Taking Stock of 2012

Hey everyone,

We hope that you enjoyed a wonderful holiday!  We certainly had a lovely Christmas, enjoying a somewhat indulgent amount of delicious food.  As we head towards 2013, we are taking a moment to pause and look back at the last year, learn from our challenges and be thankful for our successes, and renew our motivation and dedication to fitness and healthy living.  Will you take the time to remember, learn, be thankful, and plan ahead for a healthy 2013?

Here are some of our CoupleFit reflections on 2012:

• Injuries - We both had to face some adversity in 2012, with a lower-back injury for Alex and a knee injury for Tannys.  Injuries and sickness can derail your training, but most of the time you can adapt and modify your fitness routine.  An injury does not wipe out your success and accomplishments, it does not erode your dedication or consistency - it only stops you if you let it.  Injuries and sickness are frustrating, but they are a fact of life.  We're committed for the long haul and that means that we train around injuries, by selecting different exercises, setting new goals, and taking pride in doing what we're able to do that particular day.  Despite serious injuries, we remained dedicated to our training and fitness in 2012 and accomplished one of our biggest goals...

• HKC Certification - At the beginning of December, we travelled to Toronto to become certified kettlebell instructors.  It was a challenging certification and throughout it, we weren't sure if we would ultimately be successful.  However, we kept positive and focused on learning as much as possible from our amazing instructor (Jon Engum, a Master RKC).  At the end, we were both thrilled to pass the certification and have since been applying everything we learned to our training (including critiquing and coaching each other!).  It was very motivating to have a concrete goal - training towards this certification helped focus us.  It has led us to strongly consider pursuing further training and certification in the future.  Pursuing this certification was an investment in ourselves - we are happy that we did it!

• Consistency/Dedication - 2012 was a very busy year for us.  Tannys continues to have a busy medical practice and Alex remains busy with his work.  Life has a way of getting busy, even outside of work (e.g. we recently adopted a rescue puppy).  Throughout it all, however, we have tried to keep consistent  in our training.  We record all our workouts, writing it down on a calendar (and tracking on a weekly basis how often we worked out), as well as recording the specific details of the workouts (we also weigh in and measure bodyfat and muscle %).  Not all of our workouts are amazing.  Sometimes, we don't even feel like training.  However, success isn't defined by any one workout.  Success is earned over months and years by remaining dedicated to fitness.  Similarly, we try to eat healthy to support our training and achieve a healthy lifestyle.  Even after the holidays (including lots of eating out, holiday baking and big meals), we are anxious to get back on track.  We don't view it as failure or a huge setback, because we try to maintain a long-term perspective.  Don't strive for perfection in the short-term - aim to be consistent and dedicated over the long term and you will see results.

• Blogging - We have been writing this blog for over a year now, with 187 posts.  CoupleFit grew out of a desire to share what we know about fitness and healthy living with others, to inspire and encourage everyone to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle.  Some months we have had a lot to say, while other months have been a struggle to find the time to write a few posts.  Our primary goal is to be consistent in our own fitness and healthy lifestyle, but we will be renewing our commitment to sharing our learnings and ideas with everyone in 2013.  We really appreciate the feedback and questions we received throughout 2012, as it gives us an idea of what resonates and interests you.  We look forward to hearing more from you in 2013, including suggestions for what topics to cover.

2012 was a very successful year for us (despite its challenges) and we are looking forward to an exciting and fulfilling 2013.  We wish you and your family all the best in the New Year and hope that you also have the time to take stock of the last year and look ahead to what you want to accomplish in the upcoming year!

- Tannys & Alex