I haven't been talking about running much on my blog because well, running hasn't been too existent in my life these days. Ding dong big fat belly. But it hasn't been non-existent from my thoughts or my life my any means. If you have a runner friend or family member, or are perhaps a runner yourself, you know that if we are not running, planning to run, or recovering from a run, then we are thinking about running.
And probably food.
So I have been thinking about running a lot, and the resolutions that I am working on to prepare myself to be able to go full force once my body is able to go full force without setting unrealistic expectations for myself. Why yes! I have even written a blog post about what my resolutions are! Check it out!!
But it's important for anybody no matter what sort of goals, resolutions, or whatever you wish to label them as that you have made for yourself in this coming year, that you not only make it known what they are and how you plan on getting there, but that you make it known what you are going to do once you fail and how to prevent it from happening again.
Cause let's face it, falling off the wagon when starting something new, or quitting something familiar, is inevitable, but that doesn't mean that it has to be permanent. Take the old saying of one step forwards and two steps back and change it to one step back, two steps forward.
Cheesy right? GOOD!
Take that cheesiness and tack it right up on the fridge with that inspirational photo of what you probably wont look like in 3 months because you have set unattainable goals for yourself. We all have one... Don't deny it.
Cheese cake anyone?
A sure fire way to set yourself up for failure right from the get-go is to set unattainable goals for yourself.
Let's face it. If you look like this.
Then chances are that you probably wont look like this
by bikini season.
But so many of us set unrealistic goals for ourselves during the "new year resolution season" (if you have ever worked at a gym you know there is a season for that), that we never even have a chance to get anywhere.
NEVER eating meat again
A sedentary person making the goal to ALWAYS run 6 days a week.
NEVER eating cookies again.
NEVER eating fried food.
NEVER smoking again.
NEVER watching TV.
ONLY eating fruits and veggies.
ALWAYS waking up at 6 am.
ALWAYS working out every day.
and on and on and on. And a lot of time when we make those unrealistic self image goals, like the poor women in the pink fat suit (that's a fat suit right?) we set ourselves up with un-achievable expectations in order to get there.
As you will notice all of these goals, which many people try to make, have a common theme. They have such drastic limitations with using words like NEVER and ALWAYS or making such crazy one side of the spectrum to the other changes that there is no way someone could live up to those expectations.
As a christian we learn about God's grace through the teachings in the Bible, and good old Paul tells us about how we cannot possibly live up to the un-achievable expectations that are imposed on us through the teachings of the old testament because, let's face it. We are sinners. We are human beings and that means we are failures by nature. But thankfully, Jesus died on the cross in order to give us the grace we need to not break ourselves down to nothing every time we mess up, but tells us that we can pray for forgiveness, and have comfort knowing if we TRY AGAIN we can succeed and stay successful.
Whatever your resolutions are this year? Make sure your not setting yourself up for failure. There is a reason why you have not been doing this thing you desire to start in your past, and a reason for you wanting the change now in your life. So evaluate your goals, make a plan full of baby steps, and take it one day at a time.
If you DO want to go vegan, but you love a good juicy steak (as a vegetarian, its hard to associate the word juicy with steak... eww), then start off with Meatless Monday's and educate yourself about going meatless. Then slowly, as you feel comfortable, challenge yourself with only 1 meat meal a day, then only 3 a week, and so on until you feel you can stick to the challenge.
And allow yourself a little bit of grace. If you attend a family bar-b-que with your dad's world famous pulled pork either allow yourself to have a bite without falling off the wagon and binging on chicken wings for a week straight or plan ahead and come prepared with a great meatless item to throw on the grill yourself. People can be very accommodating.
So as this first week of the New Year passes, now that you have had a chance to see what your resolutions will feel like and where they have taken place in your life (or not taken place if you have already sidestepped) sit down a re-evaluate, don't just give up until the following year.
It's ok to fall down and try again.
Who cares what anyone else thinks.
The only person who can tell you no is yourself.
(Am I sensing more fridge motivation!)
And of course
