Fifty goals for turning 50. I may have got carried away.

For the year I turned 50, I made a monthly plan covering gym classes, family life and time for myself. Here are the 50 goals behind my 50-in-50 Challenge.

Archive note: First published in December 2024, ahead of my 50th birthday in 2025. This edited version keeps the monthly structure, with revised health-related goals. It records a plan, not a completed challenge.

I once spent 20 minutes explaining to Cyrus that yoghurt doesn’t belong in the DVD player. I became a mum at 40, and the decade that followed involved tiny socks, spontaneous vomiting and negotiations I couldn’t have imagined before having a child.

There were also coffees spilled on white tops before important meetings and gym sessions when my muscles seemed to have their own agenda. By the time I started thinking about turning 50, I wanted to make room for a few ambitions of my own alongside looking after H and Cyrus.

Training to become a fitness instructor was one of those ambitions, although enthusiasm didn’t always translate into coordination. When I tried to demonstrate a combat kick to Cyrus, I tumbled backwards and knocked over a stack of books. There was room for improvement.

I divided the year into monthly themes so I could see what I was trying to do and when. Exercise featured heavily, but so did reading, learning Farsi and spending time with people. I also left room for sofa days with coffee and cheesecake, because I know myself.

A personal plan, with room to change it

The original list mixed fitness ambitions with supplements, food restrictions and a December deadline for visible abs. I’ve revised those entries here so they don’t read as health instructions. A body-fat percentage, daily grass shots or a fasting window can’t tell me whether I’m enjoying my life.

For exercise, the NHS guidance for adults recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week, plus strengthening activities on at least two days. Those are general guidelines, and any plan needs to suit the person doing it.

This is my personal goal list, not a training programme or treatment plan. If you haven’t exercised for some time or have medical concerns, the NHS advises speaking to your GP before starting.

My 50-in-50 Challenge, month by month

January: Getting started

1. Review the wheatgrass or barleygrass shot idea before making it a daily habit.
2. Drink regularly through the day, using the NHS hydration guidance as a reference, not a rigid two-litre rule.
3. Work towards a one-minute plank, adjusting the hold to my ability.
4. Try Cyclone at David Lloyd Newcastle, aiming for four sessions if they suit me.
5. Check whether I need supplements before starting a daily routine. The NHS vitamins and minerals guide explains that most people should get the nutrients they need from a varied, balanced diet, although some need supplements.

February: Building a routine

6. Aim for three resistance-training sessions a week, allowing recovery between sessions.
7. Work towards 8,000 steps a day where that fits my routine and ability.
8. Write down three encouraging thoughts about my health goals each day.
9. Prepare a weekly meal plan on Sundays.
10. Make regular time for stretching.

March: Time for myself and Persian New Year

11. Set aside an evening each week for an at-home beauty treatment, including sefidab if it suits my skin.
12. Choose an outfit I feel good wearing.
13. Declutter one or two rooms.
14. Celebrate Nowruz with the family.
15. Work on core strength and review how the exercises feel.

April: Food, reading and a haircut

16. Look at where I can reduce added sugar without making meals miserable.
17. Try a new haircut or hair colour.
18. Start working towards reading 12 books by the end of the year.
19. Try lemon water if I enjoy drinking it.
20. Review the daily apple cider vinegar idea before committing to it.

May: Classes and learning

21. Work towards 50 Zumba, IGN1TE or BLAZE classes across the year, starting with four this month.
22. Set aside 50 minutes a week for reading, studying or writing.
23. Look for a Zumba charity event to join during the year.
24. Begin learning Farsi, with small goals for daily practice.

June: Sleep and kindness

25. Check which health appointments or screenings I’m due.
26. Work towards 50 small acts of kindness over the year.
27. Build a bedtime routine that gives me more opportunity to sleep.
28. Take a photograph each day to record my 50th year.
29. Spend a day away from non-essential technology.

July: Strength and family meals

30. Increase weights gradually when I can maintain good technique.
31. Make regular time for core exercises suited to my ability.
32. Cook and eat a home-prepared dinner together at least once a week.
33. Try replacing one daily coffee with herbal tea.

August: Reviewing my food habits

34. Reduce my alcohol intake.
35. Try a month of plant-based meals, with attention to getting enough nutrients.
36. Check whether intermittent fasting is suitable for me before considering a 16:8 routine.
37. Keep 50 minutes a week for something I enjoy.

September: Flexibility and a review

38. Try something unfamiliar.
39. Review my diary or vision board and see which goals still appeal.
40. Try Pilates to work on core strength and flexibility.

October: My birthday month

41. Keep a daily journal about food and fitness, including how I feel.
42. Review which food habits I want to change.
43. Reconnect with five friends.
44. Celebrate my birthday.

November: Taking stock of training

45. Review my strength and fitness alongside any Boditrax readings.
46. Keep the core exercises that suit me.
47. Set manageable exercise goals for the run-up to December.

December: Looking back

48. Review what I can do in the gym and how I feel.
49. Look through the year’s photographs and write about the highs and lows.
50. Decide which goals to carry into the following year and which to leave behind.

Classes already had an advantage over several of these ambitions because I wanted to go back. My experience of taking up Zumba after 40 gave me something to build on. Finding time to read or learn Farsi would need a different place in the week, and writing those intentions down made that clearer.

For a later account of the challenge, read how I spent my 50th birthday. That is where the intentions meet the day itself.

If you made a plan for a milestone birthday, which goal did you keep and which did you quietly abandon?

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