I've always thought New Year's resolutions are pretty silly, but this year especially there's a much greater sense of urgency for change - a combination of the enthusiasm we collectively feel to distance ourselves from the last 12 months, with a desperate optimism that comes from knowing things need to get better.

I currently live in Melbourne which, as of writing this blog, was home to the longest lockdown in the world. In our second wave of 2020 we spent 110 consecutive days pretty much locked in our homes; Masks were mandatory in all public places, all non-essential businesses were shut, you could not visit other private residences unless it was to administer care to elderly or sick relatives, and the state government even went so far as to limit the amount of time you could spend outdoors to 1 hour a day, for exercise or food only, and no more than 5km from your home. I supported all these decisions but, as I was living alone at the time, it meant 3+ months of total isolation in a country on the opposite side of the world from my family. When Australians lock shit down they don't fuck about.

Unfortunately one of the early casualties of lockdown was the gyms. I've gone through phases of working out throughout most of my adult life. In my mid twenties I would casually lift weights once or twice a week with friends, but that was driven by a desire to be social rather than to be healthy. I paid for a personal trainer for a year to make sure my technique was good and to help teach me some more structured exercise routines, but after a year I didn't feel any stronger or healthier so it seemed like a waste of money. But if I'm really honest with myself, the reason I made so little progress was because my heart wasn't really in it. Any progress I could have potentially made was undermined by poor diet and life choices - in between workouts my exercise was minimal, my nutrition non existent, and the full extent of the lifestyle changes I made were limited to drinking vodka over beer. When the gyms were closed in lockdown what I felt, honestly, was relief; finally I had an excuse not to go. I could sit on my ass and eat pizza and play videogames and nobody could judge me for doing anything else. I live alone, so there was nobody to prompt me to go outside. I would make token efforts at exercise - an occasional jog around the park, purchasing a Ring Fit for my switch (soon covered in dust), and buying fresh vegetables which would more often than not slowly go bad before I found the enthusiasm to cook anything with them. I went full hermit, and honestly it's a little upsetting to me how easy that was.

By November 2020, when the lockdown was finally over, I had put on about 5kg's and felt noticeably heavier. I had convinced myself that because I was wearing the same clothes that I was still in roughly the same shape - and this is broadly true. My waist is the same size, but the weight was loaded onto my gut; I have a dad-bod now. So as soon as the gym's re-opened I was first in line. I wanted to try something different from lifting weights at my own pace, so I signed up for a crossfit style gym which exclusively offers hour long classes throughout the day. I'm pretty sure it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I finally feel like I'm getting a well rounded workout, with a focus on cardio, weights, resistance training and just enough peer pressure from the people around me to push myself to keep going. My fitbit tracks which heart rate zones I'm in, so I can quantify exactly how hard I'm exercising and encourage myself each class to do better. I started out going to two classes a week, but this didn't seem enough; It felt like an echo of my mid-twenties, where I would push myself just enough to plateau - I wasn't getting any worse, but I wasn't feeling any fitter either. So I increased my classes to three times a week, and started paying for high-protein meal-prep kits, a workaround to streamline the nutrition chunk of my new active health drive. And now, several weeks later, I'm both feeling and seeing the difference.

One of the weird things about working out is, and this will probably be eye-rollingly obvious to anyone who already has a fit and active lifestyle but has eluded me for my entire adult life, the more you invest (time/money/etc) the more inclined you are to self-regulate and reinforce those choices. You're less likely to go for a beer on wednesday night if you know you have a workout thursday morning. You're less likely to buy sugary snacks at the supermarket when you're spending so much time carefully cultivating a complimentary nutritious diet. For a long time I dismissed counting calories as extremely try-hard, but when you're getting an accurate weekly breakdown from your fitbit of how many calories you're burning through you really don't want to undermine all that work you've done. And I think part of this, the most important part, is the psychological mindset that comes from frequently working out - when you work out only twice a week there's too much time in between to get into trouble. If you're a few days away from your next workout you're more likely to cave to pressure and eat a little bit more, go for a couple of beers, or even find an excuse to wriggle out of the workout altogether. I know everyone is different but for me I've discovered that the key to staying healthy is momentum - you need to exercise often enough that you're always mindful of the next one. It's like water-skiing; if you stop then you sink.

It's weird how one positive change lays the foundation for others. I've started cooking again - wanting greater control over what I'm eating and when. I bought a blender so I can make protein smoothies, and buy fresh fruit twice a week to mix them in. I'm sleeping better - my body is physically fucking exhausted all the time, which is a different exhaustion from emotional or psychological. These days I hit the bed and I'm out like a light.

So 2021, or Twenty Big Dog Run, No Bones About It if you're a McElboys fan, is off to a strong start for me. I've signed up for a local volleyball league and I'm extremely tempted to foster a dog from a shelter now that lockdown has ended here. I'm going to ride this wave as far as it will take me.

If you've made any positive healthy lifestyle resolutions or changes, let me know; I feel like it's time to take another crack at meditating even though it's never particularly worked for me in the past, but I'm open to other ideas as well.

Thanks For Reading

Love Sweep