Holiday Fitness Goals

I've been reading some interesting facts about weight gain during the holiday season recently.  It's not really new information but for some reason it seems to be hitting home a bit more this year than it has in the past.  Did you know the average American gains 7-12 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day?  7-12 pounds!  And apparently gaining the weight isn't really the problem - the problem is that most people never lose that weight.  So while eating a plate of Grandma Olga's Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies each night may sound like a fabulous idea and a fun holiday tradition it seems it may also result in a lifelong addition to my ever growing muffin top.

That thought just doesn't sit well with me - and I have no plans to give up my cookies.  So I decided that this holiday season I need to kick it into high gear.  I usually use the busyness of the holidays as an excuse to cut back on exercise - but not this year.  This year I have set Holiday Fitness Goals in an attempt to motivate and encourage myself to keep moving and, with any luck at all, minimize the impact of Grandma Olga's cookies.

Holiday Fitness Goal #1 - Run 100 miles in December
This is pretty ambitious for me.  It equates to about 25 miles per week.  Also, since I actually am pretty busy (is there anyone out there who isn't busy?), it will require that most of my workouts in December involve a significant amount of running.  No points for yoga or Zumba with this goal.  Which brings us to Holiday Fitness Goal #2.

Holiday Fitness Goal #2 - Complete 20 Activities in December
Activities is Garmin speak for workout (I'm using Garmin Connect to track my goal progress).  So for this goal - as long as I'm working out I get points.  It equates to about 5 activities a week.  In a normal month this really isn't a stretch but in December, with cookie baking, family gatherings, shopping, wrapping, sending, celebrating, etc. 5 days a week wont be easy.

And just for good measure I'm participating in the Battle the Bird challenge.  The goal is to burn 15,000 calories between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.  I burn about 350 calories/hour of INTENSE working out so I actually know I wont achieve this goal but tracking my progress against other participants has been surprisingly motivating.  I have actually considered how my workout plans will affect my standing on more than one occasion.

So are you pumped?!  Are you ready to join me?!  Will you look and feel GREAT on New Year's day as you ponder all of the AWESOME fitness choices you made during the 2010 holiday season?!  Good for you!