My Top 10 Health and Fitness Goals for 2020

​1. Cut out Sugar

​Sugar is in almost everything we eat that is processed.  

It comes in all sorts of fun names like dextrose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose.

And then there are the natural sugars like honey, molasses, and maple syrup.  Let's not forget about artificial sweeteners too like - aspartame, splenda, and stevia.

In my opinion, I think all of them are not very good for the body ... which is why I plan to avoid them as much as possible.

My goal is to take it a step even further and avoid fruit that is not in season.  Overall, I plan to only eat berries occasionally when it comes to fruit.

​2. Eliminate Seed Oils

​​As someone who has an autoimmune condition, I have started to read a lot of information on the negative impacts consuming seed oils can have on your body.  So a close second to cutting out sugar for me will be to drastically reduce the amount of seed oils I consume.

Seed oils include some of the following - canola, soybean, sunflower, safflower, peanut, corn, etc.  Unfortunately, these oils are in most of the processed foods that you will find at your grocery store.  And it is likely they are used to cook your food when you eat out at restaurants.

The best bet for me is to eliminate processed foods from my diet and cook my own food at home.  It is probably impossible to eliminate seed oils from my diet 100%, but I plan to make a conscious effort to avoid them whenever possible.

Here is a really good article on how seed oils are making us all sick.

​​3. No Grains

​​​For the past 2 to 3 years I have done a decent job of keeping grains out of my diet ... but I can still do better.

When I eat a hamburger for example, I never eat it with a bun.  Nor do I eat bread.  I will occasionally eat pizza or some other food that contains grains.

My goal for this year is to completely eliminate grains 100% from my diet.  I honestly feel this will be easier than completely cutting out sugar or seed oils.

​​​4. Fast Intermittently Every Day

​​​​I have become a huge fan of intermittent fasting over the last couple of years.  In fact ... fasting intermittently is my absolute favorite life hack!

Fasting has helped me to manage my weight better, saved me some money, and even has reduce decision fatigue in my normal day.

My goal for 2020 is to step up my fasting routine to every day (16 hours of fasting every day).  And my plan is to also extend a few days each week into a 20 hour (or more fast).

​5. Lift More Weights

​I have spent most of my adult life avoiding lifting weights.  I have always been in the cardio camp when it came to fitness.  Running, biking, elliptical machine ... you name it ... cardio was my thing.

I won't completely give up cardio this year ... buy my focus will switch to making lifting weights a priority now over cardio.

Since turning 40 several years ago, I've noticed the negative impacts a lot more of chronic cardio.  My goal is to start building more muscle and sprinkle in some cardio here and there.

​​6. Eat More Meat

​​This may not be very popular goal with some people ... but I plan to eat more meat this year.

I'm not gonna get political here on the blog about eating meat versus not.  All I know is that for me, following a mostly ketogenic or paleo way of eating is much more beneficial than a vegan or vegetarian diet.

I truly doubt I could ever go 100% carnivore diet ... but I plan to test the limits on my diet in 2020 to see what makes me feel the best.  As I mentioned before, I have an autoimmune condition and eating more meat tends to help.

​​​7. Get More Sleep

​​​I've struggled with getting adequate sleep for most of my life.  Personally, I think a lot of my sleep issues are caused by my diet.

I don't necessarily have an issue falling asleep (usually between 8:00 and 9:00 PM) ... but rather waking up after a few hours and not being able to fall back asleep.

There are several things I plan to try to help me sleep through the night in 2020.  Getting quality sleep in my opinion is one of the best ways to improve your health.

​​​​8. Meditate

​​​​I have dabbled a bit with meditation in the past ... but it never really stuck with me.

For 2020, I hope to try to be more mindful in how I live my life.  The goal is to start practicing meditation once a day and I've even been exploring the possibility of meditating to help me fall asleep.

More to come on meditation in the future and how it works (or doesn't) for me.

​​​​​9. Give Yoga a Chance

​I mentioned earlier that I'm trying to do less cardio and more lifting weights ...

Well I'd also like to start doing yoga.  I've always been interested in giving it a try and have heard a lot of positive results from friends.

One of my goals as I get older is to become more flexible and I think yoga can help me with that.

​​​​​​10. Read a Bunch

​​For the most part, in the list above I've covered health goals related to my diet, exercise, and sleep.

With the exception of meditating ... nothing else focuses on my mental health and learning.  

One of my other goals is to focus more on stimulating my brain and learning new things.  And one of the best ways to accomplish this is through reading.

I've never been much of a reader throughout my life up until last year (2019).  This year I plan to be more consistent with my reading ...