The year 2019 is slowly coming to an end. Wow!

The beginning of the year for me was so much different than any other, being pregnant and all. Usually, I begin the year by setting goals — dissecting the 12 months ahead, plotting and planning.

Obviously, that didn’t happen for 2019. But how did the last 12 months go for you?

Did you manage to reach your goals, stick to your resolutions, remain consistently true to your journey?

As we end the year, you can look back — not to dwell on the past, but rather to use it to fuel your entry into 2020.

Hindsight is 2020, right? What can you take from this year that will assist you in 2020?

Fitness columns always talk about aesthetics, times, weights.

Truthfully, if this year has taught me anything, it’s that our mental health and rest is so important, more so than the physical at times.

Did you take time to breathe, decompress from work days, fully acknowledging that you are human and deserve a break?

Do you feel like you didn’t reach specific fitness goals yet you were in the gym, on average, five times a week and eating pretty well? I have a feeling it’s because you did not, in fact, rest.

Here’s the science:

As you beasted out in the gym, becoming all “endoriphinated”, eventually melatonin (your sleep hormones) started to kick in and you drifted off into a deep sleep. Sleep helps the body repair itself.

Your cells produce more protein while you are sleeping. These protein molecules form the building blocks for cells, allowing them to repair any damage.

Sleep may also help you lose weight as we have two hormones that “tug” at our appetite and control our satiety.

Simply stated, leptin is a hormone that suppresses appetite and ghrelin stimulates appetite.

It is thought that a lack of sleep impacts the balance of these hormones in the body that affects appetite. Ghrelin sends your appetite on a “rampage”; leptin “pacifies” your appetite. Thus, the more you sleep the more leptin is present and ghrelin is reduced and vice versa.

So, in simple terms: don’t forget to sleep, thereby providing your body and muscles adequate recovery time.

While you may enter 2020 with amazing goals and an amazing plan, don’t forget to add in rest days. Beasting is one thing. Beasting and acknowledging when you need to rest — now that’s the key to success!

That’s my opinion and over the years it has proven right in my world. So yes, 2019 is almost over. Sit down, look back and take notes.

See where improvements could have been made and plan 2020 accordingly. Again — do not forget to add in rest. Be the beast, be athletic, be successful.

Be unapologetic about your 2020 goals, but also be smart!

I can’t wait to witness the fitness of 2020. Are you ready?

Let the countdown begin to a new year, a blank page, a fitness and wellness journey of a new decade!

Dre Hinds is a retired track and field athlete who is now a personal trainer, aerobic and yoga instructor and fitness “addict” with more than 20 years’ experience. She specialises in nutrition, weight and sprint training, operating out of HindsSight Fitness & Wellness at the Berkeley Cultural Centre. Contact her on: absbydre@gmail.com or 599-0412. Look for @Absbydre on Facebook and Instagram