It’s that Time of Year Again: Reflect on the Past and Prepare for the New

It’s the end of another year and this means it’s a good time to take stock of our personal successes and of course the failures of the year. Count those achievements, look at the goals you set at the start, and do an honest assessment of if you’ve reached them or not. Enjoy and be proud of your achievements and learn from your failures.

There were some interesting health, wellness, and fitness trends. Many new fitness influencers popped up, mostly driven by the TikTok algorithms. AI and Chat GPT have started playing a big role which will only get bigger in the year to come and the years following. Even Pilates has started to make a comeback and is beginning to look more popular as the year ends.

Ozempic and Wagovy have been at the top of many conversations. Their popularity is ever growing to the point of the almost absurdity. The miracle weight loss drugs, as they are being touted, celebrated by many, but keeping others skeptical. The importance of a balanced fitness routine and nutrition schedule must not be understated even by those who praise the use of these miracles. However, probably the craziest suggestion was when some began to suggest giving Ozempic to kids and I couldn’t help but give my input on it.

As I plan for the year ahead and review my year that is about to end, I am reminded about my change in schedule and the fact that I had to exchange my favored evening training for morning training. Of course there are scientific studies on this subject that define the difference and their benefits. I questioned if there is a difference in Evening vs morning training. But I still maintain that whatever my preference or the science, if I can only train in the morning, morning it will be.

Then there was the brief war on cake. We know the phrase that you can’t have your cake and eat it too, but it turns out you can’t have your cake either. The suggestion was that companies should stop having birthday cakes and colleagues should stop offering their fellows to pick up a bite when they go to get their own. A war on cake? I wasn’t having any of it.

And I can’t forget the world that is changing so fast around us. As we move closer to a different reality, I wondered how important our fitness will be and if it will keep its popularity. With the metaverse becoming closer to a reality than a dream or rather a nightmare, you can’t help but question the importance of gyms in that augmented world. How would it even work?

Well, I suppose much of this is only a start of what’s to come in the year ahead and in the future. I can only hope that health, wellness, and fitness continues to grow and play a big part in people living their best lives as I know it will play a big role in mine.