The power of measuring goal progress
Last month I've realized that I've been setting goals on weight loss for 2 years. The measurable result of these was at most temporary. I've realized that somewhere along the way there was a flaw in my process. I lacked two things:
- Knowledge - I knew enough about exercise but lacked the essential knowledge regarding energy balance and nutrition. This made my plan effective in terms of increasing overall health (which was quite satisfying), but did not lead to weight loss.
- A plan with (easily) measurable daily actions.
Improving the plan goal achievement process involved the following:
- Reading somewhat about it. Since weight loss is a limitless sesspool in desinformation, I skimmed throught a few books and sticked to those that made sense and did not promise to make me lose 5 kgs overnight. I stuck with "The body fat solution", by Tim Venuto. Also - I got some great mantra type articles from ZenHabits: example.
- I've already had a measurable goal, but I did not set up a plan for the measurements and alas - they failed. Armed with that knowledge I framed the simplest measurement schedule I could think of:
- Phase 1 (first 21 days). Using a pocket notepad and pen.
- Write down everything I eat with the amounts
- Weight myself in the evening.
- If doing any exercises, write them down.
- Phase 2. All the data went into a database for progress measurement.
- Count daily calorie intake and protein percentages of the foods
- Weight myself at least once a day (preferably in the morning and in the evening)
- Make an exercise plan and follow it.
- Phase 1 (first 21 days). Using a pocket notepad and pen.
I started simple and a month later am still building my way up. This is the natural progress of the goal measuring process. Begin with lo-tech low maintenance logging tools. This may even be all you need. I am currently on my way of building my own custom weight and calorie tracker (built for my specific needs), but mainly as a means to improving my programming skills.
The effect is that the goal of losing 1kg/week is steadily coming along, and I have full control over all of the variables, which is very gratifying.
Because I have some spare time and some goals, I'm going to resume testing goal setting software suites for those of you that do not have the luxury or the ability to write your own app 
Stay tuned.
Goal software 101: Trait #3: Measurable actions
The computer was invented primarily to help humans do numbers. It has evolved enough to not show you all the complicated math going behind the scenes - but it's still there. Today we will be talking about how we can learn for computers.
But first... some goal setting 101. There is a fairly basic methodology of setting your goals which everyone is probably familiar - that goals should be
(picked my favs - see the whole list here)
There is some big wisdom here. But SMART is a basic technique applying only to your goals and not the follow up: the action plan. When the goal is set - achieving it can be a lot more reliable is you actually set SMART actions that are to be acomplished. Those might be something like "I will enjoy a brisk walk every weekday afternoon" if your goal is related to fitness or weight.
This is great way to get you started on your goal and commit to doing something on it. In the ideal world, you would compose a checklist of all your actionsand track it on a daily basis. The problem with daily habits that haven't sunk in yet, is that the next day something unexpected happens (working late, partying or whatever your heart desires) the habit dies. If your list gets more than 2 days behind, chances are you will never use it again.
Now this is where the patience of a computer pays off. If you do the thing electronically - the software could bug you with an SMS message every hour until you get it. It may give you reports on how you've followed through. This has big advantages because you can keep track of whether you stayed with the plan - if you've screwed up- try again. If you came through and nothing is happening - get a better plan.
I actually came across the need for something like this when I was developing a plan for my fitness goals. I needed something that would keep track. I stuck with a spreadsheet but this is not what I would ultimately like to use.
Anyone have something interesting like this they' like to share?
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