Milestones and Resolutions

I hit a major milestone this morning – I broke the 200lb barrier. At 199lbs, I am now 14lbs away from the ultimate weight goal I set in September 2006 when I began the Optifast program. As is appropriate with the beginning of a new year, I am reflecting on my journey to fitness so far and preparing a list of resolutions for the coming year. However, I don’t intend on making the run-of-the-mill laundry list of intangible shoulds and ought-tos, like “eat less chocolate”, “exercise more” and “save money.” Instead of a New Year’s Resolutions list, I will make a list of attainable, concrete goals – my Fitness Resolutions list.

What do I want to accomplish? I feel the most important lesson I learned going through the Optifast program was redefining fitness – it’s more than physical health. Fitness, as I see it now, is a lifestyle, a guiding principle – it affects mental health, spiritual health, financial health. In practical terms, all the different aspects of fitness affect one another – when I eat healthy foods, healthy portions and exercise, I spend less money on food and feel less compelled to spend money on frivilous stuff. When I pay all my bills and have money in the bank, I feel more relaxed, less overwhelmed and weighed-down, and thus less compelled to eat comfort foods. For me, fitness describes all aspects of health. Thus, the goals on my Fitness Resolutions list will address multiple aspects of health. To begin, the list will include:

• Treat my body like a bank.
• Eat only when hungry.
• Eat no more than satisfaction.
  
• Design a budget focused on debt reduction.
• Increase my daily level of exercise.
• Use relaxation techniques to disarm negative reactions to situations, such as anger, stress or feeling overwhelmed.
• Learn more about the Getting Things Done philosophy, and begin implementing GTD to multiple aspects of fitness.
  
• Reasess my goals monthly.

Over the next few days, I’ll talk more about each resolution and set concrete goals.

What’s on your resolutions list?