And So It Begins!

Two thousand and nine is now done and the first day of 2010 has drawn to a close. For no discernable reason, I feel much more optimistic about the year ahead of me than I ever did about last year. Perhaps it is that I have goals I have set and a direction in life which were both sorely lacking at this time last year; perhaps it’s because I like some numbers better than others and ten ranks much higher than nine; perhaps it’s because in hindsight there were some very difficult times in 2009 and I was just glad to see it go. At any rate, the earth has completed another rotation around the sun and for better or worse, we must move with it.

With the end of a month in which I managed to remain healthy and the changing of the year, I find a renewed vigour to attain my goals and so started scouring the web for new sites to bookmark, quotes to save, and ideas to try. Given the time of year, I came across many articles about resolutions—suggestions, ideas, possible resolutions—and I read as many as I could for some trick to help me stick to my plan. I came across a list on Cosmo of Top 10 Resolutions Not to Make This Year. At first glance, there were a few eye rolls but most of the ideas on there seemed like good ones. I walked away from my computer but I kept thinking about this article and I found myself getting angry about certain ideas that were on there. I know that despite Cosmo’s claims of being for the independent, strong, yet fashionable woman, it really does continue to promote a lot of the old clichés and stereotypes of the rolls of men and women. So with that in mind I need to get a few things off my chest about their ‘suggestions’.

1. Quit your job and wait for a dream career opportunity to present itself. Recession shmecession.
Reality check: Suck it up and hang on to your gig for now. Appease yourself by taking a class or picking up a hobby that will make your résumé stand out, like learning a foreign language or starting a blog.
Recession shmecession, quitting your job without a plan of where it will go from there is stupid. Regardless of the current world financial situation, quitting your job to better your life in some way will always be the smart thing to do. Stick to the job you hate and in five years you will hate your life (or at least a huge aspect of it). I know this first hand, and anyone who has properly thought through the pros and cons of quitting their job to pursue other options and comes up with mostly pros should take that plunge.

2. Lose five pounds.
Reality check: Hot chicks like Jessica Biel, Beyoncé, and ScarJo are proof that toned and curvy is the new skinny.
It’s a nice idea that curvy is back in, but there’s a very telling word in the sentence which contradicts the Cosmo stance. The word is ‘toned’. Toned! As in ‘goes to the gym, does cardio, lifts weights’. I agree that five pounds really isn’t something to worry about but if you’re going to tell people not to do it, don’t use examples of people who are actually in very good shape.

3. Finally win back your ex-boyfriend.
Reality check: Move on. We give you permission to engage in some rebound relationship therapy.
Finally, one that I agree with (although maybe not so much the ‘rebound relationship therapy’).

4. Buy into all the latest trends.
Reality check: It's okay to be a slave to fashion...just be a slave to cheap fashion, rather than dropping serious bank on each and every look. Kick yourself later for wearing it, but don't kick yourself for blowing your paycheck on it.
I agree with this one, but the fact that it’s coming from a magazine which makes money off of telling people what to wear... hilarious. Someone in the Cosmo writing staff really should be in stand up.

5. Change your man.
Reality check: While some relationship tweaking is to be expected (hey, few guys are natural-born good kissers), if the words "fixer-upper" and "project" could describe your boyfriend, it's time to get real.
Again, completely agree.

6. Triple the number of friends you have on Facebook.
Reality check: Less time stalking your friends' friends' friends. More time catching up with buddies you actually care about.
Although I am guilty of having people on my facebook I don’t see regularly, don’t have people on there that I wouldn’t gladly chat with if I ran into them on the street. In the same vein, however, I do make an effort to keep in regular contact with the people I care about so if I want to have extra people on facebook, so be it.

7. Don't eat any junk food.
Reality check: Cutting out all unhealthy food from your diet will most likely lead to binge eating, followed by intense guilt, by mid-January.
I agree that cutting out all junk food will eventually lead to binge eating that very item, but why are you not encouraging the readers to be more specific with the resolution. Why not encourage them to resolve to eat no more than one fast food meal a week, or cut a specific type of junk food (or limit it to once a month), or even increase the number of salads they eat? This could have been a great opportunity for a quick lesson on how to make a bad resolution good.

8. Watch less trashy TV.
Reality check: Zoning out and de-stressing for a bit every night with the help of good bad television is harmless.
What if the person making this resolution watches five hours of trashy TV a night? Don’t get me wrong, I love me some trashy TV—have you seen ‘The Jersey Shore’? It’s hilariously sinful times!—but there’s more to life than knowing what’s happening with ‘The Real Housewives of [insert state name here]’. If you don’t like to read, fine, there are plenty of great TV shows which are entertaining and educational, perhaps you could encourage readers to give those a try. Zoning out doesn’t mean it has to be trashy.

9. Save more money.
Reality check: Let's be honest. In this economy, we're just happy to be able to pay our rent, gas, and credit card bill.
In this economy (the same one you are using as an excuse to tell people not to quit a job), shouldn’t trying to save some money be a priority? If money’s tight and you’re struggling to pay the things mentioned above then sit down, figure out your priorities and if part of that is saving money, make it happen. Perhaps stop the daily latte or get rid of those premium cable channels. Even if it wasn’t this economy, encouraging saving money is a good idea. So the fact that this would even be on here is just dumb, dumb, dumb!

10. Keep your number down.
Reality check: Nothin' wrong with notches on your bedpost, as long as you're being safe.
There’s also nothing wrong with making the decision to keep your numbers down. I believe in the sexual revolution and that women have the right to pick who and when, but I also believe that we shouldn’t be encouraging sexual relations just because we can.

In the midst of this list of don’ts are a bunch of additional links, and this one is actually very good. I really enjoyed thinking about the questions and my answers to them. I’ve decided to print them out and write out my answers and then I plan to review them this time next year. As for a list of resolution suggestions that I enjoyed and drew some inspiration from, check out Best Health.

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!

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!

Mea culpa

I know. I have been a wee bit behind in my 'weekly' blog entries. I wish I could say I've been having exciting adventures, or my social life has been so busy I just can't keep up with the writing. Sadly, I've been a relative hermit, doing school work and all manner of boring, boring things. One of which is blogging every day on my class blog for charity as part of NaBloPoMo, a blog for a class and charity takes priority over one I do for fun. I have been thinking about this page and exactly what the next 'real' blog will entail, but for now I will have to let you know that there is one in the works, and it will be a big one to make up for the spotty writing that has been going on. I promise. And I plan to have it up this weekend, but I reserve the right to delay until Monday or Tuesday depending on how the weekend goes.

So again, apologies to all of you... all two of you... and I will have something more complete than a comic up soon.

Running away from it all

Sunday/Monday, that's the same thing right? I'm a little late for this week, but it's been an exciting and busy week so I feel I'm justified in my lateness. I am finally without ankle reinforcements--yay!!--which means I'm back to actual work outs. My ankle is still sore when I move it in certain directions so the physio continues for the time being, but I'm just so excited that I'm finally footlose and fance-free in my shoes. Sorry, bad pun. The healing came at a good time as the brace was starting to wear on the back of my heal creating quite the sore spot by the end of the day.

I got hit by the flu bug that's going around work which has had me up and down this past week, but it seems to be completely gone now--another yay!!--so I'm really back in full force which means I'm finally able to start my 'learning to run' program I downloaded from the web. Yes, I said downloaded from the web. It''s one of those 'walk 5 minutes, run 1' type deals. I planned to start it last week but again the flu kept my activity pretty low. I have programmed the timing into my cellphone timer but what I really need is a timer in my mp3 player. Or I need to stop being cheap and upgrade to a phone that plays mp3s so the timer and tunes can co-habitate in one device.

I've never been a huge runing fan--even when I was a soccer player, I hated running--but I've been dabbling in it lately and have decided it's time to give this relationship a chance, see if we have a future together. The motivating factor for this decision was a discussion with a friend about destination marathons. Well, it was two different conversations with three different friends. With L & T, we discussed locations that they were thinking of going to (Italy, France, South Africa and Tanzania) and I jokingly offered to come as their support team. A few days later, in a conversation with another T, the words 'Antartica', 'marathon' and '2013' were floated around. I have tentatively (and I stress the tentatively) agreed to this plan, but first I need to become a runner. I'll give myself a year and if I don't love running by the end of that year, well, I'll be a lifer for the walking category in the TC 10K. If, however, I do love it I may just have to buy one of the jogging strollers when I have children (but I promise to hide it from those that hate them, you know who you are... and so do I).

I've finally woken up after Thanksgiving Dinner

I'll start this week with some good news: my ankle is getting much better! The physio that I'm doing really seems to be making things better. I'm sure part of it is also time and natural healing but the healing process seems to have taken a significant leap after I started the daily exercises, so I'm singing the praises of physio. Amen! Not to say there isn't still tenderness and certain movements remind me that I'm not healed, but I'm back to walking to and from work. Another Amen! I know that Autumn is here, today's rain proves it, but I'm hoping for at least a few more nice weekends as I have a double date with East Sooke Park and a couple of friends.

The other upside is that I'll be back at the gym lickity-split. I’ve checked out the facilities up at Camosun in a little more detail. They’re good facilities with a lot of newer equipment and usually fairly empty, however, the opening hours are somewhat limited so I’m going to have to plan my time there well. I see a few long days of work-gym-class, but the end result will definitely be worth it.

I’ve been busy with my classes and work so I haven’t had the chance to randomly search the web for random information which may (usually not) be useful in helping me attain my goal. As a result, I’ve set aside some time this weekend specifically for that purpose. Hopefully, I’ll find some good gems to share with you. I’ve found a few sites I’ve bookmarked for further investigation so here’s hoping I find something entertaining!

And now for some not-so-good news which has nothing to do with my blog’s purpose, but it’s my blog so tough diddly, I’ll write what I want. The younger brother of a good friend of mine is off to Afghanistan to serve our country. I think of my little brother and how I would feel if he was to head off overseas to put his life on the line for our country; I can only imagine that dark shadow which will hide in the back of the entire family’s mind until he’s home safe and sound. I have always been quite vocal to anyone who will listen that I may not support the mission involved, but I will always support the soldiers. Men and women who do a job I’m too selfish (and jumpy) to even contemplate deserve nothing less than my support. Every year I see the ‘Operation Santa Claus’ ads, and every year I think ‘this year I will participate’, and every year the holiday season passes without me doing anything. Well, this year I’ve already taken steps to ensure I don’t let that happen again. If you are interested in letting the troops know that people back home other than their families are thinking about them, please have a look at Write to the Troops which allows you to either post an electronic message or send an actual postcard/letter to a random soldier (you can pick the operation you want to write to). With the holiday season fast approaching, please consider taking 10 minutes and doing this.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and come out of your turkcoma’s before Christmas!

October? Already?

My ankle is still giving me lots of problems so the activity is still at a minimal level. It's frustrating to say the least. A week or two would have been tolerable, but three weeks is starting to wear on me. It's also starting to wear on my body. My rain jacket is starting to feel a little snug around the hips. When I first bought it, I chose it because it has two zippers and at that time even the largest size didn't fit over my hips. The fact that I can still do it up keeps the progress I've made in perspective, but it's not as loose as it was a month ago. Having said all that, I know have a set of daily ankle exercises to do so here's keeping the fingers crossed that I'll be back to proper workouts soon.


Prior to the ankle issues I was going to do the CIBC Run for the Cure today. Obviously, I didn't do that but I just wanted to give a big 'high 5' to everyone who did. You guys are awesome.