7 Tips to Keep the "New You" Motivated

Keep climbing!

People will be all over the gym the first week of January - spinning, climbing stairs, lifting weights, checking their body fat percentage.  Those new year's resolutions are freshly polished, dusted off from last January - promises to eat better, exercise more, drink more water, eat less sugar, and lose that muffin top before swimsuit season.  But come the end of the month,  there will be a few more parking spaces and treadmills will be standing empty again.

If I ran the gym, I'd post some notes to help the "new you" fend off the "hungry and comfortable you" and stick with those resolutions until December.

- Don't feel intimidated.  When I first started swimming laps, I was swimming one length in about 2 minutes, flailing across the pool, ready to drown, and taking a 5 minute break at the end. I watched the other people swimming about 5 laps in the same time and felt like maybe I was getting in their way. It took some time and work, but now I have a good lap swim workout (and there are still people faster and doing more laps than me) and I love it. Don't worry that you aren't fast enough, strong enough, or have the right clothes.  Keep trying the things you really want to do.

- But at the same time - Know your limitations. Know when to quit, go slower or lighter, or not even attempt something. No matter what my Latin-blooded friend says, she's not getting me into zumba, despite her promise that I won't be the only rhythmically-challenged, uncoordinated person in the room (that's her sales pitch). The first time I went to my now almost-regular strength-training class, the instructor told me to put 10 lbs. on my barbell.  I was almost offended - what, I can lift more than 10 lbs! I thought.  But, could I do it 50 times in a row, I realized was the test.  Whew!  I should have dropped it down to 5 lbs.

- And don't get in the way. In any type of group exercise or when there's multiple people (like on a running track), figure out where the people at your pace or level are - running the same speed, going to pass out from strength-training at the same time, whatever.  Its safer, you'll be more comfortable, and it helps with the "don't be intimidated" thing.

- Give yourself 30 days. The experts on developing habits and such things like that say that it takes 21 to 30 days for your new habit to stick. Seeing as you probably won't be going to the gym every day, allow 30 for this one. Make your plan for January, and no matter what else comes along, stick with it. Go to the gym, meet with a personal trainer, go to zumba, walk to the Metro station - do it without fail.

- Plan and prepare for your exercise to reduce your excuses and possible distractions. Exercise rarely just happens, especially with the busy lives we lead these days. Figure out how exercise will work into your day - early in the morning, lunch-time, at the end of the day, whatever works for you - and write it into your schedule.  Yes, that means you may have to skip happy hour this week.  Sure, coordinate your workout schedule with your hair appointments and your pedicures.  Nope, you can't pass out cupcakes at school this morning.  Put yourself first.

- Pack your bags. Whether you will be heading to work or volunteer at your kids' school or get drinks with friends after your workout, make sure you have everything you need to shower and change clothes. Shower gel/soap, shampoo, hair styling stuff, deodorant, lotion - keep a set in your gym bag so you don't have to remember to grab it off the bathroom counter every time.  And undergarments!  Raise your hand if you've ever been standing in the locker room and realized you forgot to pack your bra.  Keep a spare set of undergarments in your bag.

- Set a goal and commit to it. Register for a race or competition or game or league or whatever - something that requires a commitment at a specific point in time. I registered for a triathlon before I was ready because it forced me to stick to a workout plan, because I knew I had exactly so many months, weeks, days before I would have to be ready.  If I didn't stick with my plan, I could drown and die.  (Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but that's what it takes to keep me on task).

Lastly, something that has nothing to do with fitness, just my own preference for modesty 

- Don't talk to me naked, don't talk on the phone, lotion, put on your make-up or brush your hair while butt-naked. Doesn't matter if you are a size 2 or 22, don't care to have a conversation with you in your birthday suit.  But if that's your thing and you just have to stay naked, at least, while you are moisturizing or whatever else, keep both feet on the ground.

See you at the gym!

With 2012 in the horizon

It seemed not so long ago when we were being warned that we were going to lose all of our money and investments, our clocks would go haywire, and traffic was going to be a mad melee because the millennium was only hours away.  We held our collective breathe, with Prince's "1999" as the soundtrack, in the last moments the song would be relevant, waiting for the world-wide confusion that would happen when the clock struck 12:00 a.m. on January 1, 2000.

Somehow, the world survived.  And here we are, 11 years later, going into another new year.  Many will make new year's resolutions and plans.  The stuff they are going to do or not going to do.  The goals they are striving for.  The who they will be by this time next year.  I don't make alot of "resolutions".  Not because I think I've got it all together, but, for me, its too much pressure.  But there are some things I'd like to do, in no particular order (and feel free to share your own):

- finish reading the Bible - its not as if this is terribly hard, I can read afterall, its just a matter of making it a priority

- finish some of my un-finished projects - I'm kinda bad at finishing craft-y type projects, like my scrapbook from my trip to Seoul 2 years ago, the dollhouse in my basement, the countless sweaters/scarves/shawls/gloves piled up in my yarn basket. If I could just finish some of them, that would be good

- use more cash than credit - okay, so this one is really more of a strong suggestion from my loving spouse, but it's still a good idea

- participate in another triathlon/duathlon and/or a couple 5Ks - notice, I said "participate", not "compete" inferring, I just would like to finish with a decent time, no dreams of winning, that would require too much work and a lot less chocolate

- do more stuff with my kids - it has occurred to me that now that they are all in school, most of our time together is spent grabbing dinner as we rush to the car, driving to this practice or that game, or fussing over homework.  I don't know when we would squeeze in anything else, but you can always make time for what's important to you and they are my most important anything.  I'm inspired that my son still wants to read with me.

- commit to "just us" time with my husband - I know a few friends who have regular in-house date nights, after the kids are put to bed, they pour a glass of wine, maybe even dinner or dessert, and spend some time together, just husband and wife. I like that.  Some time, because he works from home often, we make space for lunch, either out or at home. It's important to be able to have a conversation and share a laugh without censoring or being interrupted.

- read some good books - between my e-books virtual shelves and the physical piles around my house, I have plenty, but I'm always open to suggestions (especially books about daughters, animals, or circuses - and anything that combines two or more of those things definitely goes on the list)

- a whole bunch more stuff I'll think of as the year goes on.

But my most important goal for every day of the new year, has been the same for years - 

"Begin and end each day with one husband and 4 kids - no more, no less".

May God bless you and may you recognize His blessings in the new year!
Happy 2012

A dinosaur in 2011

My new year isn’t really started until I have a brand new planner. And I was starting to think that 2011 was going to have to be postponed.

My daughters tagged along as I visited the two major bookstores (yes, I physically went into the brick & mortar). At the first store, the girls waved “see ya” as I wandered to the rows of calendars and they skipped off to children’s books. When they returned twenty minutes later, they were surprised that I had not picked a planner yet, so they thought they’d help me by pointing some out to me. Nope – don’t like wire or spiral bound books. Nope – don’t like 18-months. Nope – too big. Nope – the calendar spaces aren’t the right size. They thought they had found the one when they held up a pink and green, non-spiral bound book. Close, but it was too small. We left for the second store and it was like déjà vu all over again. They came home with a pile of books and magazines, I was empty-handed. After a late night, into the next morning internet search, I found it – one exactly like I had in 2010.

My husband considers me a dinosaur and is sure that I am one of the last remaining customers of the paper planner industry. But an electronic calendar app does not work for my daily calendar needs. This simple book - 5.5”x8.5”, book-bound, with a little page marker ribbon to mark the current week – is a calendar, journal, phone book, repository for receipts and postage stamps, and more. Its my own personal wiki-pedia.

For example, last January – notes from the speaker at the Martin Luther King memorial breakfast and my friends’ new address in New York (I know its in January because they moved at the end of last December). Where’d we go for Valentine’s brunch last year? Right there – Feb. 14, restaurant on the Harbor, the day after my friend’s 40th birthday in Delaware. How much have my children grown since last year and when was it that they got their last shots? Right next to their birthdays. In the Sunday boxes - notes from various sermons. How much does it cost to ship a case of Girl Scout cookies to Iraq and where is the bus depot for items lost on the school bus? You’d be surprised how often this information comes in handy. Recipes for Chicken Satay, Chocolate Loaf Cake & Margarita Cream, salmon, and a drink called a “Southside”. Names of my childrens’ friends, their parents’ names and phone numbers. Titles of books that look interesting, product recommendations, and places to go. Exercise and weight log (its true, Christmas week and sweet tea season get me every time). School calendar, sports schedules, orthodontist referrals.

I can’t even imagine how I would capture all of this on a phone app. And then what happens when some electronic wi-fi catastrophe happens? What will happen to the crochet pattern I had sketched in June? No, I can’t trust all my important information to the haphazardness of technology.

So for a few more days, my trusty, information-packed 2010 will stay with me into the new year. Then the mailman will bring my new planner and I can begin filling it up with all the plans, recipes, notes, books, and friends 2011 has to offer.