Make it count in 2012

While I'm not one to make new year's resolutions I do like the idea of choosing a personal motto to guide you through the 12 months that follow. This year my motto is "make it count". Whether it's choosing what workout I'll do on a given day or selecting my meals and snacks I plan to strive to make my choices count.

Choose Foods That are Worth the Splurge

The make-it-count approach is nothing new to me. As a matter of fact, It's what helped me successfully lose the 50 lbs I gained with my first pregnancy. During the three months that it took me to lose the weight (About 25 of those pounds were made up by the weight of the baby and fluid.) I viewed choosing calories like withdrawing money from the bank. If I used too many calories at lunch I'd be bankrupt by dinner. I needed to make my calorie intake count. Would I rather snack on an entire cucumber and a serving of hummus or 14 chips that totaled the same calorie count? For me, the chips weren't worth it. I love hummus, chips, eh, not worth the splurge.

While I was pretty good at making healthy choices I did allow myself the occasional splurge, but only splurges that were worth it to me. What helped me was limiting my splurges to three favorites: A slice of pumpkin pie, a sliver of cheesecake or a high quality piece of chocolate. A couple generic Oreos or a Hostess cupcake with it's plastic-like "icing" and grease filled center weren't splurges that left me saying "That was worth every calorie." Now a piece of Godiva dark chocolate, so worth the calories.

Workout Efficiently

If I were independently wealthy and could afford to have someone run my errands, prepare my meals and clean my house I might have time to workout for 2 hours a day. Even if that were the case I think I'd still choose to work out the way I do, in as efficient a fashion as possible. There are plenty of ways to accomplish this. By choosing to do high intensity interval training on cardio days, combining upper and lower bodies moves in a single exercise during strength training or alternating between upper and lower body moves without taking breaks you can work up a major sweat and finish in a time efficient manner.

I can't tell you how many times I've been at the gym and witnessed someone walking on a treadmill at a speed that is consistent with a warm-up for 60 minutes straight. I've even spied more than one gym member reading while pedaling a stationary bike at a snail's pace. While some activity is better than none, these folks basically wasted a trip to the gym. There's no need to spend your life in a gym if you workout smart.

A final note: Always keep the level of intensity of your workout in mind. Check out this post for more ideas.

2012 has arrived, how do you plan to make choices that count this year?