Are you failing your fitness targets without micro goals?

Wooo! It’s the second week of September and my first Taekwon-Do competition is in T minus two days! I have lost 10kg in 10 weeks through a combination of eating well and training every day. Even though I told myself I wouldn't have any chocolate since I started my weight loss journey, I wasn't able to keep that promise to myself. So I had to train extra hard to work off my fortnightly block of chocolate! Through this experience, I now know that my willpower is pretty much nil. 😂

If you read my last post, you’ll know that I’ve been wearing a finger splint since August. What you don’t know is that around the same time that happened, I also (very stupidly) kicked my sparring partner in a way that caused me to bruise my left quad muscle. My thigh turned red first, then blue and dark purple, before fading to green and yellow – basically all the colours of the rainbow. Who knows, hopefully there will be a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow! Like a medal, maybe...

My thigh turned all those colours at one point, but a lot less delicious and sweet. (Source: rawpixel.com from Pexels)

I never knew how much I took my quads for granted until I struggled with the simple motion of getting in and out my car. Seriously, take a moment to thank your lucky stars that you never had to swing your leg forward (like you were kicking a soccer ball), then use both of your arms to lift the offending leg to get out of your car. That was a nightmare that I’ll be glad not to have to relive again!

But really, I’ve been very lucky. Despite training extra hard over the last month, I have only sustained these two injuries. It’s due to the strength training exercises I’ve been doing; all the strengthening exercises have helped me avoid many joint injuries and feeling weak after losing weight. This was helped by healthy eating and good sleeping habits.

So many of us fail to achieve the goals we set because they seem too daunting, too unattainable. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can have those long-term goals that may seem almost like pipe dreams, but we also need achievable micro goals that we can complete on a daily or weekly basis. Small steps. Something simple enough to follow so we can focus on the small achievements that will give us a confidence boost and motivate us to keep going.

If we try to make it too complicated and time-consuming, we will never be able keep up. I believe this applies to many things in life, like weight loss. If aiming to lose 10 kg in total, then setting a goal to lose 200 g every week would be achievable and rewarding (as opposed to trying extreme dieting or exercise regimens, then stressing out over the inevitable plateau and scrapping the goal).

Now that the weather is warming up, it’s time to come out of hibernation and get fit. Dig those workout clothes out of the deepest corner of the wardrobe and get your butts moving!

In the meantime, I’m off to Melbourne for my first Taekwon-Do competition. Wish me luck!

If you would like to find out about my exercise routine and how I plan my meals, feel free to send me a message at my Facebook page or website.