The First 10 Days

I've never really been one for New Years Resolutions. I always took the "well, everyone always craps out on their resolutions after a month anyway, so why bother?" stance.

HOWEVER... I realized that if you set yourself reasonable goals, with the proper reinforcement, the start of the new year is a great time to go after them. It's the opportunity for a fresh start, etc., etc. I don't think people are any more or less likely to successfully bring about changes in their lives at this time of the year versus any other time. The prospect of a new year, a fresh start-- these can give us a push in the right direction, but I'm willing to bet that people who don't stick to their resolutions do so not because they are "New Year's Resolutions", but because they are unreasonable or poorly planned out goals in the first place.

That being said, it is VERY difficult to change aspects of our own lives. Perhaps I have found it especially hard to make New Year's Resolutions because of all the hype-- if you announce to everyone that you're resolving to do or not do something, and then you fail, it's almost expected!

Considering all of the above, I am setting myself a somewhat reasonable, somewhat difficult, but totally attainable and awesome goal for 2010:

260 days of physical activity
105 days of rest

That's it.

More or less. It's simple, straightforward, easy to remember.

Here are the very basic rules I've given myself:

1. Minimum requirements: must last AT LEAST 30 minutes."Physical Activity" is pretty loosely defined in my mind. It can be as rigorous as running or aerobics, or as subdued as a long walk or a half-hour of yoga or pilates. This loose definition is actually one of the biggest reasons I think my crazy scheme is going to work: I know myself well enough to KNOW that I won't keep up with 5+ days a week of aerobics or running. The easier days will STILL incorporate physical activity and strength building into my life, while giving me the opportunity to "actively rest". One of the most important aspects of this whole thing is to build physical activity into my (almost) daily life, so that it becomes a well-formed habit. It's something I just need to DO, and it won't do any good to set myself a regiment I don't think I'll be able to keep up with.

2. Keep a record of what I eat. This is something I've already gotten in the habit of doing over the last couple of months on a nifty iPhone app. By all accounts, this is one of the best ways to help you shed a few pounds or maintain your weight-- simply being aware of what you eat day in & day out helps you make better food choices.

3. Reach my goal weight by March. I have a reasonable eight pounds or so to lose in order to be at my goal weight. I think I can reach this by mid-March, although I'm not really sure how putting on muscle will affect this goal. We'll see. But the ideal is to reach my goal weight by the Shamrock Run (8k) I'm running on March 14th. That being said, I don't want to be overly fixated on weight-- the main goal is to be healthy, strong, and active.

4. Keep a running total of days of activity / lazy days. Pretty self-explanatory. It will be helpful to know where I'm at.

4. Don't give up if I slip up. This is huge for me. It is easy to get discouraged, easy to feel like the whole thing has fallen apart if you have a few unruly days. BUT, the beauty of this whole plan is that I DO have "free" days built in-- 105 of them. And I have a feeling I'm going to need them.


SO..... it's JANUARY 10th, and I already have several days of exercise completed! Here's how I've been doing so far... (this is mostly just to keep myself accountable).


1.1.10 30 minutes. Aerobics. Tough. Killed my hammies!
1.2.10 1 hr. 50 min. walk w/ Ben.
1.3.10 40 min. walk w/ Ben.
1.4.10 20 min. on the elliptical machine. 5 killer minutes on the stairstepper. 5 minutes cooldown on the bike.
1.5.10 30 minutes of pilates @ home.
1.6.10 *REST*
1.7.10 *REST*
1.8.10 45 minutes of aerobics. Still tough, but not AS tough.
1.9.10 30 minutes of pilates @ home. I feel like my abs are getting stronger already!
1.10.10 30 minutes of aerobics.