{"id":34221,"date":"2013-12-03T21:13:24","date_gmt":"2013-12-03T21:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=34221"},"modified":"2017-04-27T08:26:09","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T13:26:09","slug":"successful-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/successful-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"The Successful Failure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"scale<\/a>Many of you surely remember the 1960s, when the United States and the Soviet Union were embroiled in the space race.\u00a0\u00a0As we all know, the USA won, eventually landing a man on the moon.\u00a0\u00a0In spite of many bumps along the way, they reached President Kennedy\u2019s goal of landing a man on the moon before the decade was out.\u00a0\u00a0This was a success by all definitions!\u00a0\u00a0However, two moon flights later, the unthinkable occurred when an oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 spacecraft exploded on the way to the moon.\u00a0\u00a0Landing on the moon, the goal of the mission was no longer an option.\u00a0\u00a0However, against all odds and with every complication happening to prevent it, the engineers at NASA managed to bring home the three astronauts alive and well.\u00a0\u00a0The mission was stated as a failure because the astronauts didn\u2019t achieve their goal. However, many people will tell you that it was NASA\u2019s finest hour.\u00a0\u00a0This is known in spaceflight history as the successful failure. When it comes to our health, I see successful failures every day.\u00a0\u00a0People have goals they want to accomplish.\u00a0\u00a0Some people reach them while others don\u2019t, but not reaching a goal isn\u2019t necessarily failure.<\/p>\n

People call my office all the time to speak about our weight loss track.\u00a0\u00a0They ask how the program works and what is involved financially.\u00a0\u00a0Then inevitably, they ask the big question; what is your rate of success?\u00a0\u00a0I have to respond by explaining that it depends on your definition of success.\u00a0\u00a0What measures success in improving your health?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a case of someone I worked with a few years ago.\u00a0\u00a0A 52 year old woman entered my program with the specific goal of losing 15 kilo (33 lbs).\u00a0\u00a0When we took a closer look, we also saw that she could not climb two flights of stairs in order to visit her grandchildren.\u00a0\u00a0Her blood test showed elevated cholesterol levels and pre diabetes.\u00a0\u00a0It took a while, but ultimately she lost half of the weight she wanted to which left her very much short of her stated weight loss goal.\u00a0\u00a0But what did she accomplish?\u00a0\u00a0She became an avid exerciser. Assignments like walking 30 minutes daily turned into walking briskly 45 minutes to work 5 days a week, going to spin classes twice a week, changing her eating habits enough to make a difference in her health and getting her cholesterol levels down to acceptable levels. She lost weight but not as much as she had hoped to.\u00a0\u00a0However, from the point of view of overall health, her risk of serious disease was greatly diminished and her quality of life improved beyond her expectations.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, many physicians and other health care providers focus on one thing all the time, whether it be weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, or a host of other factors.\u00a0\u00a0What is needed is a more global view of the person.\u00a0\u00a0Make progress where progress can be made.\u00a0\u00a0If restricting calories is too difficult for a person, start by changing their food intake to more healthful choices.\u00a0\u00a0If doing a comprehensive exercise program is too overwhelming for someone, how about three 10 minute walks spread over the day?\u00a0Telling someone, \u201cYou need to lose weight,\u201d or that they should go on a diet is rarely successful.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, discussing lifestyle changes and altering certain habits incrementally brings partial results quickly and motivates the person to take further steps.\u00a0\u00a0It is important to set realistic goals. Goals that take a long time to achieve will only make a person feel like a failure if they don\u2019t achieve them.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, as in the case of our 52 year old woman, partial success can end up with incredible gains in overall health.<\/p>\n

How we set our goals is very important.\u00a0\u00a0It is overwhelming to have to lose 30 kilo (66 pounds) or more. I continuously emphasize working on one kilo at a time, one week at a time.\u00a0\u00a0It might take two years, but one morning you will wake up, look in the mirror and see you are a different person.\u00a0\u00a0Along the way, every pound that you lose is a pound MORE of health.\u00a0\u00a0And even though the goal is to lose 30 kilo, the improvements along the way due to partial weight loss, exercise and better eating are very pronounced.\u00a0\u00a0I have personally seen people go off of their blood pressure medications with very little weight loss but with important changes in lifestyle habits.
\nHow do you set a reasonable goal?<\/p>\n

First, Identify Your Problem Areas<\/b>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Everyone is a little different. While late night heavy meals might be one person’s reason for weight gain,\u00a0\u00a0inactive lifestyle is the main problem for another. Decide for yourself where changes will benefit you the most. Don’t waste your time or effort setting goals in areas where you already do well. Prioritize your energy on those which will make the biggest differences in your life.<\/p>\n

Second, Select a Behavior To Work On.<\/b> \u00a0What new behavior pattern would you like to develop? Is there a dietary change you want to make or would you like to change something about the way you eat? Perhaps exercise is where you want to begin.\u00a0\u00a0It is up to you to select a problem behavior or pattern to work on. Let’s say you determine that you are inactive and that a daily brisk walk would help you lose weight or lower your blood pressure. You should identify the\u00a0problem, state your goal and starting point and get to work. That is all there is to it.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that with all the lofty goals we set, we have to remember that partial success is not only NOT failure, but that it brings great benefit.\u00a0\u00a0Just like the rocket that went to the moon but never got there, you can be a very successful failure, which is really not failing at all.
\nSetting long term and reasonable goals, and enjoying and benefiting from even partial success is another way to \u201cadd hours to your day, days to your year, and years to your life.\u201d<\/i><\/b> \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

Alan Freishtat<\/strong> is an A.C.E. CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER and a BEHAVIORAL CHANGE and WELLNESS COACH with over 19 years of professional experience. Alan is the creator and director of the \u201c10 Weeks to Health\u201d program for weight loss. He is available for private coaching sessions, consultations, assessments and personalized workout programs both in his office and by telephone and skype. Alan also lectures and gives seminars and workshops. He can be reached at\u00a002-651-8502<\/a> or 050-555-7175<\/a>, or by email at\u00a0alan@alanfitness.com<\/a> Check out the his web site \u2013www.alanfitness.com<\/a> US Line: 516-568-5027<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many of you surely remember the 1960s, when the United States and the Soviet Union were embroiled in the space race.\u00a0\u00a0As we all know, the USA won, eventually landing a man on the moon.\u00a0\u00a0In spite of many bumps along the way, they reached President Kennedy\u2019s goal of landing a man on the moon before the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":34224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-physical-health"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Successful Failure - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/successful-failure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Successful Failure - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many of you surely remember the 1960s, when the United States and the Soviet Union were embroiled in the space race.\u00a0\u00a0As we all know, the USA won, eventually landing a man on the moon.\u00a0\u00a0In spite of many bumps along the way, they reached President Kennedy\u2019s goal of landing a man on the moon before the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/successful-failure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-03T21:13:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-04-27T13:26:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/scale-squeeze.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"379\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"317\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alan Freishtat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Freishtat\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/successful-failure\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/successful-failure\/\",\"name\":\"The Successful Failure - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/successful-failure\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/successful-failure\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/scale-squeeze.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-03T21:13:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-27T13:26:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/f1abe9e48d32d5a2a473e32020a2317f\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/successful-failure\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/successful-failure\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/scale-squeeze.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/scale-squeeze.jpg\",\"width\":379,\"height\":317},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/f1abe9e48d32d5a2a473e32020a2317f\",\"name\":\"Alan Freishtat\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Alan-Freishtat_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Alan-Freishtat_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Alan Freishtat\"},\"description\":\"Alan Freishtat is an A.C.E. 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