2012: New year...New Challenge

The New Year is always an exciting time for me.  I, like most people, take the last few weeks of December to reflect upon the year and look for healthy and positive adjustments for the upcoming twelve months.  Many of us refer to these changes as our New Year’s resolutions, but I tend to refer to them as my “challenge(s) for the year”.

Two years ago, I decided to see what it was like to be a pescatarian for a year.  When I told fellow coworkers, family, and friends that I had made it my goal to eat no meat other than what comes from water sources i.e. fish, shrimp, etc., they couldn’t wrap their head around why I would do such a thing.  To be honest, I wasn’t really sure why I had decided to do this, either. 

Coming from a small town in Texas, it was almost unheard of for someone to be a vegetarian or anything of the like unless it was for special circumstances.  I really hadn’t been exposed to this lifestyle until my first summer as a summer staff member at a camp.  Working on a summer camp staff since 2005, I have met many young people that have dedicated their lives to this style of eating.  I didn’t get it.  Over the years, I have found that each person had their own reason behind their diet and for the year 2010 I decided to come up with my own reason to cut most meats from my diet—I needed a challenge.

I was successful but it wasn’t without a few almost mishaps.  Who knew you couldn’t eat all vegetable soups?!  The year 2011 rolled around and a good friend/neighbor took it upon himself to welcome me into the New Year with my first piece of meat.  That bacon was delicious…until it made me sick.  A word to the wise: If you take meat out of your diet, SLOWLY incorporate it back in.

Last year, I decided to say, “See ya later” to sodas.  This one wasn’t nearly as tricky as the year before.  However, I found it much harder to do than I had expected.  The cravings for a ginger ale or Fresca began to subside as the months went by and I was able to check this challenge off as a success for the year of 2011.  Since the beginning of this year, I have had one or two sodas to satisfy the craving, and I have found that it hasn’t been hard to say no to it most days.

As December rolled around, I began thinking of all the possibilities of new challenges that I could take on for the upcoming year.  I decided, instead of taking something out of my daily life, I would add something to it.  I have known people to take on a discipline during the season of Lent rather than to give something up and I thought that I would apply that concept to my life as I headed into the next 365ish days.

I began this blog at the end of last year and I always appreciate it when the blogs that I read stay current.  So, to those that read this, I have committed to trying to write at least twice a month.  Like I said in my first entry, I have always loved writing.  But, I have found that it takes true discipline to sit down and actually do it.  Thus, this is the challenge I have decided to take on.

And, just like most people that make resolutions, I still felt the need to do something good for my body, not just my mind.  I have a gym membership already, but I can’t always find the time to go regularly.  Working out makes me a much happier person.  So, I decided that I needed to find something that I could do almost daily and that I would feel guilty about it if I didn’t do it.  Let’s face it, people buy gym memberships hoping that the money they put in will be the incentive to keep them going. 

I dropped the big bucks and bought my first infomercial work out system.  Here is the time to laugh at me.  I never thought I would be a person to do such a thing, but I really want that gray Insanity t-shirt at the end of the sixty days ;-).  Honestly, I don’t really care to have the shirt but I have gotten the dvd’s, calendar of work out’s, and nutrition plan in the mail and for the past week, I have dedicated about an hour to each work out.  I have gone through pain, sweat, soreness, and maybe a few tears, but I have found that it is a regimen that I really enjoy.  For those of you that don’t know what the Insanity work out is… think back to your toughest day in high school athletics or gym class and then multiply that by however hard unimaginable is.  For me this number is about a ten.  Thanks Shaun T for kicking my butt but getting it into shape, as well.

I’ll have to keep you all updated on this year’s challenges.  And to all those that have made a resolution, stick to it!!  I have found that it feels extremely rewarding as the last few days of the year are upon you.