My Daily Resolutions

I actually really enjoy this time of year - where people start doing some self-reflection and thinking about the ways that they want to personally improve and making goals for themselves.  People get a lot of grief for coming up with New Year's resolutions each year, but what are we doing in life if we aren't constantly re-evaulating what we are doing and working towards improvement?  Without that motivation of change, we would grow stagnant and complacent with everything and then we would never get to experience the joy and pride that comes with accomplishing something new.

Problem with resolutions isn't so much that people want to make a change, it's that they want to overhaul huge aspects of their lives that take time, patience, and planning and that's hard to do and even harder to maintain.  I know from personal experience.  I've had to learn the hard way that the goals and resolutions I set for myself can't be yearly goals - they have to be daily, hourly, sometimes minute by minute goals.

I haven't blogged or talked about my personal health journey in a while, so if you're new to the story, feel free to brush up by reading about my 150lb weight loss journey here.  It is going on almost 4 years since that original post, almost 7 since I began my health journey.  And just as I suspected in that previous blog post, my health and my weight is a daily, sometimes hourly, struggle.  Sometimes my goals for the day are to simply make it through the next meal without eating unhealthy.  My friend Marissa brought up the picture below on Facebook the other day.  Whenever I see what I used to be, it brings up so many emotions.  I feel shame, embarrassment, sadness, guilt, all of the negative emotions you can think of - but I also feel motivated and determined to never be that person again.

At a Festivus Party in 2010

I think why I love this time of year is because I feel like I'm not the only one in this place - I have thousands of companions in this fight to eat healthy, maintain a fitness routine, and develop a better overall relationship with my body and self.  Everything you see around you reminds you about your goals - tv commercials, gym ads, weight loss challenges, etc.  I think seeing it constantly keeps me motivated because it keeps it at the forefront of my mind.  While I may be annoyed by not being able to get into my favorite fitness class because all of the new resolution-people in the gym, I like that for a moment I can feel like a "normal" person because everyone is dieting and working out.

What's been the best thing about the goals and resolutions that I've made since that original weight loss, is that I've been able to achieve all of them while maintaining my overall weight loss.  For me, setting and working towards goals is the main thing that keeps me going.  When I'm not working towards something or don't have a motivating factor holding me accountable, I tend to get comfortable with the day-to-day routine and grow stagnant.

So, what are my health goals for 2018?  Thanks for asking!  While I'm still working all of them out, here are the ones that I've decided on so far....

Fitness

• Complete 5K in under 35 mins.
• Complete half-marathon in under 3 hours
• Increase mobility and flexibility (having lots of issues with tight leg muscles and muscle cramping)
• Additional stretching/foam rolling at least 3x's per week

Health/Weight

• Decrease body fat percentage by X% (I'll be able to put an exact number to that after getting measurements done the second week of January)
• Decrease intake of alcohol and sugar 

So those are my current goals - I think they are pretty attainable and I've got some good accountability pieces in place to keep me motivated.  Especially because my lovely partner JJ got me an awesome new Garmin watch for Christmas that I'm absolutely obsessed with and it tracks EVERYTHING and it's amazing.

Inputting my half-marathon training into my awesome new watch!

The biggest motivation for me right now is the half-marathon that I am training for in April.  This will be my 3rd and I can already tell, my best.  I've learned so much about my body and how to fuel it while training, so I have high hopes for making this one the best one yet.  And of course, serving as a SoleMate and ambassador for Girls on the Run of Greater Knoxville while doing so.  While I have always blogged to share my thoughts with others and add some accountability into my life, it will also serve to help educate those reading about Girls on the Run and to help meet one of my biggest goals of 2018 of raising $2,000 for this program.  If you're reading this, will you help me by being one of the first (or even actually the first!) people to donate to this goal?

https://www.raceplanner.com/donate/Half-Crazy-for-GOTR-Greater-Knoxville

Going to enjoy the rest of my rest day (no training today!) and celebrate all that 2017 brought into my life!  Happy New Years!