2024 Fitness Planning
It's been a difficult year so far but I'm turning it around!
I started writing this post in January, and poof! Suddenly, it’s May. What happened? I started the year feeling great and setting ambitious yet reasonable goals. Unfortunately, post-January, things took a turn: my newborn son stopped sleeping well, which destroyed my energy, I developed post-partum depression, and I started at a new company in January and got laid off in April. More on this in an upcoming post.
Along the way, my fitness journey faltered: my exercise routine became sporadic, I started binge eating due to stress, and I stopped tracking food intake.
That’s the point of documenting my journey, though—to show that fitness journeys are not linear. Life happens, failure happens, but what matters is picking yourself back up and starting again. Today, I’m doing much better and back on The Path.
Let’s begin by reviewing what I originally planned for 2024.
Original Plan
"One year of obsession can change your life."
I perked up after hearing this sentence on the My First Million podcast. It perfectly encapsulates what I’ve been working toward: the realization that if I’m going to accomplish meaningful change, I need to be “all-in” on fitness.
This year, I'm obsessed with health and fitness.
Now, “obsession” typically equates to negative, unhealthy behavior. In this case, I need to make fitness my main focus, following healthy habits every day. So far, as mentioned above, it’s been a challenge. Here are my original goals:
Big Goals
Lose some amount of weight weekly
Ideally, 1 pound per week (2-week grace period, so 50 pounds total for the year).
Reduce BMI from obese to overweight.
Bike ride 75 miles in one day.
Previous record: 36.9 miles at Bike the Barns 2023
Share my fitness journey on the HF Substack. 1 post every 2 weeks! 25 posts total.
Checkpoint Goals
Lose 25 pounds by July 2024.
Bike 50 miles in one day by July 2024.
Log 6 InBody scans by July 2024.
Daily Systems
Track food in MFP every single day in 2024.
Strenuous Exercise 4x per week
Prioritize sleep in the evenings. 7+ hours
Alcohol: only 1 real drink, the rest N/A or alternatives.
Revised Plan
In January, my goals felt ambitious but doable. Today going forward, I need to revamp them to be more realistic. There are 33 weeks or 7.5 months left in 2024. Changes have been bolded.
Big Goals
Lose some amount of weight weekly
Ideally 1 pound per week(30 pounds total for the year).
Reduce BMI from obese to overweight rating.
Bike ride 75 miles in one day.
Previous record: 36.9 miles at Bike the Barns 2023
Share my fitness journey on the HF Substack. 1 post every 2 weeks! 16 posts total.
Checkpoint Goals
Lose 10 pounds by July 2024.
Bike 50 miles in one day by July 2024. [I think this is still possible!]
Log 2 InBody scans by July 2024.
Daily Systems
Track food in MFP on the remaining days in 2024.
Strenuous Exercise 3x per week
Prioritize sleep in the evenings. 7+ hours
Alcohol: Still limiting by mixing in n/a drinks. I want to enjoy myself, so tracking will help keep me in check.
Here are the changes I’m making to accomplish these goals.
Weight loss: I am my own worst enemy. Overeating, especially when stressed, remains my biggest obstacle. I eat healthily these days, but sweets/desserts/snacking derail all of my hard work. To address this, I need to track my food in MyFitnessPal again because it’s proven to help me stay on The Path.
Exercise: This is the one area I’m proud of. I’ve consistently kept up my weight training and biking even during the tough times of high stress and low sleep. This is even easier in the Summer when I’m outdoors more.
Sleep: I stay up too late and (due to my small children) get up too early. I also want to work on side projects again, like this newsletter. My new plan is to allot an eight-hour timespan by being in bed by 10 pm and waking up at 6 am. Except in some cases where the kids wake up early, that gives me 30 minutes of “me time” for projects and seven hours or more of sleep.
Forward!
It’s been a difficult first half of the year. I have concrete action items to follow to remain on track and accelerate my health and fitness. Let’s do this!