When one door closes...

My FRAN-normus hangover has finally subsided and its time to move on.  This blog will be a great way to remember the year that was but I am looking forward to starting a new adventure with fresh things to say:)   If  you are interested in seeing where I go from here check out my new blog called AMRAP: Live well, Laugh often and Love much.  Still got the CrossFit flavour with a little less FRAN but still ALL of me:)

Fran day 2012 Ignite style

Ignites very own caveman Jazzy J put this video together capturing the REAL spirit of Fran Day. Enjoy

Dear FRAN my no. 1 frenemy

Dear FRAN
Thank you. Thank you for turning this reluctant CrossFitter into so much more. Thank you for helping me find myself. Thank you for giving me something to strive for and providing me with an inspiration . Thank you for giving me a way to tap into my desire to make changes to my mind and body. Thank you. Thank you for introducing me to health and wellness, I LOVE my new body but I also love that I will be able to enjoy this body for years to come. Thank you from not just myself but from my children and my husband. Thank you for bringing people into my life that I didn't even know I was missing until they were there. Thank you. Thank you for your supportive, friendly, caring community. I will be eternally grateful for everything that you have unlocked within me.

Thank you for a wonderful year.

Love
Dana

And done:)

What can I say.....I DID IT!!!!

Thanks to T-Raw for taping me so that W could be there to hold J Dawg and cheer me on.  Its a long one and a handful of the thrusters at the start are gone to cut down on size of the file but enjoy and for all the no-rep Nazi's be nice:)

Here is some of the many people that came out to FRAN it up today:) It was an awesome atmosphere and there was a number of PRs.   It was a good day at Ignite today.

 Yep that is J Dawg on my lap in the middle and you guessed it he is crying:)

Here is the VERY TASTY!!!! VERY NON PALEO cake that my friend Mrs J made for me...oh ya for everyone else to enjoy too.

Twas the night before FRAN

First of all.......AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

T- minus 12 hours...

OK now I blog....

Here I sit on the the eve of FRAN and find myself chuckling at the irony of this whole thing.   Like W my life can now be divided into two very distinct time periods, BC (before crossfit) and AC (after crossfit) and I can't help but think that I probably can not  consider myself a reluctant beginner anymore either. 

I did what I said I would do...I got to know the other women in W's life and I wouldn't have thought in a million years that spending time with her would leave me feeling more confident, sexy, strong and empowered.  After years of "floating" through life, feeling isolated and lonely in my teens, falling in and out of depression in my twenties and really never understanding who I truly was or what kind of authentic life I could lead it was on the proverbial eve of my thirties on the fast track to frumpy, middle aged martyr-dom that I gave myself quite possibly the best and most important gift, my health, my happiness and control over my life.  And now here I am excited, feeling alive and rejuvenated, anxiously anticipating how the end of the this journey will ultimately become the beginning of a new adventure. 

This last year is not a story that is expectational or out of the ordinary in the CrossFit world.  There is a reason this once underground movement has exploded over the last few years, and no its not just because Rebook has brought it to the world with their mass marketing plan, it's because just like me people in CrossFit boxes all around the world are having life changing transformations.
Although not every one of the 315,360,000 seconds of the last year has been devoutly dedicated to becoming more FRANtastic, the majority of my time and energy was not wasted and this commitment has resulted in some valuable life lessons.  Lessons full of advice that I would give myself during life's tough times, stuff that didn't make sense before but that I now know for sure and even a few little gold nuggets I wish I had known just a short twelve months ago.

Lessons from FRAN

- A year is a long time
- Paleo wasn't really that bad
- Metallica, timed right, can actually jack you up during a long ass WOD
- Just like the many laws in science, the law of attraction is proven.  Positive energy attracts positive energy.  And positive is sooooo much healthier than the alternative
- Your body is your temple, treat it well and with respect and it will do the same to you
- A strong body is a strong mind.  A strong mind is powerful. Power breads confidence.  Confidence comes hand in hand with healthy self esteem.  And healthy self esteem leads to happiness. 
- You don't have to swim in the Kool-aid to enjoy the benefits, moderation in life is key
- Find inspiration in everyday things
- Take control of your life and be present
- Set goals with intrinsic motivation and stick with it, there is nothing quite like the feeling of true accomplishment
- Whether you are telling yourself you CAN or you CAN'T, you are usually right
- You will get out of life what you put into it.  Don't quit, don't stop, drive onward, always onward
- Failures and weaknesses are learning points but let them go, move forward and move on.  Bad days pass and life goes on.  Being humbled isn't always a bad thing and the end goal will always be there. 
- You can change your life if you really are ready and want to
- Having lots of people in your life is good,but having a few loving, caring, amazing people surrounding and supporting you is even better
- Families do not always share the same blood as you and can come in all shapes and sizes
- Overcoming obstacles teaches you alot about yourself, some good, some bad, embrace what you learn about yourself in times of adversity
- If you want to you should, and if can why not? Its OK to ask for more for yourself and never settle because of apathy
- Reach out and accept help and advice.  Being open and listening is key to growing
- Competition can be healthy and you can be surprised at your internal competitor when it counts and you really care

And really the most important thing I took away from my time with the ol' bitty is that there is only one me and I now I know how much I really can offer my friends, family and most importantly my husband and two beautiful children. 

Happy FRAN Day everyone:)

Inspiration

What has inspired me? Over the last twelve months I have tried to capture the things that inspire me, move me and.motivate me to work harder. Quotations, pictures and/or stories that gave me an extra reason to give a little push and keep going.  Just in the last month I have found a lot of inspiration from the outpouring of support that has come from everyone who has followed my 'story'.  And as the day draws near to get it on with FRAN I find myself working hard for the people who have taken time to send me a quick note of encouragement, a piece of valuable advice or to just show their unfaltering support.  Its been motivating to know that people who follow the blog do because they care about me and want to see me succeed.  Even with the risk of leaving someone out I thought a little shout out to of few of my special "peeps" who have inspired me along the way was appropriate. 

First and foremost Team Schafer, the three most important people in my life who have been in the trenches from the word go and who inspire me everyday to be a better person.  My main man, W, my husband, my bestie, and my sanity.  He has really seen the ups and downs of this past year, stuck it out and believed in me even when I didn't.  Then there is Little Miss M who depending on the day and her mood could either be heard cheering me on or asking me to set the weight down more quietly as it is "rather annoying" when I drop it and yell out . My momma's boy, J Dawg who has cried or slept through almost every workout I have ever done at Ignite but rewards me with smiles when I finish.  I hope that I have done right by them and that they are proud of me. 

Then there is all the other people in my life who have inspired me by just caring about me and what I was doing.  Like my"book" club and other non CF friends who took interest and followed me, put up with my weird coffee orders and listened to me ramble on about my snatch :) My fellow CrossFit Red Deer Mommas and my special CF BFF Rowdy Rusty for pushing me to work hard and making CF class much more bearable.  The rainmaker himself Coach IA2 and his wife Special K who let me pretend I worked at Ignite and gave me special privileges in order to achieve this goal .  All the coaches who offered their advice, encouragement and guidance and everyone I have ever wrote about and gave silly nicknames to.  All these people will be on my radar on Saturday when I think I just can't do one more thruster!   And last but not least my CrossFit Firebreathing hero, Fancy Nancy, who if I had never met I would have never thought this was possible:)  I look forward to having her beside me on the pull up bar this weekend. 

When I am laying on that cold, black floor, gasping for air on Saturday morning and finally get up to eat a delicious slice of my very NON paleo Fran cake.  I celebrate with all of the people who have been part of my very special journey and inspired me along the way. 

Thank you:)

T-minus 38 hours to FRAN DAY 2012

Inspiration

With time ticking away Coach IA2 passed along this inspirational message. I am pretty lucky to have such a great group of supporters and cheerleaders:)

Is there a trophy for Most Improved...

The theme for Open WOD 12.5 was looking back.  I will be honest when the workout was announced on Wednesday night I panicked.  By releasing the same final WOD from last years Open, it appeared that CrossFit HQ wanted athletes to spend some time, revisit how they performed last year and then marvel at how far their training has brought them over the last 365 days.  It makes sense, CrossFit would be getting even more buy in because of the obvious improvements most athletes would see. Kinda like they handed out a fresh jug of kool aid!    A ladder version of FRAN that required the athletes to add 3 thrusters and 3 CHEST TO BAR pull ups every round for 7 minutes. Immediately this posed a problem, I can't do a chest to bar, I am still frantically working on doing more than 2 kipping pull ups unbroken before March 31st. I knew that no matter what I did at the gym today I wouldn't get past the first 3 thrusters before getting "no repped" to death, so I resigned to that fact and thought of today as a great warm up for my real CrossFit Games next weekend.  And even though I completed the workout up to the 12s by doing a regular old chin over bar my official score was a three.   
Unfortunately my score today did not reflect how far I have come just in the five weeks that the open has been on, not to mention how far I have come since sitting on the sideline with my one month old son in my arms admiring those who dared to compete.   A whopping 3 does not adequately represent the improvements I have made to my physical and mental capabilities nor does it leave me feeling satisfied.  But what today and the rest of this five weeks have showed me is that sometimes its important to focus on what you CAN NOW DO that maybe you couldn't do before and don't waste so much time and energy thinking and worrying about the skills and movements that you have still yet to master. Week after week I set a PR, I did a movement or lifted a weight that I never had before, I pushed past limits I didn't think I could and even though I remained near the bottom of the leader board I could be proud of my performance and proud that all my hard work, time and energy paid off. 
So even though I can't compare this years final WOD to last year and relish in my obvious improvements I still got my glass of kool aid and am sitting here at home tonight happily sipping away thinking about FRAN and how next weekend will be one of my greatest personal accomplishments to date. 

The Story of Fran

The Open WOD this weekend makes me panic a bit....a version of FRAN with chest to bar pull ups....I am not ready to face her just yet:(  Nevermind the fact that I can't do a chest to bar pull up!!!!! Can my ego take a hit one week out?

Here is her story from the mouth of Greg Glassman....

“If a hurricane that wreaks havoc on a whole town can be Fran, so can a workout.”

In this video shot at several CrossFit 101 seminars, Coach Greg Glassman talks about the birth of one of CrossFit’s best-known and most challenging workouts: Fran.

From CrossFit Journal

http://journal.crossfit.com/2009/12/the-story-of-fran.tpl

Inspiration

Glad that Canada West Media Team told this story:)

She's coming...

FRAN Day 2012 is not so far off. 

I have always been a reflective person, keeping journals as a kid.  Analyzing my life and figuring out what I should learn from each life experience.  So its no surprise that as the last month on this wild journey winds up I have become a bit of an emotional wreck reflecting on the year that was. 

Its hard to imagine what exactly was running through my head a year ago and it has become so obvious, particularly in the last month looking back, just how much my life was in need of this.  My life was not just in need of CrossFit.  I was in need of all the things that have come from putting myself out there, taking a chance and exploring who I really could be.  After I had little Miss M I struggled with my identity, where I fit in and how my life was changing.  I joke about the "dark" three months that followed her birth but in truth I was lost, sleepless and unhappy.  Between the internal emotional storm that was raging daily inside of me and the external sources of stress that I couldn't seem to avoid, my life was not my own.  I slowly came out of the fog and emerged a little stronger and a little more confident.  But when we found out we were having a second it was hard not to anticipate the worst.  Where would I go this time?  This idea to do FRAN prescribed was more than just a fitness goal or a way to connect with my husband, it became a beacon of light to ensure that I didn't get lost in the dark again.  It is easy to forget where I came from and I still have difficultly believing how much my life has changed.   And no matter what happens on March 31st, whether FRAN kicks the shit out of me or not I will take my lumps like a champ and remember: 

"Success is not measured in achievement of goals, but in the stress and strain of meeting those goals."Spencer W. Kimball

In like a LION...

As we literally slide (on a pile of fresh snow) out of February and into March my timeline for getting more than one kip is getting a little tight:) Since we are five weeks out from FRAN day, W has decided its time to kick it up into super high gear.  I will be purely WOD-ing my way through to March 31st.  It promises to be a busy month for so many reasons including the five specially designed workouts I will be doing every week, and my attempt at a backwards 30 day pull up challenge.  I also had a moment of insanity and signed up for the CrossFit Open .  With one games workout under my belt I have a pretty good idea of how my adrenaline and nervous energy can affect my workout as well as how it feels to push harder and give until there is nothing left to give.  Here's to a month of  hard ass workouts, testing my limits and good times with my Ignite family.

Click on the link to see my athlete profile
on the CF Games Open wesbite





Introducing CrossFit Red Deer

Coach Flannel has been walking around the gym with his camera over the last couple of weeks...now we know why.  Hats off to him for capturing the spirit of CrossFit at Ignite Fitness. 

Inspiration

It was a year ago this coming week that W signed himself up for the 2011 CrossFit Open.  Every Saturday for the the following few weeks we spent our morning at the gym.  Looking back it was during that time that I had got my first sip of kool aid and had caught the CrossFit fever.  I cannot remember what moment it happened in, possibly watching Special K push a PR over her head or while cheering on Big C as he gutted out his toes to bar, but it happened.  It was powerful and it drove me to want something more from myself.  And so with this years CrossFit Open just around the corner I thought it would be nice to showcase three stories of inspiration that have got me looking forward to another exciting month of Saturdays....


PS.  I have never used real names before and I am not sure how comfortable I feel about doing it so but who knows you might want to check them out on the Canada West leader board!!!!!

Fancy Nancy

Nancy McKeage is a familiar name and face the CrossFit community will want to watch for this year in Canada West.  Nancy joined CrossFit Red when it opened shortly after the birth of her second daughter and within one year competed in her first ever CrossFit competition.  After placing 13th in the 2010 sectionals followed by 3rd in the regional’s she found herself down in California competing at the Home Depot Centre in her first CrossFit games.  After an eye opening experience the year before Nancy went on to finish 4th (Canada West) and 173rd (worldwide) in the 2011 CrossFit Open.  Barely missing the podium at regional’s with a 5th place finish her dream of travelling to California for the second year in a row was dashed.  But she is back and better than ever! With a more intense training plan and the desire to do it ALL over again Canada West better  watch out because turning 40 in the fall has not slowed down this part time teacher, full time firebreather. 

Author's note: Besides being a rock star CF'er she is also one of the most amazing people I have ever had the privilege to be around.  I am lucky and honoured that she is in my corner every time I get up on that bar to kip or pick up the weights to lift heavy.  I look forward to having her by my side on FRAN day.   

The Blog

Shortly after attending last years Regional’s in Vancouver, Iaian Park, owner of CrossFit Red Deer, returned to Central Alberta inspired.  He knew within the walls of his very own box was a group of exceptional athletes.  People he knew with the right training and motivation could compete.  So he created a blog and invited a group of the top athletes within the community to try something a little different.  This group of devoted competitors, made up of mostly middle age professionals and parents all with a number of other things on their “plates”, have quickly become known as "the bloggers”.  They have spent the last few months intensely training together, competing around central Alberta and becoming a subculture within the gym in preparation for the Open.  They hope to able to qualify and compete as a team and most importantly defy the myth that age matters.    

Nurse T

Since its inception, the 10 am CrossFit Red Deer Momma's class has had one very special member.  Trysta Pleasants has been a enthusiastic member at Ignite Fitness since it opened its doors and has remained a loyal CrossFitter with a clear goal of getting to the Home Depot centre ever since .   Despite her age difference with the other women in class she quickly became part of this very tight knit group of moms with CrossFit fever.  At only 21 years old,  Trysta is truly a super girl.  She is not only one of the up and coming faces to watch for in the local CrossFit scene but also a full time nursing student who is set to graduate next winter, a  dedicated mom, a helpful volunteer, a loving fiance, caring sister, cherished daughter and solid friend. 

 This fall, even at 9 months pregnant, with her two young toddlers in tow Trysta slowed down for no one and no WOD.  She was literally barefoot and pregnant butter flying and thrusting her way through workouts almost right up until the day before she gave birth. It is no coincidence that the pregnant girl with a sub 10 Fran time only took 2 hours to give birth to a beautiful baby boy, Gage Dayrl Ponneroth. 

It wasn’t too long after that her newest addition made his debut at the box.  And as soon as Trysta got the ok from her doctor she jumped right back in, anxious to start her competitive training.  She paced herself and hoped that she would have time to get Games ready.  Then tragedy struck.   At only four weeks old her precious baby boy passed away suddenly. 

News of her terrible loss shook the CrossFit Red Deer community.  As the Ignite family rallied around Trysta, the collective heart ached for her. The day of the funeral the community  chose to honour her little man as only a CrossFit family can, a workout in his name.  GAGE will be by far the most challenging, significant and important benchmark workouts posted on that board. 

 It is hard to fathom what she could possibly be going through.  But in true fire breather fashion Trysta showed us why she is known around the box for her steel determination and iron clad resolve.  It seemed like this super girl was actually a super WOMAN.  With poise, strength, resilience and her goals still clear in her mind Trysta returned to her CrossFit roots and is planning on healing by sweating.  With her sights still set on competing in this year’s Open and hopefully achieving what she has dreamed of since the beginning, to compete alongside the fittest on earth at this year’s CrossFit Games.  

Why every grade 10 girl should CrossFit.

I am reminded, as I go back into the classroom, that being a teenage girl is tricky business.   Last week I stood in front of a room full of grade 10s and noticed some pretty common themes among the young ladies sitting opposite me.  There was the typical bad boxed dye jobs, the over the top muffin tops, the "isn't smoking sort of uncool this day and age" smoky breath, the false bravado and the "I am a bitch on wheels" fake confidence.  When coupled with a dangerously low self esteem and the terrible ideas about how to get those prepubescent boys to pay attention to them you get yourself a girl who is one bad choice away from loosing what little self respect and self confidence she had left.  You ask them what they love to do and their answer is to "party".  Hmmmmm.....

After spending the last year living and breathing CrossFit, I am starting to believe that maybe these young ladies need more than a pamphlet, public health announcement and firm lecture.  They could use a big ol' dose of Kool-aid.  

I would argue that CrossFit makes more than athletes, it changes lives and it inspires you to be the best person you can be.  It fosters the development of a positive body image by reinforcing the idea that being powerful is sexy.  It inspires feelings of belonging to a healthy, supportive community.  Its empowering to know that you have trained your mind and body and can push yourself to your limit .  It teaches a person that when you set a goal and work at it you can achieve it.  And it rewards those who show up, work hard and stay committed.  CrossFit is more than an exercise class and might be the type of life training these young ladies could use to help them learn to love, cherish and respect themselves.

Taken from CrossFit Kids Newsletter

Inspiration

Here is an quotation that coach IA² shared with me today.....the very first line is something I need to start to remind myself everyday!


"It's not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood."
                                                                                                                          -Theodore Roosevelt-

Practice pays off

Its been a long process but well worth the dried out chalk calloused hands because today I FINALLY got a kipping pull up.  It ain't pretty but my chin seems to have gone over the bar.  The final piece of the FRAN puzzle has been found....now to put the jigsaw ALL together hmmmmmm.  Please excuse the videography....my camera man was holding lil' J.   

Inspiration

A few weeks ago the local SHAW cable channel came and made celebrities of Ignite Fitness/CrossFit Red Deer.  Shout out to T-RAW for looking fierce and interviewing like an old media pro. She truly is a CrossFit convert. 

The scales are tipping

It was the summer after I had just finished my fourth year of teaching when W and I started to date.  We had meet a few times before that but always in a "party" setting. So in essence he had only ever known a version of me that was carefree. A gal who was always game for a good time, would go out, stay up late, drink, have fun:) It was late August when W started to notice a change.  Suddenly I wasn't so easy going , I didn't stay out quite as late, drink as much or spend so much time doing...well doing nothing.   It was obvious I had things on my mind.  Wondering if  maybe our summer romance was fizzling W grew concerned and brought up his worries.  It was then that we had "the talk".  I was the first teacher he knew personally, it wasn't his fault, he didn't know.  And for some reading this it might come as a shock to you too but its true.  Teachers have two personalities, a summer vacation version and a school year version.  As you can imagine, in almost every case summer version is more favoured.  So I explained to W that  my distance was not because of a faulty connection but my change in mood  was because I was just preparing for the fast past, on your feet, talk non stop, help at lunch, volunteer after school, discipline all day, mark all night world I was about to re enter. I was morphing from Summer Dana to School Dana.   I am lucky he stuck it out and I am sure if you asked him he would tell you that every July long weekend he welcomes my alter ego and that the lady who emerges from behind a stack of finals at the end of June  is by far the more fun version of me.  We have adjusted and even found out that Maternity leave Dana has turned out to be kinda cool too:)That is after the hormone levels evened out.  Its a balance thing.  Teachers generally don't have any, they live school, the job sort of demands it. 

This coming Friday as I head back into school I can't help but feel apprehensive about the changes that are about to rock my tediously balanced boat.    Right now there is time, time to workout, time to prepare a paleo meal, time to play with the kids, time to clean up, time to read a book even time to chat with my husband.  Simply put there is time.  Time to explore more of who I am and find out that beyond being a teacher I actually do enjoy other things.   Time that will be quickly gobbled up by teacher things once I am back at it.  Many health experts claim that to be truly happy and healthy one must be able to toss all of life's "balls": work, play, family, spouse and house into the air and give them equal attention to keep them off the ground.  I know that the key to my success once I return to work is to find that ever elusive balance.  Something I am starting to wonder isn't just an illusion, an idealistic vision that balance means working full time, enjoying an active social calendar that includes ample amounts of alone and couple time while seamlessly managing a beautifully decorated, immaculately clean house full of well behaved, perfectly groomed children completing Mensa puzzles quietly in their rooms. 

 

I know that isn't true balance, that is merely a myth passed down from mothers to their daughter along with guilt....

Right? 

Shit!

Do you think three days is enough time to learn to juggle?

Progress Report

After a lax Christmas holiday where I just WOD-ed here and there it was time to tighten up the training as FRAN day nears.  With my return to school date also looming W and I have made some tweaks and have decided that we for the next six weeks I would return to my roots and revisit Starting Strength.  We tested and my 1 RMs have not changed much as you can see I didn't reach the goals I set out to after August, so we go from there. 

Lift	March 31st 2011	April 29th 2011	Goal  (set on April 29th)	August 5th 2011	Goal (set on August 5th)	January 1st 2012	Goal (set on Jan 1st)
Squat	35	95	121	140	165	140	150
Press	35	45	60	67.5	77	67.5
Dead lift	95	145	151	165	180	165
Bench Press	45	55	90	85	100	85
Pull ups 3 x 5	Blue band	Blue Band	Green Band	Green and Red Band	Red Band	Red Band	Kip-no band
Push Press						65
Front Squat						95

I am on my second week and am remembering very quickly how much mental game is needed to make a PR every time you are lifting.  I would really like to back squat my body weight when this is all done and since my body weight isn't going down much more I have about a twenty pound increase I need to make. 

Three days a week I lift; bench, press, squat and deadlift and we have added in front squat and push press in order to get those heavy as fast as I can as well.  I also work on my dead hang pull up, Lsits to strengthen my grip and box jumps for some volume.  In warm up I work on my kip, my skip, hand stand push ups and my transition from a front squat into a push press with an empty bar.  I have two off days and two days that I just WOD. 

We will see how this goes.....my main priority right now is my lifts that will make my thrusters better and practicing my kip.  Stayed tuned we are taping me with my phone everytime I am on the bar now we are so close!!!!!!

Inspiration

Coach IA²posted this on the Ignite page today....hmmm its a thinker!

Rite of passage-CrossFit style

My first ever hand tear from swinging like a monkey on the bar. 

Just one step closer to becoming the fire breathing CrossFitter I need to be in order to do FRAN prescribed.  

Did I mention I am really close to doing a kipping pull up :)

(Note: Please ignore the old lady hand wrinkles...chalk does nothing for dry winter hands.... yikes)

   

Auld Lang Syne

Its at this time of year that it seems like no matter where you look there is ads for gyms, health clubs and diet plans that promise this year will be the year their classes will help you to shed that last 10 pounds, their trainers will take your body from flab to fab or their dietitians will help you look on the outside how you have always felt on the inside.  This in turn will make you look better in your swimsuit, help you meet the partner of your dreams and get you into the single digit jean size you haven't seen since, well since you were a single digit age.  All you have to do is come in and sign yourself up and you will be one step closer be the healithiest and fittest you have ever been.

Really?  All I had to do was sign up?


How did a single day become the day to make promises to yourself and the rest of the world that when you wake up you will be the person you have always wanted to be?  The person who doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, is 10 lbs lighter, eats cleaner, is more active and in general just an all around more healthy person.  If each year of your life was like a lap in a perpetual race then January 1st would be like the starting line where you can reset and begin all over again hopeful to avoid the same health pitfalls as the lap before.   What is it that holds most people back from choosing to make a change in their life any other day in a year. Why so much pressure to be healthier starting on New Years.  As I have come to realize since last April, goals are important and actually essential when you are trying to change your lifestyle. But why do so many people feel it necessary to make this commitment just as the ball is dropping in Time Square.  The pressure to live up to the hype surrounding these kind of resolutions is so powerful that you are almost self sabotaging your efforts before you even get to Valentine's Day. 

I am not in the habit of making New Year's Resolutions but not because I don't believe they don't work for some people but simply because the few times I did partake in this age old tradition I never stuck with it.  Goals that should have resulted in positive warm fuzzies ended in me feeling crummy because I never followed through.   There was the year I promised myself to worry less.   Hahaha does a zebra have stripes?  The 3 year stretch in University I swore I would drink less and study more, starting the next morning of course.  There was even one New Years Eve after a rather disappointing rendezvous, I swore off dating.   Hmmmmmm....I see a pattern.  All lofty goals with results that would require more than just self discipline and a decent game plan.  Things that subconsciously I knew would require a significant alteration of my lifestyle. The kind of alteration I was never really ready or willing to make.  Thus each and every time I promised myself one of these things I ultimately failed.   It took me a long time to realize that if I was going to make a life change I couldn't just say I was going to do it.  Figuratvely speaking, I was going to have to get off the couch put down the bag of chips, make a realistic plan and then spend some time really examininig the parts of my life that would require my attention to carry out this plan.  Why do you think it took me until I was 29 to make my health my priority? Making a positive life change is hard, no matter when you decide to do it.   So if this is your year, the year you have decided to be the "real" healthy you, stick with it and don't be another New Year's Eve statistic.