Personal Challenge 2014

More Things Changed, Some Things Stayed The Same

We have come to the part of the year, other than birthdays, reunions, or anniversaries, where people look back on life and either reminisce, have regrets, or set new goals.

2013 was a challenging year for me. Honestly, I do not regret anything in life, however, I would say that in 2013, I had setbacks. These setbacks will take some effort to mitigate, but they are resolvable. I have also had triumphs, of course; but unfortunately the setbacks are weighing on me at the moment. Similar to most people, I have many challenges, but my biggest one is food. Because of food being my biggest vice, I challenge myself every year to give up one of my favorite foods. So far I have given up soda, ice cream, and deep fried foods.

2014 will be the year of no red meat. This will be hard, though, not as hard as ice cream, but hard nonetheless. I look forward to making healthy substitutions for red meat. My goal for these annual personal challenges is to break a habit and weave in a healthy habit into my eating lifestyle. My hope is that it will make it easier for my sons to emulate my eating habits- not to mention to enriching and lengthening my life.

There are many tools that can be used to track eating, exercise, and enrich quality of life. Below are a list of tools that I use.

MotoActv: This is my number one tool because it is so comprehensive with regards to tracking exercise, setting goals, creating workout plans, and challenging others in competitions.

Fitbit Flex: I am using this as a supplemental tool to my MotoActv. The great thing about the Fitbit Flex is that it includes a lot of the stuff I used to use myfitnesspal for. I can track my food, water, exercise, and have it sync with other tools that I use seamlessly.

Healthvault: Healthvault is an app that came pre-installed on my Surface Pro and I have to say that I love it. I have it synced with my Fitbit and soon I will have my other health info synced.

As I discover more tools throughout 2014 I will definitely update; but until then, Happy New Year and Godspeed!

-Ellison-
A.K.A Edmund Starbanks

2013 Personal Challenge

The Journey Continues

Part of my personal challenge of 2012 was to give up ice cream for the year. I am happy to say that I was successful in doing just that. Another was to lose 20 lbs. Unfortunately, I fell short of that goal. Honestly, I got lazy and complacent with my eating and exercise. Just as with previous years, I will give up an indulgence for the year, but I am also going to commit myself to getting healthy in my eating and regular exercise. My son is getting older and I want to be around when we are attending his children's weddings. I don't know what I will be giving up for the coming year, but I do know that I am going to commit to exercising a minimum of three times a week, gradually cutting out foods high in preservatives and unhealthy fats, pursuing endeavors that enrich my life and following my dreams.

I owe this to myself, my family, and to people who look to me as an example-good or bad. This coming year, I'm not going to focus on a number with relation to weight loss, but more on being healthier. I have a number I want to get to, but I'm going to make decisions based on enriching my life and showcasing me as an example to my son and others.

Godspeed and thank you for support; past, present, and future. Join me on my journey. I would love to hear from you and what your journey for 2013 will be.


You can follow me online via these links: Google+: +Ellison S., Twitter: http://twitter.com/vicavicmusic