I am not a fan of New Year's resolutions. It's not that I am against goal setting and the quest to improve oneself, because I love that stuff (I am American, after all). I'm against what "New Year's Resolutions" specifically mean. For everyone I know, they seem to be a vehicle to induce guilt and self-loathing. That sounds strong, but I have never had anyone say to me, “My New Year’s resolutions worked! I am so proud of myself!” Unless of course, they mean it as a joke and they’ve resolved to drink a case of beer every night or something that they well know is destructive. New Year’s resolutions are an opportunity for people to expose where they think they’ve failed and set a goal to become successful. When it comes to health especially, these goals tend to fall apart by the end of January. The term “resolutions” itself ignore the habitual behavior required to achieve a health-related goal. Mind you, I’ve had friends create attainable goals that require a change in one specific small daily behavior to their great benefit. This is a great idea, and starting at the new year make it easy to measure success by the end of the year.

Needless to say, about a month ago I set some new training and fitness goals for myself. I am going to share them here, because, well,  this is the time of the year to start anew. Overall, I am more satisfied with my health than I have been most of my life, but it still feels good to work toward improvement. I also know that if I continue on the same path, I will begin to see more and more diminished strength, comfort and ability.

My 2016 goal is to:

• Gain 5 lbs of muscle
• Loose 5 lbs of fat
• thereby bringing me from 72% lean mass (28% fat) to 78% lean mass (22% fat))

My daily plan to meet this goal is to:

• track food every day
• eat with awareness/ know that everything I eat is a choice/focus on choosing foods that "healthiest, most successful me" would choose
• pay attention to how hungry I feel when eating
• stop eating when I am 80% full
• meditate for 5 minutes
• focus on consistent time to bed and time to wake
• disregard/not dwell on the times I don't follow my plan, just focus on the next time

My weekly plan to meet this goal is to:

• lift weights at the health club 3 times a week
• ride bike aerobically for 6+ hours a week (already been doing this for years commuting to work)
• one other activity (walk, hike, ski, yoga, Zumba, or other)

As a result I will:

• Be a stronger cyclist!
• Be ready to tackle any adventure!
• Know that I am making the healthiest, most holistic choices possible to combat my existing health issues
• Feel my best to the benefit of those around me and those I influence