Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Realistic Goals



Last year I set 2 very realistic fitness New Year's Resolutions for myself.

1. Survive childbirth. (I was 32 weeks pregnant and seriously doubting my ability to give birth/in shock that I would actually have to do so.)

2. Loose the baby weight!

I am happy to say that I accomplished both. The baby weight thanks to this. And childbirth thanks to an epidural. Even with an epidural, I am still proud of myself! I HATE medical things (seriously - I was traumatized by the "Body Wars" ride at Disney world as a child,  threw up getting my kindergarten shots even before they did anything because I was freaking out so much, passed out in 7th grade health class in front of everyone, felt quesy during our lamaze classes, and yesterday I got lightheaded at a consultation appointment to get my wisdom teeth out because they made me watch some movie about the procedure -the list could go on). Even despite my unusual level of anxiety about medical things, giving birth is no walk in the park! So go me! I did it.


This year I set a few fitness goals for myself again:

1. Run another half marathon in June. (I'm signed up and ready to go!)

2. Exercise 4 times a week.

3. Eat only 1 treat a day.

I was feeling pretty good about these goals. They were realistic and wouldn't require changing too much of what I was already doing. I really enjoy running so doing another half marathon would be fun. I was already going to the gym regularly (because of my awesome gym buddy EMILY) but just needed a more concrete schedule. Nate and I like eating healthy and I've tried not to keep treats in the house. Because I lack self-control to not eat them when they are in site. 

Then my sister-in-law, Emily, said she wasn't eating sugar until Valentine's day and that I should do it with her. I instantly agreed too. Because I am a joiner, and I love being part of things. The "no-sugar" thing would start on January 7th and go to Valentine's day. "Sugar" was defined as any treat-like product, i.e. ice cream, cookies, cake, cupcakes, candy, etc. The days leading up to January 7th I was a mess. I felt like I needed to eat all the sugar in site to compensate for not being able to for over a month. I made cookies, bought cupcakes, and ate random candy from Christmas I don't even like. 

January 7th came and I woke up not able to stop thinking sugar. It consumed me. I felt like life was being unfair. In a world where I was going to the gym 4 days a week and running long runs on Saturdays, surely I should be allowed to eat sugar? And them I realized I was right. Not eating sugar is a totally unrealistic goal from me. In normal life I don't obsess about eating cupcakes (acutally I do...). The goal was counterproductive. So needless to say, I switched back to my original goal. Maybe one day I will do something lofty like not eat sugar for a month or run a full marathon (those are equal in difficulty magnitude). But for now I happy with my easily achievable or "realistic" goals.




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