FitReaders: Commit to Exercise for January 2016
Happy New Year, FitReaders! It is January 1, 2016, the calendar is fresh, and it is time for our annual Commit to Exercise sign-up. Whether you are setting a big mile-count goal or just committing to “show up most weeks,” we want to hear it. Drop your January (or full-year) intention in the comments and let us cheer you into the new year.
What Is Commit to Exercise?
Each January, FitReaders does a low-pressure sign-up where members share their movement goal for the new year. It is part accountability, part celebration, and part throwing your wishes into the wind together. There is no fee, no signup form, no judgment about what your goal is.
How to Sign Up
Drop a comment below with whatever feels right. Some examples:
- “I am committing to 50 walking miles in January.”
- “My goal is to do yoga three times a week through 2016.”
- “I want to show up for myself and move my body four days a week, however that looks.”
- “I am training for a 5K in May, so January is base-building.”
- “Honestly, I just want to be more consistent than I was last year.”
All of these are perfect. Set the goal that meets you where you are.
My 2016 Commitment
I am committing to:
- An average of 4 movement sessions per week through 2016.
- A monthly walking-mileage goal that I will adjust seasonally (winter is harder for me, summer easier).
- One new movement experience per quarter (a class I have never taken, a hike I have never done).
The big-picture commitment is consistency over intensity. I would rather move my body four days a week, every week, than crush one big week and then disappear for two.
Tips for Sustainable Commitments
If this is your first time setting a yearly fitness goal alongside a community, a few things I have learned the hard way:
- Start smaller than you think. A goal you can hit while having a bad week is a sustainable goal.
- Plan for the dip. February is statistically the month where most resolutions fall apart. Decide now what your “dip plan” will be (a check-in buddy, a gentler backup goal, a planned rest week).
- Track in a way that does not stress you. A planner, a spreadsheet, a sticky note, an app, or nothing at all. Whatever does not feel like another chore.
- Adjust without guilt. A goal that is not working is a goal you can change. The point is movement, not perfectionism.
Why I Love This Sign-Up
There is something powerful about saying out loud (or in writing, in front of friends) what you want for yourself. It commits you in a way that a private resolution does not. And the cheering on of other people’s goals reminds me that we all have stuff we are working through. We are not alone in any of it.
Drop your commitment in the comments. Cheer on a couple of fellow FitReaders. And let us go make 2016 a year of consistent movement and books we cannot stop talking about.
Welcome back, friends. Let us go.