A year long challenge!

If I know anything, it's how full of shit New Year's resolutions can be. It's a familiar story: we finish out the holiday season of gorging ourselves on loads of fatty, sweet, delicious treats and meals, topped off  with a bender of a night of binge drinking. Yes, once the holidays are over, we catch a glimpse of ourselves in the mirror and are shocked. What happened to the chiseled physique we have grown to love? Where did that spare tire come from? How many calories does a glass of eggnog have, anyway?

Determined to change our course, we embark on a regimen of health. *This* is the year I'm going to the gym! And regularly! This is when I eat healthy, give up smoking, eliminate fatty foods, beer! It's about time I gave up all the tasty temptations in the world!

And that's usually where it all falls apart, doesn't it? I've been there, tried to change too much at one time and ended up abandoning all my resolutions within a week or so (if that). Even this year, I resolved to do so many things more than I could do, and give up more than I could ever reasonably give up. As of the first, I pledged to:

- Eat less sugar
- Eat less fat
- Cut down on internet/video game consumption
- Try and eat less meat
- Cut down on coffee
- Eat more veggies
- Read more

Quite the list! And imagine trying to do all of those things at once, as I did! A complete failure in the making, right out of the gate! Luckily, I had a stroke of genius. This year, instead of giving up meat, video games, and the like all at once, I would give them up one at a time, over the course of a year. That way, I could compensate the loss of one thing with an increase of another! Pretty clever, right?

While I'm at it, I figured 'why not document the process for an adoring (and quite likely belligerent) internet audience? I do so enjoy abuse from strangers!'. So that's the The Year Without is all about. Every month, I'll pick a new vice of mine to remove from my life, and let YOU reap the rewards of my pain and suffering. I'll create rules around what is and isn't acceptable for that challenge and stick to them. And, by all means, feel free to call me out if I slip up; it'll be hard to know if I am 100% compliant otherwise. I look forward to seeing you again soon!