The Christmas decorations have been packed away and the last of the chocolate truffles eaten. All that is left is a fridge full of cheese that I’m not sure what to do with. Christmas and the New Year celebrations are swiftly becoming a distant memory. It is now back to the reality of normal life and accessing the damage at my monthly weight and measure. And it wasn’t too bad. Just a weight gain of 2kg which I should shift quite quickly now that I have stopped gorging on Cadbury Heroes and pink gin.

My personal trainer and I also discussed my 2019 goals. Interestingly, possibility for the first time, they are not concerned with my appearance. Strange as it may seem I’m happy with the way I look. I still want to lose a bit of body fat but my clothes fit (some are now a size 10) and I look healthy. And no amount of training is going to get rid of the creases that come with age. So it is all about performance. 

There are three things I want to achieve in 2019. I want to get stronger. That pull up and 105 kg deadlift is still beckoning. I want to climb the 3 Welsh Peaks in August and run the Great North Run in September. So a combination of strength and endurance goals.

I said ‘interestingly’ as I read some research after I identified my goals that suggests that New Year resolutions concerned with appearance are likely to fail whilst those focusing on performance are more likely to succeed. This, I think, does ring true. If you start a diet at the beginning of January but are not beach ready by the 1st February you conclude that what ever you are doing is not working. The same mindset wouldn’t be applied if you were training to run a marathon. So, hopefully, I’m on target for success.

My other fitness goal discussed with my PT is to cook more from scratch. I’m a fairly useless cook. I rely heavily on ready made salads, vegetables in steam packs and takeaways albeit chicken tikka and chicken shish. But I have a library of health cookbooks. So this afternoon I will be cooking a Joe Wicks chilli and his chicken and feta pie. Needless to say my family are not holding out much hope of success. 

Whilst I was shopping for the ingredients I picked up the latest issue of New Scientist with ‘10 resolutions really worth making’ blazoned across the cover. So in order that you don’t have to part with the same £4.99 here they are with my take on some of them:

START – Embracing Nature. Agree. There is nothing more uplifting than being outside especially when the sun is shining. The physical and mental benefits are proven. 

‘Even exposure to nature in the form of images of natural scenes or recordings of birdsong can reduce heart rate and blood pressure,enhance attention and distract from pain’

START – Learning a New Language. Not going to happen. I tried to learn Turkish a few years ago. I was useless. But apparently taking up a musical instrument or joining a choir has the same benefits. My rendition of Bridget Jones is pretty excruciating but I use to play a mean Recorder when I was at school.

START – Cutting Back on Alcohol. Nothing new here. Christmas and New Year aside my alcohol consumption is not huge. I can go a couple of weeks without a drop touching my lips.

START – Brightening Up Your Day. 
‘You may not realise it, but you are probably light deprived…The average Westerner spends around 90 per cent of their time indoors. This is a problem.’

Back to embracing nature or getting a lamp designed to treat SAD.

START – Helping Others. Something I will be focusing on with my Professional Coaching qualification. 
‘The essence of life, wrote Aristotle, is to serve others and do good. Make this the basis of a New Year’s resolution and you will be doing yourself a favour too.’

STOP – Your Gym Membership. Not going to happen. For me anyway. The basis for this resolution is that so many have this as their number one resolution but it focuses on one off periods of exercise when they should be increasing their activity throughout the day. And, of course, we know that many gym memberships are bought at this time of year only to be ignored after the honeymoon period. 

STOP – Overconsuming. I’ll try. But this isn’t just about food. It is about everything. We are a throwaway society that is having a detriment effect on our environment. 

‘If food waste were a country, it is estimated that it would have the third-largest carbon footprint, behind the US and China.’

I am often embarrassed at the amount of food I throw away. This is certainly a resolution for me.

STOP – Late – Night Snacking. It is not just about what you eat but when you eat. Eating late at night could be sabotaging weight loss goals.

‘The reason may be melatonin, a hormone we begin to secretein the evening and continue to release overnight, telling our various organs and tissues to gear up for the night shift. If you have food together with melatonin, you may have Impairments in glucose control or metabolism.’

Makes sense but sometimes difficult if you are late in from work or like me train in the evening. And who doesn’t get the munchies after a drink.

STOP – Scrimping on Sleep. I love my bed but getting up at 5am for work does limit the opportunity to get the recommended 7-9 hours sleep that adults need.  

‘Lack of sleep…..has been linked with much every major disease going, from heart disease to diabetes to cancer.’

Scary stuff. So as someone with a lump of titanium in their heart I need to prioritise my Zs.

And lastly, 

STOP – Being so Hard on Yourself.
‘If you break your resolutions before January is even out, cut yourself some slack.There is huge variation in the amount of time it takes people to form a new habit: the average is 66 days ,but it can take almost an entire year. So, if at first you don’t succeed, relax and give it another go. You don’t have to wait until 2020 to try again.’

And breath. A rather long blog but hopefully helpful.