It’s dangerously easy, when embarking on a new ‘regime’ to feel competitive; maybe with other people in the gym, maybe with the gym running next to you on the treadmill, maybe with your own numbers from last week. But the real problems begin when you start playing mind games with yourself, and start moving the goalposts to set unreal targets and unhealthy goals, achievements or tallies.

I’m incredibly guilty of this. Having calculated my TDEE (the number of calories my body needs, at rest, to properly function) I then slashed out a huge chunk of that from my daily intake to ensure I was losing weight. Having done that, and having programmed that in to MFP, I strive every day to come in under that target. And not just one, or two, or ten calories under target. I’m talking a hundred, two hundred under. Which means I’m not getting enough fuel to keep me alert and active – but I’m convinced it’s for my own good.

In actual fact, it’s counter productive because I’m so exhausted from being hungry, that I can’t always make it to the gym.

Which is another unrealistic goalpost I’ve created. When I first joined the gym, my boyfriend and I aimed to go “a few times a week.” Maybe two or three times, depending on what we had going on after work each day. This rose to four times, then five, then six, then I was getting up at 0530 each day to make it to the gym for 6am when it opened. I’d then walk to work, walk home from work, and hit the gym again. I told myself that I needed to go everyday in order to get fit. In order to be the unrealistic ideal I’d set for myself. When I started, I wanted to have fun, now I’m a misery because I feel obliged to go, not excited.

And of course when you set a ridiculous target, you feel ridiculously bad when you don’t hit it – even if you’ve never vocalised the goal to anyone but yourself. You might not have even said it out loud. But every workout you miss, or calorie you consume, fills you with guilt, and then starts a spiral over the next 12 hours of feeling agitated, nervous and like you’ve failed someone. You’ve failed yourself. What a waste.

…what a load of bollocks. Setting unrealistic goals means that achieving them is almost impossible. The old – ‘if you can believe it, you can achieve it!’ – doesn’t apply to every situation in life. Sometimes you just need to be honest with yourself about your abilities and strengths (as well as your enthusiasm levels) and set targets that you can meet at a push, but don’t feel heartbroken if you miss. Otherwise, there really is not point. The only person you’d be letting down (without reason) is yourself.