Walking...

I'm lucky to have lots of walking options without having to go anywhere in a car. The local rail trail is an excellent start but the nature of rail trails is that they don't have much of a challenge if you're just walking. The good thing about the area around the rail trail though is that there are numerous bush tracks that have some excellent hills in amongst them. So yesterday, after spending a bit of time procrastinating and planning my goals I took the dogs out and did a 6.85km circuit that included a couple of nice hills. The good thing about this circuit is that I can add a loop to it that uses the hills twice and adds another 2 and a bit kilometres. The 6.85km took me 1 hour and 7 minutes and burned 714 calories and I'll go out again today and do the full "figure 8" circuit for comparison.

I'll also start the other training and keep a log here for reference and reflection.

The future...

1.      This isn’t a short term thing.

a.      Goals need to be set for the long term first and then broken down into shorter segments. It’s amazing what can be achieved in three months with consistent effort. Choose a target and then break it down into three month training goals.

b.      This program is for life and therefore should be fun

2.      Make nutrition part of the plan

a.      Nutrition drives everything

b.      Weight loss is not a goal in itself

c.       BMI is a furphy but it’s a handy way to get started

3.      Monitor your vitals

a.      BP

b.      Cholesterol

c.       Resting heart rate

d.      Body fat

e.      Waist /hip ratio

4.      Be consistent

a.      High intensity daily exercise for at least 15 minutes

b.      Build exercise into your routine

c.       Build exercise into “normal” activities

d.      Use what you have, don’t rely on equipment

5.      Flexibility & Balance

a.      Warm up before every session

b.      Stretch after every session

c.       Focus on flexibility, core and balance for at least one training session per week

d.      Engage your core every time you lift anything

6.      Get out of the comfort zone

a.      Go beyond exercise in the rain

b.      Test your limits

c.       Push yourself

d.      Exercise where people can see you!

7.      Give it time

a.      Results take time

b.      Lots can be achieved but don’t be discouraged if you don’t reach a goal in the time you set – see point 10.

8.      Specific, measurable, attainable, time-tabled – (SMART)

a.      Goals should meet these requirements but where do you start? Start by doing 4 weeks of consistent daily exercise that tests you and then set some goals based on:

                                                              i.      What you think you can do.

                                                            ii.      What you think you might be able to do.

                                                          iii.      What you don’t think you could possibly do.

b.      If you achieve the results you were after before your timetable says you should see point 10.

9.      Focus on healthy habits rather than results

a.      A habit is something you do without thinking.

b.      Healthy means it’s good for you.

c.       Healthy habits are things that you do without thought that contribute to maintenance and improvement in your health and wellbeing.

10.  Don’t set the plan in stone… Revisit, re-evaluate, reset and re-invent yourself.

11.  Expect hurdles and barriers

a.      You will have days when you want to stay in bed.

b.      You will have days when you eat the wrong thing or eat too much or get drunk…

c.       You will injure yourself sometimes

12.  Don’t let ANYTHING or ANYBODY stop you…