SETTING HEALTH GOALS

Which of the folowing health goals have you tried to succeed at but haven't...

Eat healthier	Reduce cholesterol	Control blood pressure
Control / manage my diabetes/ elevated glucose	Manage underlying heart disease	Quit smoking
Reduce/quit alcohol consumption	Drink more water	Sleep more
Reduce stress	Eat less restaurant foods

The above health goals are all simple goals that each of us at some point or the other has tried in life.

So, What do most of us do?
In the first two weeks of January, we loudly announce the health goal to ourselves, however without making any concrete plans on how we plan to achieve it nor making changes to a lifestyle that caused the problem in the first place.

We start off strong, but then our daily habits and routine kick in and we eventually drop the health goals 1 by 1 and feel miserable about it.

The solution:
If you would like to set up 1 or 2 health goals...
Start by writing them down... The key point here is planning and setting the stage for you to make them happen. Just telling yourself you have set a health goal is setting yourself up for failure because if you dont change your routine to accomodate this new plan - you will never succeed

Anjali's Story

•	Let's look at Anjali's story...
	Anjali a moderately active 26 year old city girl had trouble keeping the weight off around her lower body. Last year, she needed to reduce 8 - 10 kg over a 6 - 8 months period for her brothers wedding. She also wanted to increase her exercise levels from being moderately active to becoming very active and to reduce her incessant smoking. Her total cholesterol was around 200 and she knew she needed to change her bad habits of eating out and ordering dinners in. Her biggest weakness was desserts.
•	How her NutritionVista dietitian set her up for a lifestyle change.
	Assessed her current health, risks and needs Set and wrote down Anjali's short term and long term health goals - defined her goals clearly. Set a realistic timetable based on her work and home timings Made a customized menu plan and lifestyle plan that catered to her tastes Guided her throughout the process with constant reminders. Kept Anjali focused on completing her mini health goals.

Anjali's Weight Goals

Starting Weight	57.00 kg
Current Weight	72.00 kg
Goal Weight	60.14 kg
Set Plan	Lose 0.5 kg per week
Daily Calorie Budget	1400 Calories

Anjali's Exercise Goals

Current activity level	Moderately Active
Total Minutes I exercised in the past seven days
150 Minutes
Total minutes I want to exercise each week. 150-225 minutes

ACSM Guidelines recommend 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise, five days a week (150 minutes) This may be increased to 200 - 300 minutes a week. For any weight loss to occur a minimum of 20 minutes of moderate exercise, 5 times a week should be undertaken.

Anjali's Other Goals

•	Reduce cholesterol
•	Reduce smoking
•	Eat in more. When eating out choose healthier, eat smaller portions

•	Lose 1/2 kg per week with modified low calorie menu plan
•	Increase exercise from 150 to 225 minutes per week
•	Reduce smoking from 12 cigarettes to 6.cigarette
•	Try & cook 2 nights a week. When eating out choose healthier, eat smaller portions

Anjali's Goals Results:

After six months Anjali had lost only 4 kg, but her WHR had improved (her waist and hip size had reduced), as had her cholesterol which was down to 190 mg/dl. She had also reduced her smoking from 10 - 12 cigarettes a day to around 6 a day and down to smoking only 2 - 3 over the weekend.

Let us help you set mini goals after we have analyzed what your health parameters are currently and what your body needs for better health.

NutritionVista is a company specializing in helping you manage your health through a clinical nutrition, behavior & lifestyle modification program.

To set your health goals you need to select a clinical nutrition care program - The registration page will guide you on to your assessment process and then on to setting health goals.

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