Some people make New Year’s resolutions in December to start in January. These people I call fools. Every accountant knows that the year starts in April. As such, I have come up with my New Year’s resolutions three months after everyone else or as I like to think of it – at the correct time.
Between May last year and getting married at the end of September, I managed to lose a reasonable amount of weight. The NHS online BMI calculator still thought I was overweight, but only just. Since then, I have started a new role at work which has meant that I am commuting on average 4 days a week rather than 2. These are lost hours, some of which I previously spent exercising, and now all of the weight I lost has been regained.
The reason I was able to do so well last year is because I bought myself a fitness watch. It provides me with real time info, stats, graphs… all the stuff that an accountant loves!
I have never really liked running, but I have always liked the idea of being good at it. I am aware that it is good for general fitness and I’ve always wanted to complete a running challenge.
I ran 3 miles for Sport Relief a number of years ago, which was at the limit of what I was able to do. I’d like to be able to run a significant distance further. Mainly because I have seen Zombieland and I know how important cardio is. Also because loads of people seem to be able to do it and to run impressive distances or take on impressive challenges.
So, based on this, I have some resolutions:
Resolution 1: I will run 365 miles this year.
I was going to make this more difficult and say that I would run at least 1 mile every single day. Whilst I like the idea of this challenge, there are some days when it literally isn’t feasible.
My target will still be to run a mile a day if possible but I won’t beat myself up if I miss a day or two, I will just make up the miles another day. One main reason why I want to do one mile a day is because I have suffered previously with shin splints and cramp when running. These have improved with constant repetition and gradual increasing of effort, so my thought is that little and often will allow me to get over these problems.
Resolution 2: I will get to a weight the NHS thinks is healthy.
I know what the target for this is, although I am aware that actually the targets aren’t applicable for everyone because for some people it just isn’t healthy. However, I know I’ve been close to achieving it previously, so I know that it is healthy for me personally.
To be able to succeed in this, as well as the first resolution, I will pay a bit more attention to what I put in my body.
I’m not a big drinker anyway, but I aim to to drink a little less. I also intend to try to eat more healthily. This has been less easy with my additional commuting due to time constraints but there’s so many options these days that it’s pretty much just laziness when I don’t
Both of these resolutions are SMART. I am quite proud of myself for this. It shows that I’ve been paying attention in my training sessions.