Improvements for 2011

Instead of writing a post about 2011 New Years “resolutions”, I’m going to start with talking about ways I plan to improve myself in 2011.

Health and Fitness Improvements

1. Stay injury free. I’m starting to think that lately running has been making me prone to injury. I’m going to make sure I stretch and foam roll adequately before and after my all of my runs, along with icing my right quad if it seems to bother me. I get so lazy when it comes to stretching, especially after races, and I really need to take the time to do this in order to prevent injury.

2. Stop with the guilt. The past few months I’ve  felt guilty over almost every sugary sweet and piece of chocolate that has gone into my mouth. This was especially worse during the holiday season (Thanksgiving to New Years) and I really need to sort out why I’m getting these feelings of guilt, since it never used to be a problem before. I realize I tend to feel less guilty about eating unhealthy food while I’m training for something. I really need to learn how to not punish myself every time I over- indulge and to enjoy these foods in a healthy way.

3. Cut back on sugar. This goes along with #2. I feel better about myself when I eat healthy, whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and other healthy sources of protein. Consuming so much sugar this past month has made feel not only guilty, but crappy in general. I know it doesn’t make me feel good, but I would eat it anyway. Cutting sugar out of my diet except during special occasions and when I’m really craving something sweet (not just because I’m bored), should probably help me in this situation.

4. Accept myself the way I am. Ever since I could remember, I’ve suffered from negative body image. Its not something I talk about a lot since I like to remain positive on my blog, but I do have bad days when I am exceptionally hard on myself. Being overweight growing up, during my teenage years, and half of my young adult life definitely caused me to have a negative self image.   I still suffer from it on occasion, but it’s much better now than it used to be. If there is something I don’t like about myself (my stomach, back, and arms for example) I need to either except myself the way I am or work on these problem areas. This will be a long process but I’m going to try to work on this in 2011.

Personal Improvements

1. Find time for things I love. For example: reading, crafts, yoga. I definitely slacked in these departments in 2010. Last year I read 18 books. That might be a lot for someone, but for me that was nothing, since I usually read a lot more. In 2011 I want to try to read at least 2-3 books a month. The same thing goes for crafts and yoga. I love yoga, but lately I haven’t been doing as much due to time constraints. I want to do yoga, even if its just 10 minutes of sun salutations, at least 3x a week.

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2. Organize. One thing I’m terrible at is throwing things away, especially clothes! For some reason I have a hard time parting with an article of clothing, even if I never wear it. I want to organize my closet and donate clothes I don’t wear anymore. I want to be able to be happy with some good outfits that I feel good in, and get rid of the ones I don’t. All in all, I want to own less stuff.

3. Save money. I really really really need to save more money in 2011. I did a poor job of that in 2010, and I didn’t save a dime! I pretty much live paycheck to paycheck because I pay my bills and spend most of my extra money on things I want and but  don’t really need–which should stop. I want to save the extra money for important things such as traveling, race registrations, and yoga classes.

I think that pretty much sums up my 2011 improvements. I’m sure I’ll think of more things throughout the year. What are some of your resolutions, goals or improvements for the new year?