One of my friends from college got super fit. And I mean SUPER fit. The level of lean muscle on that girl is only outweighed by my bitterness towards how much she looks like a supermodel in those pearl bathing suits she wears at competitions. In one year she transformed from a pretty average weight to a svelt blond bombshell. Her constant before-and-after selfies make me want to eat an entire bag of Doritos and work-out at the same time.
So instead of shaming my body, I'll embrace it for what it is: a symbol of my journey. The uncertainty of jobs, education, relationships, anxiety, self-worth, money, home and doubt are behind each roll. The love for dim sum dates, Mexican food, pizza, netflix, ice cream and cooking are behind each chin.
Now that I've put things into perspective and my salary is a bit better, I'm hoping my body will reflect the next beautiful steps in my journey. Here are my goals to make that a reality:
EMOTIONAL GOALS:
•DGAF (Don't Give Any F**ks) - Last year's new year resolution changed my life. My anxiety went down, I travelled alone without stressing about being lonely, I focused on just being open rather than being a pleaser or having people like me, and I let less things and people bring me down. I hope to stop stressing on the "what-ifs", keep on pushing myself to do things alone and continue maturing as a strong, independent, and less meek me in 2018.
•Say yes more - It's gotten me so far in my personal and professional life.
•Travel - Last year I spent 3 weeks hiking 200+ miles across Spain alone, ran 18km up a mountain in the middle-of-nowhere Quebec, stayed in a cabin with friends in NH, discovered Portsmouth NH, brought my parents to Quebec, showed off Portland Maine, flew out to Austin for work/pleasure and flew out to Pittsburgh for less than 48 hours to visit a friend. Nothing held me back and it really spiced up my year. I'd like to do the same again since it breaks up life and gives me the chance to experience new things and mature a bit. Ideally I'd love to travel to Ottawa to visit Joey, go to Thailand with Liz and Vy, spend my birthday in Canada, spend a week in the Czech Republic and Bavaria and maybe a weekend in Iceland.
•Write - I will use this blog as a way to organize my thoughts and put things into perspective. If my body is a symbol of my journey, I can never get physically or emotionally healthy without properly delving into the reasons why I feel the way I do and how that affects my physical health and emotions.
•Get out of the house - The fun times we look back on hardly ever take place in the house alone.
•Approach a guy on the street - Because dating sites make the worst "how'd you meet" stories.
•Clean my room once a week - Because a caotic room represents a caotic mind.
•Make Sunday night my day of reflecting, cleaning and preparing. Don't waste my weekend on that.
BODY GOALS:
•Feel comfortable walking around without a shirt on
•Feel more energetic and able to stay awake later
HOW TO ACHEIVE BODY GOALS:
•66,795 pushups - 1 pushup × the #days it is in a year
•Weekly: Incorporate 1 insanity day, 2 days of weights and cardio, 3 days of running/cardio and 1 day of walking or low stress activity.
•Incorporate more vegetables to increase portion size - my fullness is more mental and visual than physical
•Snack to avoid binge eating
•Keep calorie between 1,500-2,000 to avoid starvation mode, slower metabolism adjustment and rebounding and gaining more weight while in starvation mode.
•Avoid as many sugars as possible. They are super addictive!
•Create a meal plan and shop clean on the weekends
•Cook easier. I never feel motivated to cook during the week. Save the complex stuff for a Sunday dinner
•Keep log daily, re-read goals + reflect back weekly
