I’m dedicating the year 2012 to my health and fitness

It’s hard to believe that 2011 is coming to an end.  I didn’t manage to make the strides I’d hoped to make concerning my health and fitness this year.  Overall I gained weight and lost fitness.  Not quite the way I wanted to go.  I’ve spent the past few weeks planning how to make permanent changes in my life that will allow me to lose weight and regain my fitness.

The first week of the year, I’ll alternate walking on the treadmill and riding the exercise bike for my cardio.  I’ll do strength training, alternating upper body, lower body, and core.  I’m going to have to start with lighter weights than what I was using before, but you start where you are and go from there.

I’ve got a chart listing minutes for cardio and reps, weight and sets for strength training.  I’ll slowly increase the time for cardio and the reps and weight for strength training.  I want to get to a place where I’m regularly doing at least 30 minutes of cardio five days a week.  Once I’m there, I’ll begin increasing intensity.  I’ve got the plan in place.  I’m determined to follow through.

At some point in time, once I’ve got the exercise habit firmly in place again, I’m going to have to examine my reaction to stress and work on a better way to deal with it.  That’s a little ways down the road, but the thought is in my mind.   I’ll let it kind of percolate there while I’m working on my diet and exercise routines.

I stopped at Kroger today and bought some produce, low-fat dairy, fish and whole grain sandwich thins.  I’ve got my meal plan set for the next few days.  I find I’m really looking forward to eating good, home cooked food again.  Planning and preparation will be key.

And you can bet I’ll be visiting SparkPeople.com daily, if only for a few minutes a day.  There’s something about having that accountability that helps me maintain my motivation.  Of course, we’ll also have our four-week livewell 10,000 daily steps competition at work too.  It all helps!!  And anyone out there who wants to share the journey with me, jump on in!