I’m a believer in “you get what you measure.” It’s why I set fitness goals for the year. It provides motivation and something to track my progress against.
I’ve tracked my fitness goals each year since I started blogging back in 2014. This year is no different. Even though it is already February, I’ve been tracking my fitness activities against the goals in this post since the beginning of the year.
I track progress in three areas – working out, physical activity, and diet. Let’s start by looking back at last year, and then look at plans for 2024.
2023 goal review
Working out
Last year’s target was the completion of 120 days of working out, consisting of a mixture of strength and cardio routines. I came up just short at 119 days. By the numbers, it was a fail, but overall it was a success. If I’m working out 10 days per month on average, things are going good.
I’m in a good rhythm where I do a mix of online video routines 2 days a week, typically on Mondays and Wednesdays, and an all-body dumbbell workout on Fridays. It’s a rhythm that I plan to continue using for this year.
Physical activity
The goal was 1,000 miles from walking, running, hiking, and cycling. Unlike my working out goal, I just made it completing 1004 miles for the year. Walking accounted for 744 miles, and running made up the rest. I didn’t track any hiking or cycling activities.
1,000 miles is a good goal for now. It’s not unachievable, but it requires me to stay focused and disciplined throughout the year in order to eclipse the 1K mark.
Diet
I didn’t set any measurable goals for diet, so there isn’t a whole lot to report here. I’ve maintained a “reduced-carb” diet and ramped up my effort to “protect the liver, feed the gut” as Dr. Lustig advised in his book Metabolical.
Another area I’ve been wanting to include in my diet is fasting. Results here have been a mixed bag. I generally adhere to 16:8 intermittent fasting, although there are some days when I may fast for only 14 hours. I’ve been wanting to incorporate longer fasts of 24-72 hours on a regular basis, but I’ve been having hard time with motivation. Some of it could be traced back to my experience fasting for 48 hours, although I believe this is more of an excuse to avoid it more than anything else.
Goals for 2024
A couple of years ago, I decided to simplify my fitness goals. It’s worked well, so I going to continue to keep it simple.
Working out
The goal is to workout 120 days during the year. I’m going to continue the same routine, which is a mix of online video workouts and all-body dumbbell workouts.
Physical activity
As you probably guessed, the target is 1,000 miles tracked. This target can be a combination of walking, running, hiking, or cycling. I expect it will be mostly walking and running with a hike or two mixed in. I don’t anticipate there will be any cycling involved, although you never know. I have been known to do some long rides in the past.
Diet
Diet is the one area that I would consider a work in progress. I’m pretty happy with my reduced carb diet, and I’ve done a decent job mixing in more raw vegetables and fermented foods over the last couple of years.
The problem isn’t what I’m eating, it’s how often I’m not eating. I still have a desire to do longer fasts. Last year, I didn’t do any fasts longer than 16 hours. I’d like to get into a routine of one 24-hour fast per month, and a longer fast of 48-72 hours once or twice a year. Hopefully, I can develop a reasonable fasting routine in 2024.
For the most past, I don’t have any major complaints when it comes to fitness. I’m extremely grateful for my overall fitness level. It allows me to do all the things I like to do with minimal aches and pains, if any. So long as that continues to be the case through 2024, I don’t anticipate making any major changes to my fitness regimen in the foreseeable future.