Monday, December 28, 2020

Resolutions? Not This Year

I am not making any New Year’s resolutions this year. As I wrote yesterday, “As 2020 ends and 2021 begins, I think we would be better off realizing that there is hope for a better future. Too often, we make careless resolutions that are never kept, and so one year blends into the next with little change.” In the past, I have resolved to lose weight, work out more, and be more organized. This past year, I have lost weight, which I am proud of, but I haven’t worked out more. 

 

For one thing, there are no regular gyms in the area. We have a Planet Fitness and a Snap Fitness, but neither are particularly close. They are both in another town. When I was in graduate school, I used to enjoy working out. I had someone I regularly worked out with, and even when we didn’t go together, I liked going. To be truthful, it wasn’t as much about working out. I liked being able to use the locker room and the sauna. Usually, there weren’t many guys in the locker room, and rarely did anyone use the open showers but opted for the showers stalls with curtains. There were often guys in the sauna, most wore a towel, but others did not, especially the international students. This was the university's fitness center, so when there were guys in the locker room, they were all about my age or a few years younger, but they were all over eighteen. Faculty had their own locker room. There was always eye candy inside and outside the locker room, so I got to work out and check out other guys. It was fun. I don’t work out at our university fitness center because the cadets at our school are very fit and handsome, and I’d just feel out of place. Plus, it’s not a very attractive gym because it is in the basement of one of the buildings. I miss getting the chance to see hot guys in the locker room. It proved to be a good motivation.

 

So while I’d like to work out more and lose more weight, I will probably just do my best to get more organized. I may have become slightly more organized this past year, but not by much. The most organizing I have done was downloading an app called “AnyList” to collect recipes and make shopping lists. I have the app linked to my laptop, iPad, and iPhone, and I can add recipes from the internet that I want to save and create recipes of my own. It also allows me to choose a recipe and add the ingredients to a shopping list. It also has a feature for meal plans, which I don’t use as often. I also downloaded another app called “Glucose – Blood Sugar Tracker” to keep up with my morning blood sugar readings. You can keep track of numerous health-related things in this app, but I mostly use it for my blood sugar, weight, and blood pressure. It also allows me to save to a spreadsheet these readings. Since I downloaded this app, I have gotten much better at keeping up with my blood sugar and weight, and to a lesser extent, my blood pressure.

 

So, while I am not making any resolutions this year, I am hoping to accomplish a few things I want to do to better my life. I hope 2021 is a better year for all of us.

5 comments:

RB said...

You could just do body weight exercises, or a video program like P90x at home. Free.

Anonymous said...

Go for it, Joe, you can do it! Roderick

Dave R said...

I never do resolutions, though I will change things up now and then. If I keep at it? Well, ain't that just nice?

VRCooper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
VRCooper said...

Continue to do you...Watch what you eat...I am not saying starve...Have a cheat day...I am 62 and my metabolism has slowed a lot since I was 30...Walk...Find/seek other alternatives in your home...Look into P90X...I know that living in a small town can prohibit a gym to take hold because of the population...I love going to the gym...I go 6 days a week...3 days of weights and 3 days of cardio-running on a treadmill...It's my mental health...I just started up again running outside during the summer months...I have a great park that is great for running...I don't run in the street because I don't like to stop for cars and what not...I miss my old gym where there were a separate sauna and steam room for men and women...I don't do coed...I don't want to look at or be near it...I loved using the steamroom...It was nice and a lot of guys were buck naked sitting on towels...Even the sauna was the same way...I went to one gym when I lived in Vista, CA where the sauna was in the guy's locker room...Great BUT a lot of guys were so afraid of being naked-or close to it-with another guy they would come in right off the gym floor-shoes, shorts, and shirts...Disappointing...Me...I could walk down main street naked and not bat an eye...I lost all modesty when I was in the military...Keep at it Joe...I know you feel better with the weight you lost and you move a lot better...Sleep better...Better self-esteem...Do it for you...Best of luck...Oy yes---Happy New Year Dear!!! XO