Sunday, December 27, 2009

Resolved to realise my resolution

The days are ticking down to New Year's and the annual resolutions that entails for most people. Inevitably for many people, resolutions involve weightloss/getting fit/improving appearance. The upside is that you get to see lots ads for really funny easy-fix weightloss remedies like this one or even this gem. The first time I saw the first one, I thought it was some crazy joke; how can you get rid of a double-chin and tone your neck if you don't actually lose any weight? If you check out the pro and con page on second link, you'll see some of the con's include: feeling dizzy, getting sick of the soup, it's only water weight that you lose, gas and diarrhea, as well as rapid weight gain once returning to 'normal' eating. Sounds like a great plan!

Thanks to the particularly crazy idea I had and formalised last June/July, my resolution required no thought this year and I fall into that category I listed above. In my online search for inspiration I came across a year-long experiment conducted by Quirkology in 2007 focusing on what techniques will gave you the greatest chance of succeeding at your resolutions and, for women, the most helpful thing you can do is go public with your resolution. I don't think you can get much more public than an open blog that shows up on a google search. Short of taking out a page in the Times Colonist, I've told pretty much everyone I know if Victoria so I've done that part of my resolution.

So, to formalise the resolution then, to actually write it down so I can come back to it again and again, so I can remind myself of it when I falter. I have said that I didn't want to get number specific on this blog so this is my public resolution. I will complete the Juan de Fuca trail this year in May and by the time I start it I will be 1/3 of the way to my final weight goal.

Bring it on, 2010!

Monday, December 14, 2009

I took the batteries out of my clock, but time kept going

Did anyone else miss the memo that December had arrived? I did. Not only has December arrived but we're almost halfway through it. I was waiting at the bus stop on Sunday afternoon when a young gentleman struck up a conversation with me regarding shopping for Christmas, and I realised that I had only finished one gift and that's only because I'm regifting the Esso gas card I won at my staff Christmas party. Don't look at me like that; I don't drive and it's $50, anyone who did drive would love to get that! Especially my brother.

I have faltered somewhat in my health plan. Well, only if 'somewhat' meant 'epic fail'. On top of biting off more than I could chew over the past season, my body had it's own idea about what it was willing to let me do. My ankle took until the end of October to fully heal which put quite the damper on things, and then most of November I was battling a few stomach issues. I couldn't eat full meals without getting sick, often leaving me very faint and somewhat dizzy by day's end. By the time I conceeded that I wasn't just getting repeated food poisoning and went to a clinic (three weeks after the first instance), November had turned to December and whatever was causing the problem had sorted itself out. The one upside is that because I wasn't really eatting, I didn't gain weight I just lost some of the muscle I had been working on.

I had to put my plans to start running on hold due to the stomach issues, but that was a bit of a blessing in disguise. It became very apparent that if I want to start running in the winter, there were a couple of items which I needed to purchase first, namely, some sort of reflective gear. Dark and wet evenings are not meant for running. Nevermind the cars, other people on the sidewalk had problems seeing me. I'd like to say that was because I was so fast I zipped right by them, but it's because my work out clothing is dark so I just look like some creepy, wheezy shadow which never quite gets up enough speed to pass them. I have not given up on the idea of running, it's just on hiatus until I feel a little better about heading out into the dark and cold. I figure a Christmas gift of to myself of new shoes and a reflective jacket will help me in that department. I just hope Santa got my letter asking for a few gift cards!

At any rate, I have more to say but my bed beckons. Now that I have a bit of spare time with the fall semester being done, I should be more regular at my updates... haven't we all heard that before :)

Happy Holidays Everyone!