As you look ahead to the new year, December 31st can be viewed as an ideal training prototype. Of all days on the calendar, New Year's Eve is about looking ahead - planning and then expecting results with hopeful enthusiasm. In fact, anyone interested in staying healthy should adopt the same view every day of the year! As we go about engaging in excellent fitness and nutrition each day, we are actually engaged in executing a plan that was actually made yesterday - just for today! And thus, as each new day begins, we can strategically build tomorrow's plan in our minds based on what is happening today - incorporating our upcoming schedule – and all of it all structured around what we want for the long term. For example, if we have incorporated aerobics today, tomorrow we may want to plan to switch it up a little or a lot. We may have chosen to consume whey protein today - but tomorrow we may wish to plan only meals made from fish protein. All of these require some level of preparation from strategically laying it out in the mind - to making a store run and purchasing the foods that we have already carefully planned for in advance. No truly adequate fitness program can be successfully executed spontaneously. Making tomorrow’s plan today all but guarantees you will continue your program. A good fitness plan is just like every other aspect of the new year ahead - success requires a well thought out foundation, then planning it and being prepared to act on it advance, every day of the year!

 

A cardiologist with decades of experience under his belt once told me that even very modest lifestyle changes result in significant benefits to a sedentary body. Even a pleasant walk in the cool of the morning or the evening each day can make all the difference. One does not have to train to be prepared for a triathlon to be committed every day to practicing a healthy lifestyle!