I’m big on New Year’s resolutions. For years now, I’ve taken time as the year changes from old to new, and assess how the previous year went and figure out what I want to do for the next 365 days. I like having a plan and all that.
Sometimes it feels a bit cliche, but I don’t know – there’s just something about a new year that seems like it’s a good time for a fresh start. It’s all holiday good cheer and twinkling lights and optimism for the year ahead and it seems like there’s no way the pie-in-the-sky plans will fail.
And then, all of a sudden, it’s mid-January. Dark. Cold. A little depressing, to be perfectly honest. Not exactly the kind of month that inspires you to be a better person, is it?
I laid out 10 resolutions for myself this year. Some personal, some race-related, some that address my overall well-being. And while I’ve got an appointment with myself at the end of every month to review the resolutions and see if I’m heading in the right direction, I thought it might do me some give myself a good mid-month ass-kicking… because, as I said in a previous post, the ice cream is winning.
It seems like every year features some sort of resolve to eat better, lose weight, be more healthy… however it is that I decide to word it for that particular year. And that hasn’t changed for this year — I’m determined to focus on eating healthy, cutting out processed food and drop some weight by sticking to that. So far this January, I haven’t been doing anything to help myself out here. Toss in a lot of stress (the whole buying/selling a house thing) and swirl it up with not getting nearly enough sleep (and remember – sleep is The Secret to me being happy) and I can’t seem to stay away from the crap food. So far it hasn’t really hurt me too much — my weight just seems to bounce around in the same 3-pound range — but this needs to change. Just think how far along I could be if I had been doing things right?
The other main set of resolutions involve getting faster. Shaving a few minutes off my half marathon PR. Finally kicking the marathon curse off my shoulders and going sub-4. You want to know what helps with all this? Actual training. Huh. Whodda thunk it? Up until this past week, life has been a big ball of chaos, and time when I wasn’t getting my house ready for market was a rare commodity. Ironically, running is the one thing that HELPS me deal with stress… and it was (is?) the one thing I wasn’t doing. And, you know – I love running, but does that stop me from getting into a bad cycle where I don’t run because I’m stressed even though that’s the one thing that would relieve the stress? Nope – I’m completely capable of being a dumbass, it seems.
So, starting tomorrow (since I’m currently snarfing down a Calzone for dinner), I’m back on the wagon. I ran this weekend… and even further than a few miles. I’ll continue this week: good training sessions, at least 5-6 runs, food decisions geared towards making me feel better.
Because that’s what it’s all about: it’s not really the losing weight, or the specific race times… it’s about making me feel good about myself and what I’m able to accomplish. I think I sometimes forget how when you start making decisions that are good for you, that this can steamroll just as easily as the bad stuff can. And once you get yourself going back in the right direction, that good feeling becomes it’s own self-propelling cycle.
So – hold me to the fire here: keep me honest, keep me accountable. I know exactly what I want and what I need to do to get there, I’ve just got to get this butt back in gear.
Right after I finish this calzone.