drink calorie-free beverages during my fasting hours.” Eating and drinking are action verbs.

       Realistic: Your goal should be something you believe you can achieve, not something too difficult. If you know with 100 percent certainty that you can easily avoid eating or drinking calorie-containing foods from the time you wake up until 1 p.m. and continue fasting from 8 p.m. until noon the next day, then this goal is realistic for you.

       Time-bound: Setting a deadline for your goal is important, so you have an end in sight. One week is a doable time frame for most people. If you plan to follow the 16:8 intermittent fast, map out a one-week schedule in advance — it’s motivating because it gives you a set, doable, time frame.

      Forming your own SMART goals

      Use your answers to the questions in the previous section to formulate your SMART goal. For example, “This week, I’ll walk 20 minutes on my treadmill, every day at 3 p.m. for the next 7 days, at a 20-minute per mile pace.” This is a SMART goal instead of “I want to start an exercise program.” Look at how this goal is broken down:

       Specific: Walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes is specific.

       Measurable: You measure 20 minutes on the treadmill.

       Actionable: Walking is an action.

       Realistic: This plan of action is doable if you’ve previously walked for exercise.

       Time-bound: Walking for 20 minutes for the next 7 days is time-related.

Write your first weekly SMART goal in a journal of your choice, on your smart phone memo pad, or on a sheet of paper that you copied from Chapter 23. Make your goal something small, one that you’re 100 percent positive that you’ll accomplish.

      After you’ve finished your first weekly SMART goal, you’re not done. Ask yourself the following:

       Did I achieve my goal this week?

       If yes, then take the time to create a new one.

       If no, then analyze where the problem was and then create a new, more achievable goal.

      

In addition to your significant small, weekly SMART goal, you can set a big-picture, long-term goal. Setting long-term goals of, say three months, is helpful for mapping out your intermittent fasting journey. Three months is like goldilocks — not too far off, but still close enough to be palpable. Your long-term goal sheet will cover not only weight goals but also health and fitness goals. You can find a blank three-month weight, health and fitness goal sheet in Chapter 23.

      Here is an example of a realistic three-month goal:

       Weight: I’ll lose 10 pounds in the next three months. I’ll measure my weight on the scale to track my progress.

       Health: Losing this weight will help lower my blood sugar (I am pre-diabetic) to reduce my risk for diabetes. I’ll test my fasting blood sugar to track this health marker.

       Fitness: Losing fat and becoming a fitter person will help me to move more comfortably when I go hiking with my kids. I’ll test this by completing the one-mile hike that I currently cannot finish.

      Taking action after you reach your goals

      If you don’t reach your weekly goal, no big deal, just formulate a new weekly SMART goal. Ensure that this week’s SMART goal is going to be more achievable. If you did achieve your goal, reward yourself — no need for anything expensive — a simple pleasure such as buying a new book, getting a massage, or soaking in a hot bath, whatever makes you happy.

      After you achieve your long-term goals, have a big celebration! You can pencil into your calendar something that’s really important for you to reward yourself with and cross off those days and weeks as you get closer and closer to that day.

Calculating Your Healthy Weight Range

      Nutritionists use several different tools to calculate a person’s healthy weight range. The good news, you don’t need to be an expert to use many of those same assessments.

      

The following sections examine many of these different ways you can calculate your healthy weight and what you can then do with those numbers. Defining how you measure your success as you move through your journey is extremely important. For example, you may choose to utilize one of the following tools, whereas other people may choose another. No matter which one or ones you choose, each is a different way to measure changes to your body’s size. After you decide, be specific about which measurement or multiple measurements you use to stay accountable to your goals and track them using your journaling technique of choice. Ultimately, a healthy weight for you is the weight range that can help you prevent and/or manage chronic disease.

      Making friends with the scale

      Scientists concur that keeping tabs on your progress by weighing yourself often (and recording the weight) is one of the best tools for helping you achieve your weight-loss goals. In fact, stepping on the scale is the best way to assess whether your intermittent fasting program is working for you. If you don’t see a drop in weight over time, then you need to reassess your program and tweak your plan. If you’re trying to hit a specific number or weight range, weighing yourself is the simplest and most accurate means of determining your starting point and whether you’ve reached your goal.

      You may hate the idea of the scale, but frequent self-weighing is not only beneficial for losing weight, but it also helps prevent weight gain associated with aging as well as stopping weight regain after loss. Be brave, step on that scale!

      

Keep the following pointers in mind as you weigh yourself to ensure your results are as accurate as possible:

       Remember not all scales are created equally. Different scales can yield different results at different times of day. Therefore, experts recommend routinely using the same scale to highlight your progress.

       Weigh in the morning. If you weigh yourself at night, especially after you’ve eaten, you’re going to