I had a decent 2013 when it came to fitness. I walked a lot, completing over 660 miles with my loyal Golden Retriever at my side (see the graph below for the monthly figures). I also made it to the gym quite a bit, mixing up a decent amount of cardio and weights.

So why wasn’t the past year great? I’m not totally happy with my weight. I’m toting around about 170 pounds, and my preference is to stay somewhere between 160 and 165. Overall, that’s my target goal for the next year. To continue working out as regularly as I did in 2013 while shaving off a few pounds.

So here are my goals for 2014. I wanted to document them for this upcoming year to make myself more accountable. I’ve also tried to make them as S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-based) as possible.

1. Log 160 days at the gym in 2014
   I want to hit as many weekdays as possible in the gym for either weights or cardio. I figure there are about 260 weekdays during the year, so hitting 60% should be attainable.
2. Walk 650 miles in 2014
   Since I hit 661 miles in 2013, hitting 650 should be achievable. I’d like to see if I can get as close to 700 as possible.
3. Eat healthier
   OK, so this isn’t very S.M.A.R.T., but I’ve got to figure out how to eat better. For starters, I need to be more conscience of my calorie intake, and then I need to be a lot more careful about the types of calories I eat. In other words, I need to cut down on things like refined sugars, junk foods, and items with ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. The key will be figuring out how to measure it in order to enforce accountability.

I’m pretty confident about numbers 1 and 2, but it’s #3 that I’ll need to concentrate on if I want to make it to my stated goal of getting under 165 by the end of 2014.

Well, now that I have it written down, it’s time to go and perform!

If you have any ideas or tips on how to eat healthier and measure it, please leave them in the comments. I’m all ears!