Another year has come and gone, so here I am with my 2018 goals. I’ve been sharing my New Year’s resolutions for two years now, and while I may not have always reached those goals I enjoy the idea of having them public for the accountability. It’s also a nice way to have a journal-esque log of what I’ve wanted to do over the years and watch myself grow and change.
2017 has been an experience. I’ve gone through challenging times before, but this past year has come with the most changes, challenges, and growth. I won’t go too into my grievances as I’d much rather focus on the positives and growth the past 12 months.
If you’re just joining my fitness journey here, then you’ll should be aware that I’ve sustained a few injuries this year. With that I’ve learned how to better care for myself as a whole. With my injuries, I also took a step away from focusing on my physique goals, and instead focused on balance and a (successful) reverse diet. Because I found this new balance in my life, I changed my website name and also my branding across the board to Angela’s Balanced Life – this was a huge undertaking for me and I’m proud to say that I did it all myself.
In my personal life, it’s important to know that my boyfriend became a nurse this past year after two years of very hard work in school. While that journey did not come without it’s own challenges some of which we’re still working through, for me (and him I’m sure!) it was the highlight of the year.
MY 2018 GOALS
Blog
As always, I want to spend more time updating my blog consistently. In 2016, I updated my blog two or three times per week and about halfway through 2017 I dropped the ball. I could go on with excuses as to why I didn’t keep up on my website, but at the end of the day I’m disappointed that I wasn’t consistent.
Something I hope comes with updating my blog consistently again is that my readership will grow along with my social media. For my 2017 goals, I had set some pretty steep goals for my Instagram and I definitely did not reach that goal. I’m not setting any hard numbers for my social media this year, but I am going to commit to posting on Instagram at least three times per week.
Writing
Along with updating my blog on a consistent basis, I’d like to improve my writing skills again and perhaps dable into some creative writing. I truly love writing and I’m beginning to find that is also a stress reliever, and I would like to find outlet for it.
Health
First and foremost, I want to get my body back to its healthiest state. Earlier this year I injured my knee which I would say is 80-85% healed, but a few weeks ago I twisted it and caused tendinitis. I went to physical therapy for the pain and a week later, and now it’s nearly resolved. Another week later I noticed my left wrist and thumb were in pain. After visiting the orthopedic I was diagnosed with De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis – tendinitis in the wrist. Currently, I’m wearing a brace, icing, and taking ibuprofen and tumeric for the swelling. I also found some wrist exercises that I’m hoping improves my wrist strength and mobility.
Fitness
For my fitness goals for next year, I’m planning to maintain for the first half of January to focus on getting my strength back in my upper body, then I plan to diet mid-January for 8 to 12 weeks. Because I spent the better part of 2017 reverse dieting and lifting heavy, my maintenance is higher than years past making my diet calorie/macro split more sustainability. We all want to eat as many carbs as possible while dieting! After my diet, I plan to jump right back into maintenance and hopefully reverse diet again.
In terms of my lifts, I really enjoy a five-day split: legs – quads, back, chest, legs – hamstrings and glutes, and shoulders. While I love that split and it works great for my physique, six days a week at the gym is time consuming. So I’m planning one of two things: combine my leg day to include everything (quads, hamstrings, and glutes) or combing chest and shoulder day into one day.
I’ve also decided that I want to get back into running in 2018. I would love to run another 5K and start doing my cardio by running outside in the spring months. The gym is great and I find it the motivating when I’m there, but I have found myself missing the freeness of stepping outside and running wherever my mind wants to go.
Travel
Unfortunately, 2017 was light on traveling so we’re making it a point to change that next year. We’ve already decided on two destinations for 2018, it’s just a matter of timing and budgeting. In addition to these two trips, I’d also like to take small road trip within Minnesota. As we continue traveling I’m planning to share my experiences from these destinations here on my blog. Check out my most recent trip to Detroit a few months ago!
I hope you’ll stick around here and on my social media to keep up on my 2018 adventures. I personally have embraced the idea that we are continually growing as individuals which leads to improvement of one’s self
