I can only assume roughly twelve people are reading this blog today. I mean, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that everyone is either piss drunk right now and/or shoveling out their cars. Not to mention pretty much everyone takes the last two weeks of December off from work. It’s the American way. Helllllllllooooooo? Is there anybody out there?
Hmmm, what can I blog about today? I could write about how I ate so much homemade fudge while home for Christmas that I’m embarrassed to call myself a fitness professional. Or I could write about one of the worst movies I have ever seen.
Seven Pounds: saw this Christmas night with my brother and his girlfriend. Lets pass on the formalities, and just say that I could have taken a dump, on top of another dump, and that super pile of dump would have been more compelling than this movie. True story. And while I’m at it, since when is it acceptable to have Rosario Dawson in a movie and NOT show off her cleavage? FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL.
Or I could just elaborate on Project: Tony Gets Sexified that officially began today (I’m already 2.54% more sexy after plowing through 25 minutes of intervals on the Airdyne bike). And before everyone starts to assume that this is just some lame resolution to get into shape, back off son! No no, I’m doing this for a much more noble reason: to see whether or not I can attain the upper echelon of human aesthetics and performance. Which is to say, to get chicks. Obviously.
In all seriousness, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again- I’m a realist during the Holidays. While I’d love to sit here and tell everyone that I’m a beacon of perfect eating, the fact is, there’s no way in hell I was going to pass up on my mom’s homemade peanut butter fudge. Or chocolate fudge for that matter. However, that’s not to say that I’m not like everyone else, and view New Year’s as a time to “tighten the reigns” so-to-speak.
I was catching up on some blog reading the other day, and came across a great post by Men’s Health Fitness Editor Adam Bornstein, where he briefly discussed some of the same sentiments I have towards this time of year. Mainly, that it’s perfectly fine to let loose a little bit during the Holidays, but to try to follow that up with some healthy New Year’s resolutions.
The thing is, when it comes to making New Year’s resolutions, I find that people tend to be too vague and not specific enough. Furthermore, there is rarely any form of accountability. That being said, let use myself as an example. Here are my goals for said project sexification mentioned above:
1. To go from lean (9-10% bodyfat) to ludicrous lean (6-7%). Essentially this is going to be more of a focus on body re-composition where I try to get as lean as possible without dropping too much body weight. Ideally, I’d like to NOT dip below 195 lbs (currently at 205).
2. As well, I’m going to structure things so that I don’t sacrifice too much strength. I think a major downfall of most (read: not all) fat loss specific programs are that they compromise strength. I think that sucks. AI also have to work around two knees that hate me with a passion, so that kind of throws a monkey wrench into things.
4. I’m giving myself six weeks (dieting for more than 6-8 weeks at a time is plain silly), and thankfully my good friend Jen Heath has been kind enough to write my diet for me. She’s assured me that I won’t hate life too much. We’ll see about that. If I end up in a knife fight with Chuck E. Cheese when he refuses to give me a slice of pizza on my low-carb day, it’s her fault.
Needless to say I hit off Trader Joe’s earlier in the week to stock up on all the food I’ll need, I cracked open my copy of Gourmet Nutrition for some great shake ideas, and my programming will be all set by the end of the day today. Can’t wait to get started.
And if you still haven’t caught on to the point I’m trying to make, let me break it down for you here. You can’t half ass it. Whether your goal is to lose some weight, increase your strength, start eating more veggies, or I don’t know, make out with Megan Fox, you need to set specific goals and set yourself up for success. Do what you have to do: mark calenders, ask a friend to join in, take progress pictures, hire a trainer, cook meals ahead of time, whatever. Don’t let 2009 be like any other year. Make this the year you follow through on your resolution(s).
On that note, have an awesome New Year’s, and thanks for all the support in 2008.
