Fat down, Money up
Simply put, that is my New Year’s Resolution for this year.
I’ll be honest with you. I don’t have a very good track record with New Year’s Resolutions.
In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever carried a single one out all the through to the very end. Like many people, I generally last until about the end of January before I either lose motivation, or something else grabs my attention. But this year, I really want this year to be different.
So this is what I’m doing.
1 To begin with, I’m making a very clear goal.
I want to lose 10 kg this year. More specifically, on December 31, 2018, I want to weigh 10 kg less than I do now, which means that my target weight is 72 kg.
Losing weight slowly is fine by me. I don’t want to suddenly drop 7 kg and then gain them back next winter. I want to make the changes that my body needs to produce permanent results. For the time being, I am hoping to lose 1 kg by February 1. That is Step One.
2 I have thought long and hard about why I haven’t been able to lose weight in the past.
(Over the last seven years, I have steadily gained about 15 kg.) The conclusion that I have come to is that , up until now, I haven’t been able to find an exercise routine/format that I can easily fit into my daily schedule.
For me, evenings and weekends are very busy. In the evening, I’m on full-time father duty and I can’t dedicate time to exercising on a regular basis. On the weekends, in addition to having family duties and plans, I work part-time. The only time that I consistently have is in the morning, the early morning, before everyone else wakes up.
So, to begin with, I have decided to do a 9-minute strength training routine every morning at 5:00 am. This is a quick, but challenging interval training routine that I found through The New York Times. I don’t know if these nine minutes will be enough to make much of a change in my body weight, but for the time being, it is a place to begin. If I see that I need to expand and make changes down the road, I will.
I am already imagining that I will have to find a way to incorporate at least thirty minutes of walking, running, cycling, or swimming into my weekly routine (probably more), but before I do so, I want to establish a minimal daily exercise habit that I will be sure to continue and see what effects that has on my body.
3 I am keeping this goal in front of my face.
Everyday I am recording my daily weight and the exercises that I do each day on a calendar, a calendar that I must look at everyday in order to keep track of my changing work schedule.
The purpose of recording this data is twofold. For one, I want to see how my weight changes and exactly how much exercise I am doing. Keeping track of this data will help me to see if I am making progress or not. It will also show me if and when I am having setbacks, which should help me to troubleshoot the cause of these setbacks.
Knowing where you began and where you are is essential for plotting a course toward where you want to go. That is another reason why I want to keep track of my weight and exercise routine. Doing so will help me to see how effective the exercise I am doing actually is and will help me to make decisions about whether or not I need to change my approach to exercise and losing weight. It is possible that I will need to exercise harder and longer than I currently am to achieve my goals. It is also possible that I will need to change my diet. At the moment, I simply don’t know what I will need to do, but recording this information consistently on a daily basis should help me to understand where I am at and it should also help me to make decisions that will get me where I want to go.
4 I am posting about my progress and experiences on social media.
Accountability is a huge part of maintaining specific behaviors and pushing oneself to reach one’s goals. When it comes to exercise, I have found that I don’t hold myself very accountable for my actions. If the weather is poor, or if I’m too tired, of is something else catches my eye, I am very likely to give myself a Rain Pass and call off exercise for that day. If, however, I have to report my progress to the world, I think I will be a little more likely to push myself on those days and in the moments when my resolution is weak.
What can I say, I’m a crowd pleaser, and I don’t like to disappoint people.
So, I’m hoping that by sharing my story on Steemit and on Sola, I will win a few followers who will help me to achieve my goals by simply expecting me to be true to my word. In other words, when I say that I am going to exercise everyday, I am hoping to find an audience who will be looking forward to reading my weekly updates and seeing if I did as I said I would do, which in this case means 9 minutes of interval training every morning.
As for the second part of my New Year’s Resolution, the Money Up part, beyond working more and continuing my Steemit habits, I haven’t made much of a plan to increase my wealth. Maybe once I start making some progress on losing weight, I can begin focusing on part two of this resolution.
I must admit that I'm not a fan of the typical New Year's resolutions, although we have psychological biases and tendencies as humans that makes it easier for us to commit when we start something at the beginning of chapter AKA new year etc.
So although I think that one should be able to set goals for oneself regardless of the time a year I must say that your way to go about it with a clear plan and vision does hold many keys to success. So I definitely wish you the best of luck on your journey and hope you will fulfil your goals this year brother 🙏🏼
Otherwise, if you're into travelling, vlogs, fitness, self-development etc feel free to check out my channel, in any case keep up the good work and I'll see you around! :)
I never cared for the idea of New Year’s Resolutions either, but about three years ago, I started finding myself feeling very motivated by the New Year and I’ve been trying to use that motivation to achieve different things.
I like all the things you mentioned, so I’ll be sure to stop by.
Sounds like you resonate very well with it so stick at it brother 💯
First i like the way you are trying to achieve your goal, you may be some steps ahead of most of people ;)
I have gone through this process two years ago and achieved it, so i may can help.
I have plenty of goals to achieve this year and i'm currently working on it :)
I try to implement into my daily routine the little steps to achieve them ^^
The biggest step i took is that i found a motivating picture in my mind that boost me to get the things done, tbh it has needed almost 3 years to find the one.
Good luck to you^^
I'm sure we both will become, who we want to be :)
A motivational picture. That’s a great idea! Thank you. I actually have a picture of myself from ten years ago that I thought about putting in my planner so that I see it everyday, but I found it embarrassing and stopped. Maybe I should get over the embarrassment and do it.
Definitely the weak link for most people. If there's someone who would like to see you reach your goal of a slimmer, trimmer you, promise them that you'll will do it and post a signed copy of that promise somewhere you'll see it every day like the mirror, fridge, etc. It's a real motivator.
A smartphone, smartwatch, or fit-bit can help you track your fitness activities...how many hours you stood, how many steps, distance, calories burned, etc.
All great tips! Thank you.
I have been curious about tracking my steps and calories burned. I think I need to find a way to check how many calories I consume. Dinner is a problem for me. My wife can eat like you wouldn’t believe and she never gains weight. She makes dinner for me most nights and I always feel pressured to eat more than I’m comfortable with as a result. Before I tackle this, though, I’m starting with exercise.
There is a Japanese saying “hara hachi bu” that means to eat only until you are 80% full. Also, buy smaller plates, and NO second helpings. Simple steps, along with the exercise.
My father-in-law says that all the time, and also that the percentage decreases as your age increases. This is something that has led to a lot of arguments in my house, so I don’t really like to bring it up. Basically, the problem is, I get served a meal that is too much for me and get told that I don’t have to eat it all, which often I don’t. That, in itself, is poor manners in Japan. When I try to decline the food at the point where I’m 80% full, I almost always get scolded. I’ll post some pictures of the dinners I get served. They’re huge. And my wife can eat seconds and thirds, so she can’t relate at all.
LOL. Good luck!
That’s where the documentation comes in. If I can show that even with regular exercise I don’t lose weight, I can convince her to change some of our dinner habits. Or some of mine anyway.
If you do some, even light, weight training, you may lose fat and gain muscle resulting in disappointing weight loss but loss of inches and improved appearance. Don’t forget to measure your waist or keep track of how your pants fit or how tightly you cinch your belt.
I wish you success with your resolution @boxcarblue!
I think you are very wise to have revisited why you didn't succeed in previous attempts; I would recommend that to anyone who's looking to achieve something. Too often we set goals without looking at our deeper "resistance" and then we just end up disappointed.
Sharing our intent in a "public" forum like this one can also be an excellent motivational tool. Whether we like to admit it or not, most people are motivated by wanting to impress our friends.
Bright Blessings to you!
That’s an interesting point, not looking at our deeper inner resistance. I’ll have to explore that a bit through writing. Thanks!
Good luck man!
I have set myself "ultimate" goals, for which I need more than a year. For example: I want to switch career and get more in to IT and blockchain, so my first goal for this to learn the basics, which is Java and to continue to build on to this.
That’s exciting, and a long road. Breaking that into chunks will be important. Keep me informed on your progress.
This post has been upvoted and Resteemed!
I think you have outlined some great ways to make sure to meet your goals for the future. These are the same type of techniques that I use when I am trying to achieve my goals as well! I hope that you keep us posted as you said you were going to through social media of your journey and mostly, what is working and what is not working
I definitely will! Thanks for the resteem!!
jus tryingg to be familiar with steem community :)
That can take some time. By leaving comments, though, you’re doing the right thing. Keep it up.
Good luck on your resolution. We believe in you!
Thanks for the encouragement. I’ve still got a year to go.
its a good resolution, health is wealth, go on and burn those fats, i hope you post some pictures of your work outs so we see the difference by the end of the year
You’re absolutely right. Health is wealth. I thought about posting a picture, but decided against it. I probably should get a before picture though. That’s a good idea.
gud luck!! there is a lot that one can achieve in 365 days
Thanks. It’s defituely true. You just have take one day at a time and value each one.
Wow very interesting, I will also have to do something different in this time, please I need inspiration otherwise the lazyness overpower on me. Wish you good luck for your mission, thanks for sharing.
What do you want to accomplish?
I’ve realised much later in life the importance of goal setting than I should have. Good luck with achieving yours in 2018
I second that statement. I’ve never been very good at setting long term goals. I’m sort of figuring out how to live all over again with this first resolution. Thanks for the well wishes.
You’re welcome. Thanks for the reply
Best of luck on achieving your 2 goals for the year! An alternative approach you could consider is to develop regular habits and achieve smaller milestones along the way instead of setting sometimes hard to reach yearly goals. Perhaps this article may give you some insights: Setting Goals that Build Habits
Thanks. I’ll look at the article today on my lunch break. I am trying to break this all down to small achievable actions and results. Hence, only 9 minutes of exercise to begin and one kilogram of weight loss in a month.
Rooting for ya. All the best in attaining your goals!
Thank you! I appreciate it.
I wish you good luck. Maybe you can make an agreement with my son @exyle. He has the same resolution about losing weight!
That would help with the accountability and motivation issue. I’ll try sending home a message later today. Thanks!
cheers with your goals !
Thanks! I understand you and a few others a making a plan of some kind to promote Steemit in Japan. Fill me in when you get a chance.
My New Years resolution this year was to set monthly resolutions! This works much better. I’m sure you’ll lose all that weight. It’s alot easier to gain weight in japan than people think!
I just wrote a blog about why I want to go back to japan, in English and Japanese. Please check it out if you have time.
https://steemit.com/japan/@whatamidoing/5u8csw
It is pretty easy to gain weight over here, isn’t it? Some of these people here can just eat and eat and eat. It’s amazing.
Locals think you can only get fat in the West. I gain weight in japan because everything is delicious and I can’t stop myself ever. I think they don’t get fat because they just have a few bites of everything whereas I’ll put as much as will fit in my body when it’s that good
Losing weight at our age is indeed a life altering job. I think you can do it though. Swap beer with shochu or whiskey!
I completely forgot to make a resolution.... I have a few ideas, just need to pin down the most important one.
It does seem like a formidable task. If I can just nail down these small changes, though, it’ll happen slowly.
If you are interested. I will do this with you - I don't want to lose weight but I haven't been able to keep up on running the way I would like to and feel like I have been losing some of my strength.
If it's cool with you - let's exchange what we did for the days - maybe it will help keep both of us motivated?
The calendar is a great idea. I did it two years ago for my running I was doing - it was a big time motivator for me.
Sounds great! Honestly, I’m mostly interested in creating a healthy habit to maintain strength, firm up, regain some flexibility, and stuff like that. But I’d also like to shed a few pounds while I’m at it.
Excellent. Just from this snow shoveling the last few days - I wake up thinking, "What muscle is this and how the hell does that hurt?" I'd definitely like to get my strenghth and flexibility back to what it was a few years ago.