ABANDON HOPE!

Day 6 of the New Year, and already she's giving up? Not quite. I have been giving quite a bit of thought to what my New Year's resolutions should be. More so than usual. And number one on my list is to love and accept myself. As I am. Right. Now. No excuses. No what ifs. I must abandon hope* of becoming "perfect" for I am already perfect. Losing ten pounds will not make me a better person, nor will it make me happy. There will always be someone thinner, fitter, faster than me. To be truly happy, I need to be myself, and I need to love myself.


Having said all that, there are a few things I'm working on. And the new year is as good a time as any to work on changing some habits.

Living in the Moment -- I worry a lot and tend to over think things. Part of what made the Ironman such a great experience for me was that I was in the moment as soon as the gun went off. I stopped worrying and just swam and biked and ran for 16 hours and forty minutes. I was proud of myself for getting there. I soaked in the beautiful views and enjoyed the support and kindness of strangers. And the day just flew by! I want every day to be like that. People shouting my name and cheering for me eveywhere I go would be pretty cool too.

Stretching

As you can see, I need to work on my flexibility. This is me seriously stretching, and that's as far as I can go even with my knees bent. Right now. Lisa, my private trainer, says that my tight calf muscles are hindering my movement and has me using the foam roller every day. It's painful, but I am noticing an improvement. I went to yoga twice this week, and it felt sooo good. Once I go back to work (tomorrow!) I'll be lucky to fit in one yoga class a week, but I can stretch for 10-15 minutes at home everyday.

Nutrition -- I need to be more mindful of what I'm putting in my body. This mostly means planning, grocery shopping, and cooking so that I have good, healthy choices readily available. And it's not all that hard. The other night I threw a turkey breast tenderloin (preseasoned) in the oven and roasted some veggies along with it. It was very easy and tasty. The only drawback was that it took over an hour to cook. That's where the planning comes in.

So, I think this is enough to work on for now. Happy New Year!!

*I first heard the phrase "Abandon Hope" from my good friend and IronFan, Liz, on June 23, 2007, in Coeur d'Alene, ID.