Why do we develop business plans in the corporate and entrepreneur worlds but never for our personal health? If you're looking for a strategic change, consider this simple plant-based plan.
SECTION 1: YOUR MISSION
Plant-Based Personal Trainer Wisdom: If you want to end the cycle of guessing and lack of control, you need to move and choose with intent. Be specific. What is your true, realistic weight loss goal and what is the objective based on? For example: To maintain a weight of ____ and a body fat of ____ while living a life with intent. Can your mission be summed up in one sentence? Do you have a bigger transformation goal in mind? This is the time to state it clearly. It will steer your approach (and the rest of your plan).
SECTION 2: SUMMARY OF YOU
Plant-Based Personal Trainer Wisdom: How can you build a solid foundation if you don’t know the material you’re working with? A contractor wouldn’t move forward without this awareness and you shouldn’t either. Now is the time to become a human scientist and study you! Who are you? What are the trends and patterns of you? How would you describe your emotional, mental, and physical selves? What is your approach to fitness? Do you like fitness? Why or why not? What do you prefer to eat? Why? When do you eat? How do you choose your meals? How do you handle stress? What is the relationship between this stress and other areas of your life? Be honest and list all of your attributes, strengths, and weaknesses here.
SECTION 3: COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS SUMMARY
Plant-Based Personal Trainer Wisdom: While your plan should be tailored to your wants and needs, you will need to analyze other weight loss and health plans to fully understand the full scope of practice. What are the most effective and efficient health models that you’ve researched? Should you reinvent the wheel or adapt a popular, successful plan? How have different body types responded to these theories? This section will not only shape the process you choose but also justify it.
SECTION 4: STRATEGY AND OBSTACLES SUMMARY
Plant-Based Personal Trainer Wisdom: Once you have observed yourself and considered the research, it’s time to develop your strategy. You will generally describe the implementation of your plan here. Include the answers to the following questions: How will this strategy reflect your strengths and weaknesses? What boundaries will you develop? How will you implement this plan? Will someone help you? What do you think will be the biggest obstacles to your goal? How will you overcome these obstacles?
SECTION 5: SPECIFIC IMPLEMENTATION
Plant-Based Personal Trainer Wisdom: Considering that losing weight or achieving optimal health requires a multifaceted approach, break down your strategy into several categories and specifically list what you need to incorporate into your lifestyle. Use this structure as an example:
Weight/Body Fat Accountability
-Check weight and body fat when you workout and record it on your phone (app Monitor Your Weight???? or Notes).
-Record what you're eating every day (no calorie count needed).
Nutrition
-Limit drinking alcohol to only 2 days per week.
-Print and stick the "Eating Pie Chart" (from this diet article) on your fridge as a reminder of healthy eating habits. Please note that this chart still offers quite a bit of flexibility with your dietary choices. Whole food plants are still the number one and most effective choices.
-If you're eating overnight....Eat a small meal before bed and when you first wake up. Post a note on your fridge that says "You will eat again when you wake up in the morning."
-Eat no more than 1 meal per day containing meat, dairy, grains, and/or refined sugar.
-Aim for a daily caloric range of 1200-1500 calories.
-Follow the recommendations for this month in the following article: Weight Loss: The Diet Questions You MUST Ask Yourself.
-Minimize caffeine to 2 cups (equals 1 small mug) of coffee per day.
-Print 1 restaurant menu: Choose a restaurant you love or want to visit and ask someone to help you figure out the best menu items.
Exercise
-5-day workout: 3 days strength/2 days cardio
Mindset
-Minimize any news content to 5 minutes per day. It will eliminate quite a bit of negativity in your life.
-Embrace new challenges as opportunities to refine your problem-solving ability.
Habits/Goals
-Write down 10 personal/professional goals on individual post-it notes and place them on your closet wall or another private place that you'll see at least once per day.
-Setup up alerts with positive messages on your phone using the app Simple Routine as reminders of goals and what you're trying to achieve.
Social Life
-Choose 1 new activity or interaction per week to satisfy your curiosity.
-Surround yourself with positive-spirited people daily.
-Seek out at least 1 person when you're in need of help.
What's missing from your business plan? What categories would you add? Tailor this section to support your mission.
SECTION 6: TIMELINE AND MILESTONES
Plant-Based Personal Trainer Wisdom: Once you have decided on your steps of action, you need to develop a timeline. This section is not only important for accountability but also reflecting on your goals, what is a realistic timeframe to achieve them? What points of this process should serve as milestones? What are your realistic expectations for each of those milestones? How will you adapt this process if you don’t reach your mark?
SECTION 7: FINANCIAL PLAN
Plant-Based Personal Trainer Wisdom: A financial plan can be interpreted a number of ways. In terms of monetary obligation, the range of money you spend really depends on your interests and the type of help you desire. What will you budget for a new gym, clothes, food, or personal trainer/fitness class? What areas are you willing to splurge on?
In terms of time, how many minutes will you dedicate to research, diet, meditation, and/or exercise? Within a strict schedule, what are you willing to sacrifice to make room for these endeavors? No matter what you prioritize during this section, you’ll definitely need to determine the true cost of your mission.
