2014 Annual Review: What Went Well, What Didn't, and Goals for 2015

12 Minute Athlete annual review

One of my favorite bloggers and authors, Chris Guillebeau, makes it a point at the end of every year to publicly post an annual review on how he feels his overall year went.

His reviews focus on business as well as personal successes, failures, and future goals, and he is extremely honest in them—something I really admire, because as a fellow introvert, I know how hard it is to put your heart out there like that.

Anyway, I did something semi-similar last year, but would like to make it a yearly practice to look back at any accomplishments and failures from the year (both business-related and personal), as well as create some tangible goals for the upcoming year.

If you’re interested, great—if not, feel free to skip this one and move on directly to a workout. Either way, I’d encourage you to do some reflecting if your own—whether you do a more formal review like I’m doing or just make a few solid resolutions for the New Year, it’s a great way to reflect on past accomplishments, learn from mistakes, and move into the upcoming year with a positive, motivated, mindset.

Also, if you have any thoughts on what you’d like to see more of from 12 Minute Athlete in 2015, leave them in the comments of this post or send an email to [email protected].

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My Favorite Holiday Health & Fitness Gifts Under $100

 

If you’re one of those people who gets all of their Christmas shopping done the weekend after Thanksgiving, good for you. You can skip this post and get right on with your workout.

But if you’re more like me and get halfway through December before freaking out and realizing you have approximately one zillion gifts to buy, this list of my favorite health and fitness-related gifts may just give you the inspiration you need to get started.

Each item on this list is something I think every health and fitness lover should own at some point in their fitness journey. And not only do I personally own the items on this list, I use them all on a daily (or at least a weekly) basis and highly recommend each and every one of them.

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Get Ready For the Last 100 Burpee Challenge of 2014!

It’s official: this weekend will be the last 100 burpee challenge of 2014!

You guys have really blown me away this year at how hard you’ve worked at these monthly challenges. Because really, doing 100 burpees in a row is hard. So hard, in fact, that most people think it’s impossible (I often get laughed at when I tell people about the challenge).

But you guys do it month after month, just like the rockstar athletes you are.

We’ve got one more challenge to go this year, and I know you guys are going to ROCK at it.

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7 HIIT Workouts Perfect for the Holidays (Equipment-Free!)

 

One of the biggest excuses people have for not working out over the holidays is that they just don’t have the time.

That’s why I’ve put together this resource list of seven quick but really effective workouts you can do over the next month when you’re totally stressed out and strapped for time.

Each of these workouts can be done using just your own bodyweight, so you can do them at home (or wherever you are for the holidays) without having to take the extra time to trek to a gym.

The workouts themselves range from four minutes long to 16 minutes—so no matter how much time you have, you can still fit one in.

No excuses!

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Special Deals on Everything 12 Minute Athlete Now Through Cyber Monday

black friday sale

December is the time of the year where many people allow themselves to completely fall off of the health and fitness bandwagon.

But as we’ve already seen, it doesn’t have to be that way: it is possible to stay in shape and still eat plenty around the holidays.

And although we rarely do sales here on the site, I thought it’d be a good way to get you guys motivated and ready to have a kickass rest of 2014 with some pretty awesome discounts.

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Healthy Pumpkin Pie Cups Recipe

healthy pumpkin pie cup recipe

I like a classic pumpkin pie just as much as the next person, so I’m not saying you should avoid eating it all together (especially on Thanksgiving!).

However, I also like the idea of being able to eat pumpkin pie any time of the day, 100% guilt-free—and that’s where these healthy pumpkin pie cups come in.

Full of actual healthy ingredients like pumpkin, protein, cottage cheese and yummy spices, with an oatmeal/almond flour/applesauce crust, you really can eat these pumpkin pie cups whenever you want. They’re great for pre-workout, post-workout, for breakfast, as a snack, for dessert… you get the idea.

Plus, they’re totally easy to make, and will last for up to a week in the fridge so you can make a bunch and snack on them all week long (including Thanksgiving, if you want).

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A Sane Person’s Guide to Getting Through Holiday Eating

 

Yeah, I’m not sure how it happened either, but somehow this year has completely flown by and we’ve officially hit the holiday season.

(I’ve tried to deny it for as long as possible, but since there’s a massive Christmas tree in my city’s town square and Thanksgiving is in a week, I guess I can’t avoid it any longer…)

Every year, one of the biggest concerns people tend to have around the holidays is how they can avoid destroying all the hard work they’ve put into their fitness and nutrition all year round—yet still actually enjoy the holidays.

It’s a pretty good question to ask yourself, especially since the average American gains one to two pounds over the month of December. This isn’t a huge problem in and of itself—it’s fairly easy to lose that tiny bit of extra weight if you put your mind to it—the bigger issue is that most people never lose those extra pounds after the holiday parties and baking extravaganzas are over, which can add up significantly over time.

But all is not lost. I promise you that not only can you go to all your holiday parties, continue your family cookie baking tradition, and even indulge in some of those fun holiday drinks, you can do it all without significantly halting your progress in the short-term, and definitely not do any long-term damage.

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V Ups For Strong Abs: Beginner to Advanced Progressions

 

V ups are one of my favorite abdominal exercises ever, which is why you see them included in so many of the 12 Minute Athlete workouts.

Yet despite being relatively simple to do (no equipment needed, no complicated moves to remember, etc.), I get quite a few emails from people telling me that their V ups look more like a dead fish than a proper gymnastics-style V up.

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How to Deal With Plateaus (And What to Do When You Hit One)

We’ve all been there.

You’re kicking ass at your goals, feeling so much stronger, hitting new PRs every week, noticing how much looser your jeans are starting to feel…

And then one day, it all just stops. The number of push ups you can do stays the same, for a long time. All of a sudden, after months of continuous progress, your 100 burpees time refuses to budge. Or maybe you just can’t seem to lose those last five pounds, even though the first 10 seemed to go pretty quickly.

And bam, seemingly out of nowhere, you’ve hit a plateau.

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