A few years ago I decided I would never make another New Year's Resolution. That's not to say that I haven't used that ever-so-convenient timetable as a kick off point for various weight loss routines. I just refuse to make the official proclamation. This year, I resolved to kick that goal into high gear several months before the usual convenient timetable. So far, it has worked quite well for me, but there are a few things that I have let slide and I am here to "resolve" those particular issues.
Let it be known, however, that these are NOT New Year's Resolutions. ;-) These are just tweaks that I see need to be made in my current routine in order to ensure continued success.
1) I stopped logging my every bite. It seemed pointless after a while because I was literally sitting at my desk and entering data off a sheet of paper in front of me. And since my food varied very little from day to day, it was more *cut & paste* than anything. Go back and look ... every 3rd day was identical. But when I stopped putting down every bite, it became easier for unplanned items to slip in ... such as the little bags of chips. I was pretty good, in comparison to the old me, even with those little slip ups ... but you know? They add up! OK, so I was extra hungry one day and reached for carrots. A couple of cups of carrots ... and didn't bother to write it down because ... for goodness sakes. It's CARROTS! However, if I go back and look, those carrots might have been the extra 30 or 40 calories that put me over my daily allowance ... and since I wasn't adding 30-40 calories worth of exercise to counteract the intake ... well, you get the picture. It adds up. So I have decided that it is time to start writing everything down again. I probably won't blog it because ... well, its not exactly reading excitement. But I will post my slip ups. Hopefully, there will be very few of them!
2) I will blog more regularly again. After the surgery, it was difficult to type. It was difficult to do anything. My snow globe office can be quite chilly if I haven't sufficiently warmed it up and the cold made the shoulder ache. So, I avoided the computer. After a while, I *fell out of the habit* of taking my coffee at my desk and writing. Or posting after dinner each night. I don't get a lot of feedback, so it didn't really feel as if it mattered all that much ... and I just let it slide. What I have realized is this ... I do not NEED feed back. This writing is for me, not for anyone else. This is where I share the deep and the dark of my soul on this particular journey. If there are others who want to read it, that's great! But the purpose of it is for me ... and for that reason alone it is important that I keep on putting fingers to keyboard.
3) ABs are important. Yes, I do them ... but they have not been a priority. I always know that I can *get to them at home ... sometime*. And if any part of my workout is going to slip through the cracks ... it is the AB work. It used to be my favorite part of the workout daily grind. I held the dorm record for sit ups. (Yes, we actually had a contest. I did 700. There were a couple of breaks in there and the last 200 were not full sit ups, but crunches instead, but still, I did 700. I beat Skippy. Long story. Remembering how I felt the next day(s) ... I will never do it again.) I intend to make sure the AB workout is intense and varied ... and 6 days a week.
4) Finally, I signed up with my best friend, Toni, to run a 5k in April ... on her birthday. She signed up first and I horned in on her commitment. I need something to run for, something to train for. I love the idea of being a runner ... and I do fairly well at it, as long as there is a goal. But I would rather spend hours on the Precor at the gym than the treadmill. And this is Rochester, NY ... I'm not running outside until it is at least in the 40's and most of the snow is gone. I'm just not. So I am excited to begin training for that race in a couple of weeks. (Physical Therapist says the shoulder should be ready for that kind of jostling by the end of the month.)
That's it. The above-mentioned 4 things are what I am resolved to improve upon. If they become easy and old-hat before the end of the year, I will make some new ones. I want to always be a work in progress. I don't ever want to be *finished*. And I don't need to wait for a national holiday to make a resolution. I can make a new one every single day, if needed. It's just about improvement.
"Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life - there, if one must speak out, the real man."
- Marcus Aurelius
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