Planning for a GREAT 2021

My first post of 2020 was full of hope and optimism. WhileI believe this first post of 2021 will help me in planning for a great 2021, I realize that I will temper my hope, enthusiasm and optimism. I have a pivoted my perspective due to the pandemic.

For the majority of 2020 I have been dealing with a “new normal” during the pandemic and I adjusted my life accordingly. Intensified family situations have increased stress. Through all this I learned how my sense of community and loose ties make such a difference in my day to day mental attitude.

Last year my 3 words were declutter, habit and grateful. I regrouped around March 15 and many times just tried to just focus on building mental resilience. I really worked on improving and activating my parasympathetic nervous system with 4-7-8 breathing, yoga nidra and meditation.

As you can see by the photo, my regular exercise – as tracked by my FitBit activity minutes – took a nose dive. My daily activity during the prior four years ranged in the high 70’s/low 80’s for daily minutes. My pandemic year of 2020 dropped to a mere 50 minutes per day. Not exercise, just active minutes.

I feel that the biggest difference was not going to the gym. I used to average 4 or 5 days a week there. Other things contributed, for example, my dog passed away this past year. My usual walking trails became less appealing. My usual bike riding went from 2 or 3 rides a week to just one – a twenty two mile ride that stopped when the weather got nasty.

My goal this year… get activity minutes average back up to high 70’s low 80’s. Definitely one of my 3 words this year will be activity!

While I am planning for a great 2021, stay tuned to my next post for my action plan. This is the where the rubber meets the road and I’m still working this out! I’m going to review the 3 stages of a habit (cue, action, reward) as well as my basics and baby steps plans. I am determined to make fit & strong an important part of 2021.

My 3 words for 2021: activity, fit, strong!