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Why Resolutions Fail

There’s a saying that “failure to plan is planning to fail.” While that seems to fly in the face of the many happy lives created by seemingly random synchronicity in lieu of–or in spite of!–a plan, I think there is some truth to it when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. Why? A couple of reasons.

Let’s side aside the unrealistic and unreasonable (“become an astronaut this year”), the vague (“be healthier”), and the other types of ill-considered or poorly-worded goals.

First, many people choose a goal–let’s use “lose 10 pounds” as an example–and then don’t have a plan on how to get there. Or worse, they have a bad plan (the cabbage soup diet plan, the 2 hours of cardio every day plan, anything with the word “detox” in it). Hey, cutting off your head is an instant 12 pound weight loss, but it’s not exactly the result you’re looking for.

Second, those who choose a goal and have a plan often lack the patience to see the plan through. Patience isn’t praised or cultivated in a culture where everything moves at the speed of email.

Third–and this is the category that kills me because I’ve been in it–there are plenty of people who have a goal, and a plan, and the patience, and they arrive at the goal and then….get lost. If the goal is to lose 10 pounds, people focus on the plan to lose the pounds and forget that after they lose those pounds they are going to need a plan to keep them off. (This is the biggest reason why “diets” don’t work: if you only change your habits temporarily, you only get results temporarily.)

Any goal worth working towards, any resolution with any ambition, requires a change in habits. We are creatures of habit, our habits both reflect who we are and make us who we are in a never-ending feedback loop, unless we make the conscious decision to change.

My One Resolution for 2017

Ready for it? In 2017, I resolve to sleep at least 7 hours every night. (Once I get to 7, I’ll work on 8.) There are so many reasons why everyone needs this resolution–even those of you who are absolutely certain you function just fine on your limited amounts of sleep–that Ariana Huffington wrote a book on them, The Sleep Revolution. (If you function “just fine” on the sleep you are getting now, what could you do if you fully recharged your body? How much more awesome could you exude?) It’s not just Huffington who has clued in to this, either.

I’ve probably seen several dozen magazine articles about sleep this year. A 2015 editorial published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that because sleep and body composition are correlated, sleep is as essential to health as good nutrition. Most recently, the December 2016 issue of Shape Magazine included a quick squib on a study from the University of Manchester that found spinal disks have their own “body clock” and messing with it may worsen or cause back pain. The note concluded, “The easiest way to stabilize your body clock and pain-proof your spine may be to stick to regular bedtimes and wake-up times.” While I find the conclusion a bit overdone–it’s not really “pain-proof” but more like “decreasing your risk for pain”–it shows the fixation we’ve got on sleep, and how sleep is related to everything health.

A quick romp through my inbox reveals 157 emails that refer to sleep. (That’s AFTER my inbox-zero experiment, which will certainly be the subject of another blog post.) A quick sampling of the more interesting references:

You get the idea. So I’ve resolved to get more sleep. C’mon, you know you want to! Even the cool kids are doing it. (See, for example, More Sleep, Less Beer: 9 Elite Runners Make New Year’s Resolutions.)

Here is a helpful graphic guide with tips from Casper:

The Plan

It seems pretty easy, right? Just go to bed earlier, or get up later, or both, and poof! More sleep.  I’m not a morning person, so getting up later would be great! Except that I’d probably lose my job, and the court isn’t going to take “oh, I had to get my seven hours” as my free pass to stroll in mid-proceedings. So I’ve got to learn to go to bed earlier. The problem is that I’m naturally a night-owl. After spending most of my day at the office and/or working, I come home, take an hour or two to decompress, and then start working on my personal projects.

Here are my action steps, consistent with good sleep hygiene:

  • Watch less TV, generally.
  • Turn off the devices no later than 10 p.m. (or one hour before bedtime, for nights where I need to get to sleep earlier in order to meet the 7 hour goal)
  • Limit weeknight alcohol to 0-1 drinks; add a pre-bedtime decaff tea
  • Drink more water during the day
  • Stick to my bedtime routine

How is your sleep? Do you have a bedtime routine?

Disclosure: I am a 2015 Nuunbassador. This post is not sponsored by Nuun in any way. The giveaway is not sponsored by Nuun. All opinions are my own. Many thanks to Briana of Mat, Miles, Medals for the image above.

December is more than half over, and the new calendar year is almost upon us. (I know, I know–I have to keep saying it to myself over and over, because I barely believe it!) I was fortunate enough to be selected to be a Nuunbassador in 2015, and it’s time to celebrate that adventure coming to a close.

By the way, I decided not to reapply for 2016. That decision had nothing to do with Nuun–which I still drink all the time and am just shy of obsessed with–or my experience (it was great!). So many of my friends were really excited to apply, and really deserved a chance to represent Nuun in 2016. They wanted it SO badly! Since I already had the chance to represent Nuun, and I have my fingers crossed that I’ll be chosen as an ambassador for the Detroit Marathon, I decided to step aside this year. (Hey Nuun, maybe let’s get together again in 2017?) No need to be greedy, and I want to continue to do an excellent job for BibRave in 2016.

So, let’s talk Nuun!

Nuun’s major innovation is to separate hydration from fueling. Most sports hydration drinks are designed to do both, which is why they are filled with sugar–simple sugar can be readily broken down for use as fuel. Unfortunately, many endurance athletes find that consuming too much sugar while hydrating leads to…let’s just call it unpleasant digestive side effects. Nuun decided to separate the hydration (and and accompanying electrolyte replacement) and fueling.

Nuun Active is the original, and comes in the widest variety of flavors. Nuun Active contains the optimal blend of electrolytes because you need more than sodium when running (this is why salt packets are not the best electrolyte replacement!). Nuun has sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Here’s the nutrition facts and ingredients for my favorite flavor, tropical.

Some advantages to choosing Nuun Active for hydration:

  • light flavor
  • highly portable tablet format
  • easy to change or mix flavors
  • thin, non-sticky consistency
  • add more/less water to adjust taste and consistency
Nuun fizzes a bit as it mixes itself. Only add a half tab to champagne.) Image courtesy of Mat, Miles, Medals.
Nuun fizzes a bit as it mixes itself. Only add a half tab to champagne.) Image courtesy of Mat, Miles, Medals.

Since Nuun ships as tablets in a recyclable tube, I suspect it also has less of an environmental impact, at least on the consumer side–no water is shipped so you can move more Nuun with less fuel, and using your own bottle means no disposable plastics. Finally, while the tube is recyclable, many people wash and re-purpose the tubes.

Repurposed Nuun tube. Photo courtesy of @cratina. Follow her at http://fabulosi-t.blogspot.com/
Repurposed Nuun tube. Photo courtesy of @cratina. Follow her at http://fabulosi-t.blogspot.com/

They are just the right size to carry Energy Bits, or store change for parking meters. If you travel as much as I do, you might also use the tubes to pack cotton swabs, part of a Lush bubble bath bar, or earrings.

2015 #TeamNuun kit
2015 #TeamNuun kit

Nuun Active is what I used all year for running. (Nuunbassadors do get a product discount, but frankly the expo special is a better price so I rarely used it.) In addition to my regularly scheduled events, this year was also the first virtual run co-sponsored by Nuun (with Motigo and the website now known as FitFam). Only Nuunbassadors and Team Nuun members could participate, and the run included a cute fitted shirt and medal. Athletes representing Nuun also had the opportunity to purchase specialty Nuun apparel twice during the year. Pactimo prints the Nuun team gear, which is quality technical gear. Most of Pactimo’s styles are for cycling, not running. So, for example, there weren’t running tights, or singlets. I opted for a pair of cycle shorts (encouragement to go to FlyWheel more often!) and a cycling jersey. (It’s got pockets on the back, so I know it wasn’t made for running.)

Andrew--find him on twitter @smartwatermelon--uses Nuun Plus in tri training
Andrew–find him on twitter @smartwatermelon–uses Nuun Plus in tri training

Nuun Plus is the newest Nuun invention. It contains electrolytes and sugar (dextrose and sucrose). Basically, it’s a way to add the fuel into your Nuun. You can easily adjust how frequently you fuel by adding Plus to some bottles, but not to others. I haven’t tried it yet, but my friends who have tried it do like it.

Nuun Energy is my favorite product, especially the cherry limeade. Like Nuun Active, it contains an optimal blend of electrolytes. Unlike Nuun Active, it also contains a B vitamin blend and caffeine. I keep a tube of the cherry limeade on my desk at work, so I have a low-calorie, less junky, option when I need an afternoon boost. (My non-Nuun choices are coffee drinks and sodas.)

Nuun All Day is a multi-vitamin disguised as Nuun! My favorite flavor is the blueberry pomegranate. The flavors are a little different, in part because the vitamin/mineral content is different. I’m not a huge fan of all of them, and as a friend of mine observed, it tastes a little “vitaminy.” I like the blueberry pomegranate all by itself, but you can easily mix it with another flavor (say half tab of each) or mix it into a beverage other than water (such as iced tea).

Finally, there’s U Natural. I’ve never tried it. U Natural is intended for use as hydration in less intense physical activities. (This is not the marathon runner blend.)

You can buy Nuun online, but buying it at your local sports or running store helps them to keep the doors open. The best price for Nuun right now is always at a race expo, where the expo special is two tubes for $10 plus a free refillable bottle.

Speaking of those bottles, I’m a bit of a water bottle junky. I came across an impressive photo of a Nuun bottle collection that essentially took up an entire kitchen cabinet. While I don’t have that many Nuun bottles, I do have quite the collection of other bottles too. When I started this year, I had two Nuun bottles: one Rock ‘n’ Roll, and one Active. I seemed to have crummy luck, and missed all the specialty bottles–the Rock ‘n’ Roll Vegas, the Kara Goucher…but really, how many do I need??

The Nuun Vegas bottle, courtesy of @crantina
The Nuun Vegas bottle, courtesy of @crantina

Throughout the course of the year it became clear I was going to end up with MANY more bottles, so I made a rule: I can only keep one in each design. I haven’t used any of the rest of them–that’s where the giveaway comes in!

I’m giving away my extra, brand-new, un-used Nuun bottles! I’ll also put some Nuun samples inside for the lucky winners! Important Note: the samples are not the Nuun-factory-sealed samples. They will be untouched Nuun tablets, poured directly from the Nuun tube into a fresh snack-sized Ziploc bag. (Remember, this isn’t sponsored by Nuun! Cut me some slack, since I’m paying for the product and the shipping; I’d hate to send you a tube and it turns out you hate that flavor.)

Nuun bottles! There will be at least 3 prizes!
Nuun bottles!
There will be at least 3 prizes!

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