As we hit the end of January 2019 I have been reflecting on my fitness goals for 2019. I think it is really important to reassess your goals when you are on a “fitness journey” as it keeps you motivated and on track.

2018 was a big year for me health and fitness wise. I started working with Felicity Neale in April, initially focusing on diet but progressing to my exercise regime as well and I saw massive changes in my health and fitness.

Towards the end of 2018 our focus moved to building strength and saw the introduction of more regular weight lifting days which I have to admit I was surprised about, but I loved. Previously to that I had focused on cardio quite a lot and was a bit afraid to branch out into the weights section on my own.

This year I really want to keep focusing on strength and weight lifting because I really see the benefits of strength training and it has so much more of an impact on the development of my body and I love the way my muscles are developing.

I am also working towards having surgery to remove the excess skin I have on my stomach, back, arms and legs this year. I haven’t really talked about this much on the blog but it is a big focus. When I started working out I always insisted I would never have the surgery but I am now at the stage where I can see that the excess skin I have is not going to shrink much at all and I don’t want to live with it for the rest of my life when I can do something about it (I know plenty of people do happily).

I am sussing out the costs and timeframe for having the surgery but it is high on my agenda.

Before the surgery I want to get to my strongest so that this will help with my recovery after the surgery. Felicity and I feel like I need to get my arms and legs as strong as possible because frankly it is going to really hurt if I try using my core to move myself around post surgery.

I also want to keep participating in the various running and walking events which are being held around the Brisbane / Gold Coast / Sunshine Coast areas. I am still not really a runner and half heartedly give running a go from time to time, but the events I want to do are usually still welcoming to walkers and so definitely inclusive for me. I am lucky that Naomi and the Aussie indulge me on this aim and will come along for the ride!

I have been a bit hit and miss with Park Run the last few months. This is mainly because I am just not someone who can walk / run in the heat and its been pretty hot even at 7am in the morning. The Aussie and I did a Park Run in the UK (and I got a PB knocking 3 minutes off my time) and this takes me up to 23 Park Runs so far. When you have completed 50 Park Runs you receive a 50 shirt and I am quite focused on completing the 50 this year!

Finally I want to get braver! The Aussie and I did a couple of walks in the UK and I was terrified of falling over. Now after 30 odd years of tripping over I know what it feels like to fall over and I am lucky that this seems to have reduced considerably with my weight loss (touch wood). I am also always worried that if I injure myself I won’t be able to work out and I really don’t like the risk.

I will admit that on one of our walks I was like a baby deer taking tiny steps because it was muddy, hilly and there were lots of rocks to slip on. I want to get over this because I really enjoy hiking and walking.

I think I need to buy some walking poles because from talking to various people this has helped them enormously with building confidence on this kind of walk. Then when it cools down a bit in Autumn and Winter I hope that the Aussie and I can get out there and start building my confidence!