Aah, the end of the year. The time when we look back at everything we accomplished and set goals for the next 12 months. As I’ve been planning my 2018 New Year’s resolution, though, one thought kept coming back: what if setting more than one New Year’s resolution is setting us up to fail?
After all, the best way to form a new habit is to focus on one at a time. Small steps (and yes, repetition) are the keys to success.
So why do we treat New Year’s differently? We set all of these goals to be a better person by the end of the year, but we’re being overly optimistic on how much change we can take on in that timeframe.
So, with that said, I narrowed down my list of resolution ideas and came up with one, singular, 2018 New Year’s Resolution.
Lose 30 pounds by the end of the year.
You’ll notice that my 2018 New Year’s Resolution is rather broad, but also specific.
I’m not saying that I’m going to “walk more” or “eat healthier,” but those are definitely aspects of the resolution. I’m also not saying I’m going to “lose weight,” because that’s not specific enough.
I’ve got a concrete goal: lose 30 pounds by the end of 2018. That’s about half a pound per week. Eep!
So, how am I going to do that?
Attend aerial silks classes regularly.
I’ve been going to aerial silks classes with the Cincinnati Circus on and off for about a year and a half now, and I can definitely tell I’m getting stronger because of it. (That shit is hard.)
I’ve started including the cost of silks classes into our monthly budget, so price isn’t an excuse I’m allowed to use any more.
Throughout the year, I want to go to classes an average of once per week. They’re only offered on Mondays and Thursdays, so if I miss one week, I should go both days the following week.
The advantage? It’s a really good workout with a big goal: being able to do cool shit in the air. Definitely something that motivates me!
Wear my Fitbit every day.
Because of the aforementioned silks classes, I’ve stopped wearing my Fitbit regularly. I prefer to remove all jewelry during classes (including my engagement ring and any hair ties on my wrist), so I’m constantly forgetting to put my Fitbit back on.
This year (specifically by the end of February), I want to get into the habit of wearing my Fitbit every day and charging it every night. I never look at my sleep patterns, so I’m not concerned about missing out on that data, and I want to make sure my Fitbit doesn’t die on me in the middle of the day.
Hit my step goal 75% of the time.
Because I haven’t been wearing my Fitbit, I’ve started ignoring my step goals. And since I work in digital marketing and have been working from home a lot lately, I haven’t been moving a lot.
In an effort to be more active, I’m setting new step goals to ease myself back into moving around more often. I’ll start at 5,000 in January, then add 1,000 each month until I reach 10,000 steps per day.
In addition to setting these new step goals, I want to achieve them 75% of the time. This gives me the ability to have a lazy day without feeling too bad about it.
I know hitting 10,000 steps per day won’t necessarily make me lose weight, but it will encourage me to be more active, and that will help me lose weight.
Lift weights during meetings and webinars when I work from home.
On a similar note, when I’m working from home, I find it really difficult to remember to move around. So, when I’m listening to webinars or calling into meetings when I’m at home (which is way too often), I’d like to lift weights for as long as I physically can (without impeding my ability to listen to the webinar or partake in the meeting).
Find a home workout routine that I enjoy.
I’ve tried joining the gym by our house, but they only had one squat rack, and that’s the only thing I (and like, 30% of the other gym members) wanted to use, so there was always a line and it wasn’t good for my anxiety.
And since aerial silks is only two days per week (and at $10 a pop, going two times per week every week is out of my price range), I need more options.
I’d like to find a home workout routine (yay free!) that I enjoy. Or at least, enjoy enough that I’m motivated to do it. And, once I experiment with everything and understand how it coincides with my silks schedule, I’d like to set up a weekly workout routine.
Stick to the keto diet for at least 3 months (January through March).
And finally, I’m committing to the keto diet (high fat, low carb) for at least three full months as soon as we get back from our honeymoon.
I’ve heard that it works wonders for people who have struggled to lose weight, and the science behind it makes sense, so I’m giving it a whole 3 months. I don’t want to try it for two weeks, see that I haven’t lost a ton of weight, and then give up. I want to give it a fair shot, and decide after 3 months if it’s right for me.
So there you have it! My one, singular, 2018 New Year’s Resolution, with all of the steps I’m taking (at first) to get there. I’m sure there will be more additions as the months go on, but I think I’ve got a pretty solid foundation set up so far.
Leave a Reply