2010 Health Goals

Call 'em a "New Year's Resolution" if you like. Some people love 'em. Some hate 'em. I'm a person that does very well if I have goals written down. I slack off and gravitate towards laziness without them.

One of the rules of goal writing is to be specific. "Lose weight" or "Lose 40 pounds" is a good starting point, but broken down into more specific terms to really define success is even better. If you lose 30 instead of 40, does that mean you failed? Try defining actions that lead to your overall goal to lose weight instead.

Some goals are recurring goals. Just because I've already achieved them doesn't mean they are necessarily 'done'. For instance, I do cardio exercise 45-60 minutes 3-4 times per week. I did that in 2009; does that mean I don't do it for 2010 because it's 'done'? Of course not! Many of the goals I've written doesn't necessarily mean that I am not already doing them (like food or fitness tracking).

Here is how I've defined my 2010 health goals.

Lose Weight:
Exercise:
- Reduce body fat from 33% to 25%
- Be more consistent with strength training. 2-3 days per week. Lift until muscle failure.
- Cardio exercise 3-4 times per week, 45-60 minutes.
- Try a spinning class.
- Take skiing lessons.
- Track fitness in Spark and GoWear Fit device.
- Get up from desk at work every hour and stretch.
Diet:
- Eat zone diet ratios of 40/30/30 protein/carb/fat.
- Eat between 1200-1600 calories daily.
- No sugary drinks.
- Enjoy alcoholic beverage 1-2 times per week.
- Track nutrition in Spark.
- Write diet and fitness blog 1-2 times per week.

Teeth Health:
Due to genetics, I'm predisposed towards periodontal disease. I was diagnosed with early stages in 2009. Regular dental visits for professional cleaning and aggressive brushing should reverse the damage.
- Brush teeth three times per day. Twice per day minimum.
- Floss 1-2 times per day.
- Use antiseptic mouthwash twice per day.
- Visit dentist twice per year for cleaning.

Career:
- Re-enroll in college and finish degree.
- Setup my online blog for writing career related blog articles.
- Write career related blog articles 1-2 times per week.

As with all my goal lists, this is a living list that I will add to and adjust as needed. It's something that's defined for me to assess whether my general trend is improving. If not, then I need to take action. I'm a practitioner of GTD (Getting Things Done), so this will be a part of my weekly review to remind me of these goals, and also assess whether I am making progress.