First off - Happy New Year! I can't believe 2013 is upon us and the holidays have come and gone. I believe that the older I get the faster the years fly by. I am really trying to make a point to stop and appreciate all of the little wonders of life because sometimes I think we forget to appreciate it in the hustle and bustle of daily routine.
That said, I am going to just put it out there...I HATE the idea of new year resolutions. I understand why everyone gets so excited and I am all for encouraging any type of positive behavior but I believe that resolutions have a tendency to set people up for failure as well as give us a reason to push off beneficial behaviors until January 1 comes around. I have really started to understand that life and health is a journey and everyday we have the ability to do good to ourselves and to others. Take this new year to make steps in the right direction but I really encourage you not to forget that we all have our bad days and we all fall off the wagon. Get back up, keep moving forward and never allow yourself to think, "Well...maybe next year."
I realize it's been way too long since I updated so I'll just give you the condensed version of my journey as of late:
1. December box jump challenge was a miss. I was saying "fail" but I changed that because I did not fail - I just came short. Literally...I came one inch short of my max height jump goal. To make matters worse, it was entirely mental as is the root of my ongoing issue with box jumps. However, I am now having no issues with doing prescribed jumps in our daily WODs and don't give the shorter boxes even so much as a second glance anymore. That, my friends, is HUGE progress. So, to wrap it up....box jumps - 1, Michele - 0. Until next time, dear boxy friend.
2. January challenge is TBD at this point which is kinda bad since we're already 7 days in. I was frustrated about the box jumps and Sam is fairly busy, you know, coaching and preparing for the new baby which is due any second. Needless to say, we haven't been able to discuss. I might just keep working on my box jumps if nothing else comes to pass but we'll see.
3. On a deeply personal level, I shared something with my coach last month that was pretty important and insanely scary to tell. I have realized, though, that information and disclosure is power and when you share that information and build a support group, it's so much easier to deal with the fear. No, I'm not going to share this particular story on here (yet) but it felt really good to tell Sam. My hope is that him knowing the information will assist me in my effort to overcome the issue. The lesson here is that people are willing to step up to the plate for us if we just have to give them the opportunity to do so.
4. I PR'd on my overhead squat max - 90 pounds. That's a huge accomplishment for me as overhead and front squats are difficult given my tendency to shirk on proper form and lift my heels. Go me!
5. Today is day 1 of 3 of a juice cleanse I decided to try. I don't know about you, but I often feel disgusting after the merriment of holiday eating and drinking. Juicing (with actual juice, not steroids) is supposedly a really good way to flush your body of toxins while reviving it with an insane amount of nutrients. People juice anywhere from 1 day to 6 months (crazy if you ask me) but I decided to start with a 3 day cleanse as a way to dip my toe in. So far today, I had a green juice that I made with kale, cucumber, romaine, ginger, pear and apple. It's......ok. I don't mind it but it needs a little something more next time.
My second juice I brought to work is beets, apples, carrots and ginger. As much as I love all of those ingredients, this one is definitely not for the faint of palate. It's liquid beets...and I like beets! Gonna power through, though, one sip at a time.
I overcame my first mental juice hurdle during lunch today when I realized that I had signed up for a lunch and learn presentation. I walked into the room and was overcome with the smell of crisp salads and fresh sandwiches and it all looked so delicious. It was a rough five minutes but when I whined about it to a friend, he came back with "You're doing good for yourself...It'll be over soon." That was all I needed to snap back into it. I AM doing good for myself and I don't really need to chew my meal to feel satiated. So much of this is going to be overcoming the mental hurdles that have been ingrained in us about what to eat, how many times a day to eat, what is "normal" and what is not. As soon as I focused on this, I was able to relax, sip my water and pay attention to something other than the munching and crunching of those around me. All in all, not too bad (so far) but I do really miss my coffee. Have any of you done a juice fast? If you have, I'd love to hear about it!
So, seven days into the new year and all is going well. I'm looking forward to a happy, healthy year filled with love, laughter, friendship, family, barbells and, yes, even some bruises. Let's make it a good one!
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