Thursday, January 30, 2014

New Year, New Rules

Dear Diary,

Here's a picture of a sunrise taken Tuesday morning by a friend of mine.

Her comment was, "I want to run my fingers through the clouds."

Nine years ago I started on a journey to lose weight. I weighed nearly 200 lbs and could barely get up a flight of stairs. Since then I've made numerous goals and gotten burned out on goals. For 2014 I've put away notions of lofty goals and instead decided on a few rules to follow. The results of those rules will be what they are. I'm focused more on process, rather than product. On the journey. These are more qualitative, rather than quanitative.

1. No putting myself down. Other than the occasional self-depracating humor, that is. No more talking about how fat i am, how ugly i am, how pathetic, slow, ect. I'll work on appreciating myself, where i am, right now instead of constantly thinking to myself that I'll be happy with myself when I...

2. Learn more about play therapy as a modality. Okay, this is a work thing, but I'm reading what I can and I'm signed up for a seminar in the spring. In my profession we have to get comtinuing education to keep our licenses. My continuing education will be focused on working with younger children.

3. One in, one out. If i bring anything into the house, something else has to go. But the opposite is not true--if I divest myself of five belongings i don't get to run out and buy five more. I've digitized all our important papers and gotten rid of a few more books, getting a Kindle version here and there of books I find very useful.

4. be strong and fit. There's no minute-per-mile goal. I've written about how mich strength training has made me feel younger. My goal is strength, not speed. I want to finish my races strong. If that includes fast, so be it, but I want to have endurance and strength. That's what makes me feel good through the day.

In the drive to be strong I'm building a lifestyle that supports this. In addition to my standing workstation i put together, I've put aside my beloved heels and started collecting cute flats instead. I'm not saying that all my eating will be perfect or that I'll never miss a workout. I'm working on other changes. My happiness and health depends on supporting a healthy lifestyle. I've got access to a fitness room at work that has several cardio machines, including treadmills. Starting around the beginning of the year I punch out at work for an hour, walk down to the other end of the hospital, and run on the treadmill. It's pretty great--I come back an hour later all glowy and happy. There's a small shower there, too. I'm also using an app on my iphone called Couch to 10k Pro. It's a nice little workout that I do every day and it's getting me stronger. I highly recommend it if you have friends who want to do a 5k or 10k

Now having said this, i have afew races planned. I may, or may not, do well. I'm just wanting to finish them. Mostly, i want to enjoy being strong and fit, a statistical anomaly.

Warm water in December.

So here's my question:

if you had to distill your 2014 goals into following one simple rule, what would it be?

...

 

10 comments:

  1. Gorgeous photos! Like your rules - they are deceptively simple and meaningful but not easy.

    Made me think about what I'd choose....My quick, gut-level response

    Be a mindful badass!

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  2. Feel better about myself - in every way.

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  3. This year I picked a word that would help me through all of the things that I wanted to improve. My phrase was Be Relentless. That's for the gym, in workplace networking, in making time for family, etc.

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  4. 2013 was the year of Go Big or DIE, 2014 is the year of Go Big and Have a Blast!

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  5. Don't Do Stupid Stuff. That' covers it pretty well, but some specifics: don't run through injuries, get enough sleep, don't run when there's an inch of glare ice on every surface, don't eat cheese the night before a long run (don't ask), keep doing core and flexibility stuff that enhances my running, take care of my family and make sure I'm completely present when I'm with them.

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  6. I don't know...be consistent? I do great for a while, then slack off. I think I'd be better off doing well consistently than great occasionally.

    Your #1 is a big one for me...probably for most women. I'm working on being more positive with myself and framing things encouragingly rather than derogatively ("This is a great training opportunity" rather than "I suck and I'm so out of shape"). And accepting compliments rather than explaining how wrong they are...

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  7. Anonymous7:14 AM

    Rules were meant to be broken...that is my first and foremost "rule".
    And don't need an "app" for anything that I have done or plan on doing.

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  8. What ever you do - make sure it supports your CHOSEN healthy lifestyle.

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  9. My 2014 goal is probably to learn balance when it comes to food. I feel like every cookie could be my last so I better not pass it by. And as a result I'm carrying any extra 20-25 pound on my 5'6" frame despite regular challenging workouts.

    Also, PLEASE share the cute flats in photos. I have high arches and I feel like all flats are just too... flat. No arch support. And standing and walking all day without arch support is uncomfortable. So if you find flats that you love, please share them.

    ReplyDelete

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Moved.

 I'm no longer involved in multisport or endurance sports. I've started my own business, a psychotherapist specializing in anxiety d...