Embracing fitness for the new year...

A shadow selfie during one of my urbanhikes
around Socal.

... I know, not a very novel concept around this time of year, when gyms are filled to brim, workout classes are booked to the max, and people are generally scrutinizing every calorie they consumed & burned.

But for the Type B me, I'd much rather take a relaxed approach to fitness & healthfulness. And thus, some of the "goals" for the year include:

• Finding more activities I enjoy and just do them.
• Naturally incorporate more activity throughout the day (taking the stairs, parking further from destination).
• Focus on how I feel after the workout.
• Progress on my exercise performance without over straining.

And for something more concrete, putting in the recommended 150+ minutes of activity a week & hitting my 11,000 daily steps at least 3 days a week.

All of these were notions that were reinforced in a resolution-themed tweetchat I participated in last week under my @foodie_fitness alter-ego*. The two biggest takeaways, doing anything is better than nothing at all . . . and unless you're really enjoying the workout itself—as opposed to its effects—it's all too easy to throw in the towel.

With this in mind, I plan on going on a little "fitness dating" (a term I'm borrowing from Jeanette DePatie a.k.a. The Fat Chick, who co-hosted the tweetchat) this & next month, just so I can have a few more fun workouts to add to my usual mix of tennis, hiking, rollerblading, cardio-dancing & kickboxing, yoga and good ole fashioned jogging.

Here's to a healthy & fit 2014!

*Disclosure: City of Hope, the other co-host of the tweetchat, is where I punch my 9 to 5. But thoughts, opinions expressed on the @foodie_fitness twitter handle are my own.