31 Days Left – What Are Your Goals?!

I have a proposition. Instead of waiting for the New Year, let’s set health and fitness goals right here, right now, in the last 31 days of 2017.

The month between Thanksgiving and Christmas always throws me for a loop. And don’t even get me started on the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. I feel like I’m running marathons back-to-back each week without time to catch my breath, rest my bones or grab a sip of wine water. Pretty sure I reminded myself to “breathe” at least five times today. Breathing is good. Between work demands, Christmas shopping, traffic woes, holiday parties and the start of basketball season, I can hardly squeeze in time to exercise. Not to mention monitoring eating habits. Anyone else with me here?

January 1, 2017, I bet you either wrote out goals for the year, discussed them with friends or at least set New Year’s resolutions in your head. Maybe you accomplished your goals, perhaps you started some and finished others, but I can almost guarantee that by February/March or so, the New Year’s resolutions were long forgotten. Next thing you know, it’s the 4^th of July, and then the leaves are changing colors, and now we’re back in that weird, fun-but-hectic time between the holidays.

So, here’s what I propose: let’s take back our 2017 goals and crush them in these last 31 days of this year, y’all!! Who is with me?!?!

I have already summoned a few friends and family who set December goals that they plan to tackle before you can say “Old Lang Syne.” Check ‘em out:

CAMERON

GOALS:

• Run 25-30 miles per week
• Barre class 2-6X per week
• Limit dessert to once or twice per week

You may recognize Cameron from my last post… she’s my speedy running partner in Charlotte who just qualified for the Boston Marathon. By the looks of her strong December goals, she’s got that “can’t stop, won’t stop” mentality. Go Cameron!

DONALD

GOALS:

• 5am run Monday—Saturday
• 2 gym workouts daily
• 2 workouts @ home daily
• Limit to 1 “cheat meal” per week

Okay, Donald works out a lot. He also teaches killer workout classes at Jamie Scott Fitness in Charlotte. I took his class this morning, actually. Ya know, just over here working on the biceps. Seriously though, Donald’s workouts crush. And he kills you with a smile. It’s like, you can’t even be mad at him for making you lunge for two minutes straight with 15 pound weights in each hand because he’s smiling at you and telling you he’s glad you showed up. All about those positive vibes. Thanks, Donald! I wish I could work out as much as you!

DIGGY (Dave)

GOALS:

• At least 100 pull ups per day
• Get back down to 7% body fat
• Run the track… fast.

Diggy, who also teaches at Jamie Scott Fitness, is training for the track and field World Indoor Championships in the UK, March 2018!! In the coming months, he will run various meets with the goal to run a fast enough time to qualify for team Jamaica and run in the World Championships. Good luck, Diggy, you’ve got this!

ALLEN

GOALS:

• Compete in Club XC Nationals for Bull City Track Club in Lexington, KY (Dec 9!)
• 6 HIIT workouts per week
• Run 2-3 X per week

Y’all, my cousin Allen runs marathons faster than I can finish my grocery shopping on Sundays. He just ran the OBX Marathon (in a whopping 2:43:04). Also this fall, he ran 2 half marathons and the Gallop & Gorge 8K on Thanksgiving. So Allen’s goal in the month of December is actually to REST. He has tendinitis in his heel and it’s time for a “down cycle.” But exercise is important to Allen, both physically and mentally. Y’all should know that rest = a relative term. He usually runs 6 times per week and does 2 HITT workouts per week. Allen’s form of rest means flipping that routine for the month of December so that he can come back strong, healthy and refreshed in January. I love it. Great plan, Allen!

LEIGH

Photo by the talented Josh Neves

GOALS:

• Yoga 2X per week
• Run at least 2X per week
• Show body kindness as it learns new boundaries

In case you didn’t notice, Leigh is an incredible yogi. You should follow her @leewardland. She’s also a strong runner, but has been out due to a back injury. Leigh wants to start training for a marathon in January (YAY!!), so her goals are centered on building back her base fitness level and starting the year strong! Her last goal is my favorite. Go Leigh!

ANDY

GOALS:

• Gym 2-3X per week
• Add 1 additional home cooked meal per week

In case you didn’t know, I call Andy my “boyfriend.” He seems pretty cool with that, most days. There’s something to be said for a guy who will befriend a marathon volunteer and talk his way into the VIP section just to get hand warmers for you after the race. It was really cold. (Thanks, Andy.) Andy was an investment banker for two years and is currently hustling to get back into a fitness routine now that he doesn’t work 90 hours per week. Let me just say, getting to the gym 2-3 times per week is hard! Andy is not a morning person, so that means he can’t “cheat the day” like I do. If I didn’t wake up and get my workout in before 6:30 a.m., I think I would exercise 1.5 times per week. I haven’t transformed Andy into a morning person yet, but I am super proud of his goals for the month of December and hope they will serve as a kick start for 2018. Also, it’s always good to set a goal around cooking more at home. Knowing exactly what goes in your food is key to knowing exactly what goes into your body. Boom.

And…

MY GOALS (in case you were wondering)

• Run 25-30 miles per week
• Hit the gym 3-4 X per week (Jamie Scott Fitness & Hilliard Studio Method are my gyms of choice)
• Limit myself to 1 dessert per week (this will be the hardest part)

I’ve been through quite a few big changes the past 6 months. After moving to Charlotte, it took me a while to find a gym that met my wants/needs. In the process, I lost a lot of muscle strength, which directly affected my ability to run fast. So, my goals are centered on building back muscle and gearing up for Boston Marathon training season starting in January!

On Instagram, I’ve been posting tips to burn calories AND find a balance during the holidays. I’ll share a few here:

1. Schedule a time each day, or every other day, to SWEAT. Just do it, okay?! Your mind and body will thank you!
2. But listen, I am all about eating that peppermint ice cream with chocolate syrup on Christmas Eve – and I fully intend to continue that tradition. The thing is, I will feel good about enjoying that dessert if I’ve been eating well during the week and not caving in to every single junk food left in the office kitchen, know what I’m saying?!
3. Being the extrovert that I am, I have to schedule alone time. I forget how much I need to recharge my batteries because other people literally give me energy. But we all need time to re-charge. If you yoga, yoga. Make the time—especially during the holidays. Do you meditate or take a few minutes to yourself each day? Maybe that is your goal this last month of 2017. Try some daily breathing or mental exercise to get your mind and your heart in a good place.
4. Don’t wait until January 1. Start now!! And if you need a little extra motivation to set your goals or keep them, do not hesitate to contact me. I will text you at 9 pm the night before a morning workout session and remind you that you WANT to wake up before the sun. I will high five you for taking the stairs instead of the elevator, choosing a home cooked meal over fast food or giving yourself 5 minutes of meditation time each day. These are small changes we can make in our daily lives. They go a long way… much farther than you even realize.
5. Above all else, don’t be too hard on yourself during the holidays. You will get your work done, finish holiday shopping, make it through the traffic and have time to shower before your work Christmas party. Make time for yourself and your health. Enjoy time with your family and friends. Keep moving forward.

See you out there.

H//