Last year I skipped my annual year end review and this year I resume it hoping it helps remind people how best to start their year.
Last January I informed you how important it was to cut down on both sugar and salt since the average American diet tends to have way too much of both.
February we were all facing hills, some on top of one, some still climbing, and some, sliding down. These hills represented the challenges we faced and how each of us were facing ours.
March started teasing us with a glimpse of warmer weather and better things to come when, after many months, we fought both weight gain and snowstorms and seemed to be losing both battles.
With the warmer weather in April, young men started showing off their bare abdomens in a competition of who had the best ‘six packs’, causing me to inform them that there is a huge difference between aesthetics and functionality. They may look great but were they really conditioned properly?
By May we could be confident that what seemed to be a never ending winter really was coming to an end. We began to see our weight gain melting along with the snow and I had promised you that with the warmer months ahead you would see more success.
In June I offered you a 20 minute workout as a way out of excuses preventing you from having the time while in July I reminded you to take advantage of all the fresh produce we have access to in our area and to fill up on all the right stuff while you could.
In August we learned that those calorie counting gadgets weren’t so accurate and that every individual had different metabolic rates and that not all calories were equal, further elaborating on the different metabolic responses to different foods.
In September some of us enjoyed the new craze of beer and 5K’s. I thoroughly enjoyed the ‘Hot Run in the Summer’ held in Woodbury and hosted by the Road Runner’s Club of Woodbury. Great gifts, great food, and great beer.
I got a bit nostalgic in October when I reminded everyone of the things we used to do that helped us stay active and burn calories simply by the customs we followed in those pre-tech days. Answering telephones that hung on the wall, manually having to change channels without luxury of remote, forcing our a…up off the couch each time, and raking leaves instead of simply using a blower….to name a few.
In November, a bit of soul searching and self-criticism helped me…and I hope helped you… identify the bad eating habits we have sabotaging our success, whether it was eating wrong foods, eating too much food, or both. Guilty.
Finally, in December, a little humor when I helped inform you that we all have girdles. We just don’t all wear them right. I’m not talking about clothing but your own well developed TVA.
Your transversus abdominus muscle, that when developed and conditioned properly, prevent the need for useless weight belts people use to support their back. It also makes that beautiful six-pack a well functioning one. You hear that young men?
