A goal without a plan is merely a dream

  It is still early enough in the year to have goals for a new year, without seriously considering what it will take to achieve those goals, or the inevitable challenges to reaching those goals.

  The first step is to take stock. How much do you weigh? What sort of weight is it? What decisions did you make leading up to this? What could you have done differently? (You do not have to like the answers. In fact, you almost certainly will not. But you need to ask the questions.)

  What improvements do you want to make? Do you want to lose weight? Gain muscle? Lose a gut? What old habits are you willing to change? How much time are you willing to spend?

  Following the holidays, change is easy to talk about. The end of the year is largely defined by three food-heavy holidays. It is nearly impossible for people who do not work from home to avoid Halloween and Christmas candy or the food at a family’s Thanksgiving dinner. (Most people really would not try to avoid those things, nor should they.)

  Even without making obviously bad choices, the last 10 weeks of the year obligate people to take shortcuts with diet (relying on convenient, high-calorie food) or exercise (skipping workouts or trips to the gym). Stress and lack of sleep also lead to gaining weight.

  For some people, the first, possibly only, goal for this year is undoing the damage from the end of last year.

  Ultimately, it is a question of priorities. Do you want to be healthier later? If so, start a new routine now, when it is easy to be enthusiastic enough to build the habit and do the work.

  Everybody reading this is invited (challenged) to pick and work towards at least one health goal this year. Pick a metric (pounds lost, muscle gained or steps taken) and have a plan for when to reach it.