Community Blog: Setting new year health goals, by Amanda Ackerman

[alexthecat]

Setting new year health goals, by Amanda Ackerman

With the new year, many of us begin thinking about setting new health goals. Unfortunately, our goals often seem to be forgotten or abandoned within a few weeks or months. One problem may be that we set goals that are too ambitious or too vague. With no roadmap to follow to reach our destination, it’s easy to get discouraged and give up. I learned this for myself several years ago.

I was always a very active person and my goals centered around optimizing my performance in athletic competitions. All that changed when I was seriously injured in an accident. It took multiple operations over the next year to get me out of my wheelchair and back on my feet. When I finally recovered from all my surgeries and completed physical therapy, I was turned loose on the world, but it was hard to know how to start my journey back to physical fitness. At the time of my accident, I was training to run a marathon. A year later, I was so deconditioned that I couldn’t walk around the block without having to stop and catch my breath.

Two things that I had always considered when setting goals were whether those goals were measurable and realistic. If my goal is not measurable, I won’t have any way to know when I have reached it. If my goal is not realistic, I may get discouraged and give up before I’ve even started. In this situation, I knew that I wanted to regain my fitness, but what did that mean? How would I go about measuring that? I wanted to get back into marathon training, but that was completely unrealistic at that point. So, what was realistic?

I decided that my first goal would be to hike to the top of a hill near my home. I was already familiar with heart rate training and had used it for years to prepare for endurance events. I decided that I could use a similar approach to rebuild my fitness and train for my hill. My first exercise session after I completed physical therapy was to walk to a park that was about a quarter-mile from my home. During this effort, I achieved the kind of heart rate that I used to see only when running as fast as I could during a race. Two days later, I walked back to the park. My heart rate was a little lower and I was able to walk a little farther.

From there, I continued taking walks that were progressively longer and more challenging. I monitored trends in my sleep pattern and resting heart rate in order to avoid overtraining, just as I had done when I was training for my marathons. By the end of that summer, I had summitted that local hill several times. The following summer, I was hiking in Yosemite. Today, I can do everything that I was able to before my accident, including running competitively, and I’m still using my Fitbit tracker to help me reach and even exceed my goals.

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Please note that content published here is written by Fitbit Community members and does not reflect any opinions or official positions of Fitbit. The Community Blog entries are published as submitted and are not edited for grammatical or other accuracy. This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or condition. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, altering your sleep habits, taking supplements, or starting a new fitness routine.

[LadvV]

WOW! You have an awesome testimony!  Thank GOD for it! 😊  So glad you are no longer hindered from the accident.  I am wanting advice on some diets and have incorporated a "walk-at-home" exercise routine for myself.  What do you think about Keto?  https://bit.ly/3ra9GsV  Check out the link and give your opinion please.  Thanks! 

[alexthecat]

@LadvV Thanks for reading my post! I don't have any experience with that diet, so I can't comment on that. I do wish you well with your journey however. 🙂

[LadvV]

Thanks very much. Appreciate you taking the time to respond.

[DABKING]

😲wow that looks tough I probuly couldn't do that tbh!😲

[MaMaMiaInTX]

What an awesome testimony! Thank you for sharing with your FitBit community!

[alexthecat]

@MaMaMiaInTX Thanks for reading my blog post and thanks also for your nice comment. It's great to meet you! 

[WilsonFitbit]

Hello @alexthecat, welcome to the Fitbit Community! 

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences! This is a very amazing testimony! For sure, this motivates others who have had similar experiences.

I'm also glad to hear that you're now recovered and keep up the great work and continue tracking towards your fitness goals!  

Have a great day! 

[alexthecat]

@WilsonFitbit thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! That was a very challenging time in my life, but it does seem worthwhile to me to know that others can benefit from my experience. 

[WilsonFitbit]

@alexthecat, 

I agree with you, 😊 it was a challenging time for you but the good thing is that you're now back on track! This really makes me happy 😀

[Tmomma11]

@alexthecat. 

If you don’t mind sharing, I’m curious exactly what you looked for in your RHR and sleeping patterns. I’ve frequently gone into overtraining and I’d really like to learn how to avoid it in the future. 

[alexthecat]

@Tmomma11 I find that, when I'm overtraining, my resting heart rate increases and I get less REM and less deep sleep. I also tend to wake up more frequently during the night and not feel as well rested in the morning. 

[JuanJoFitbit]

Wow, that's very inspiring! I really hope you keep achieving your goals and staying safe. Your post encourages me to keep looking for the healthier way to be active and achieve my personal goals as well.

See you guys around!

[alexthecat]

@JuanJoFitbit thank you for your comment! I hope my experience can be helpful to others. 

[JuanJoFitbit]

@alexthecat I'm pretty sure it will be helpful to other users.

Stay safe and see you later! 😀