After each Christmas I start looking ahead to the new year. I’ve been thinking about goals relating to church, work, kids, home projects and this year in particular, I’ve been spending a lot of time pondering health and fitness goals. Beth and I are coming up on our two year anniversary of working out at UFC Gym. We’ve just decided to commit to year three and are filling up our calendar with gym appointments for January and February already…but is this enough to help me reach my health and fitness goals? I don’t think so.
Don’t get me wrong, working out an average of twice per week over the last two years has made a HUGE positive impact on my health. I may not be running marathons or wearing tiny sized clothing but I feel better and more heart healthy than I have in years!
However, I’ve decided I want to ramp things up a notch so I can be stronger and more fit as I approach middle age. Plus, I want my clothes to fit better! So….what better way to hold myself accountable than to write about my goals and publish them to 10,000 Aha! Subscribers?
I won’t share the nitty gritty details but I will say that I sat down with Denise (my UFC Gym trainer) and we discussed my goals. She measured me, weighed me, obtained my body fat percentage with a nifty little device and then discussed strategies with me. After that she watched me move….meaning she had me do a few easy exercises and she watched how my body reacted. She has since developed a stretching plan for me to do on a daily basis to help undo the havoc that I wreak on my body due to sitting at a computer most of every day. She also told me I need to add at least one more day of exercise to my two day/week schedule even if it just means fast walking for 30 minutes. Then, based on my weight and goals we have adjusted the target for my daily caloric intake and she’s pretty much insisting that I track this on a daily basis in order to help me stay accountable and reach my June 1st goal. I can’t believe how many calories are in a glass of wine…ouch. And did you know that one Lindt chocolate ball has SEVENTY FIVE calories. Oh, the tracking of calories alone may kill me.
Can I reach my goals? Only time will tell. I just know that I’m glad to have Denise walking me through the plan each week. I’m not sure I could stay motivated without her.
It’s the single most thing that I do have control over. I am a more confident, happy and healthy person because of fitness and this is something that I think we all strive for in life. I’ve also met a lot of great people along my own fitness journey and many of them have been great influences.
Great ideas! I agree that working out an average of twice per week over the last two years has made a HUGE positive impact on my health.