Why Did I Start With Squats?

It’s been one day and my legs are burning. Why on earth did I choose to start the year off with squats? My legs are already strong, it’s not like I need to bulk them up.

After a detox that shed 15 pounds — which could have been more if not for some Christmas cookie inhaling — I’m in the early, early process of trimming up everything else. And what better way to start the new year with 100 squats per day for 31 days? Lots of things. I can name literally dozens of things I should have done in place of moving this body up and down in a vertical motion using the longest limbs my family gene pool has ever produced.

After getting home and in bed by 6 a.m. on New Year’s Day, I woke up and did 20 squats. Then 20 in the bathroom before my shower, and another 20 before getting dressed.

I should have completed the process then.

But no, I decided to match my squat remainder with the total of the Wisconsin Badgers Rose Bowl score.

They lost by one point and my squat total only reached 87 for the day.

Those were the saddest final 13 squats I’ve ever done.

What else is new for January?

Intermittent fasting! But for the whole year. All told, I probably did the 16-8 fast for 20 of the 31 days in December. I definitely feel lighter, but I had way too many things in the mix during December. Everything was on the table and there was no control for the experiment. That’s really why I’ve stuck with squats for the first month. I can do everything in the other months (burpees and wall sits will be tough, too) but squats hits me where it hurts the most, the toilet.

If I can manage the pain of sitting down and standing up when going No. 2, then I know I can deal with whatever the rest of the year brings.