I don’t do new year resolutions of any sort for the one simple reason that they always fail. With all the best intentions in the world, without a plan they always result in failure. People try too hard, expect too much, and give up too easily.

Around October last year, due to year end pressures I fell off the fitness wagon. I was working from 8am to 6pm daily. Stress made it difficult to workout; I was mentally exhausted. And without being able to exercise and be mentally focussed I gave up on my diet as well. And this resulted in a few extra pounds.

Towards the end of November, I started to work out again; a little bit at a time. I was surprised how much of an impact two months of being physically complacent made my body. It was tough. I did a little bit of spin bike. A little bit of lifting. The hormonal drive that I depended on so much to motivate me wasn’t there. But I knew I just had to push a little longer.

To be good at fitness requires a few key elements. Strong muscles. Strong heart. Powerful lungs. They were all there. I could feel my body reaching in and waking them up. But I would have to take it slow. There’s nothing worse than overdoing it then being exhausted for a few days to recover. But slowly I got stronger again. Once I was able to last 30 minutes and started to sweat is when I knew I was back into the rhythm of it.

It’s now the end of January. I’m back into my at home fitness routine. And I’ve started winter running. Funny enough, this little break has allowed my body to process all the efforts I’d put in. So although I’m not great at running yet, I’m a lot better. I’m smarter about it. And I’m even recovering faster. But that’s another story.

So back to this new year resolution thing that I don’t do. I take the same approach to my dieting. It’s not a race. It’s like they say, it’s the journey, not the destination. I pay attention to my body and try to predict when I feel I’m going to have trouble. Then I remind myself that things may get a bit rough for a while, but I plan to straighten out, learn from what happened and keep going. People learn by making mistakes, not by doing everything right all the time. After all, it’s a lifestyle change.