2023
A new year is upon us, and it’s that time when people start hitting the gym and pledging to eat better and lose weight. Some will go on crash diets, or go cold turkey on alcohol or carbs.
In a week or two, most people will abandon those goals.
The problem is, unless we have habits built up already it is really difficult to make a drastic change and stick with it. Starting out an exercise program brings soreness and fatigue that need to be mentally dealt with in order to continue. Dieting involves giving up things we like, and that is even harder to maintain.
I think a better approach is to start a realistic exercise program that meets you at your current fitness level and ramps up as you get in shape. And to do small dietary changes that are simple to follow through on. Will you see a drastic weight loss right away? Probably not. But you will most likely find yourself still exercising, still eating smart and losing weight as the year progresses.
A recap of 2022 for me: I cut out my HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts in favor of a lot of yoga to allow my knee to heal up from a meniscus tear. I knew this would most likely lead to weight gain, so I tried to maintain a healthy diet to counter that. I did great until the holiday season when I put on 8 pounds of yummy food.
Here is my 2023 health plan: In addition to continuing yoga I will start back up with my HIIT workouts l. I did my first one yesterday, and I am sore today! Feels great!
For January I’m going to avoid sugar as best I can and cut back on how much I drink when I drink. After that I’ll see how it’s going and make other decisions and changes as I see fit.
I’d like to lose 10 pounds by mid-February for a trip to the Caribbean, but I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t. Realistically I’d like to lose between 10-15 pounds by my wedding in mid-April. That is much more doable.
For me, being healthy is important as I get older (I turn 52 in a month) but being able to enjoy food and drink is also important. Fortunately I enjoy working out so that will help me to get healthy and no have to sacrifice too much.
I will say this for anyone looking at being a more healthy person in 2023: just start moving more - take walks, park far away from stores when shopping, don’t sit all day. And eat more veggies and fruit. If you want to progress, talk to me or another health pro about a training or nutrition program.
Happy 2023!
