Resolutions?

The new year brought New Years Resolutions to the forefront of many peoples' minds. I too pulled out my goals for 2009 and proudly checked off those I had achieved over the year. And, I outlined some new goals for myself in 2010. Yet, there seems to be something missing for me at the start of this new decade and I can't seem to put my finger on it.

Since the 1st, there's been a litany of media attention devoted to a "newer, healthier you." I'm not knocking it - I think it's a great resolution to have for a new year and something I have worked really hard for over the past couple of years. Yet this year I don' t feel like I'm striving to exercise tons more or overhaul my diet. Instead I have found comfort in resuming my usual exercise and eating routine after the holiday season. On Monday, I went back to my yoga class for the first time since my trip home and it felt so good! Perhaps I could incorporate more yoga into my schedule (and this definitely is a possibility) but I'm not feeling the urgency to do this with extreme resolve. Instead I am focusing more attention on how to be a better me in a new decade - mentality, physically, socially, and personally.

Maybe these feelings about health are a reaction to focusing my attention on adjusting back to the world of full-time work and striking balance in my awake hours. Or maybe, just maybe, something has shifted in my mind. Could I finally be moving to a place of content with my level of fitness? Or have I realized that overall, I lead a pretty healthy lifestyle and am confident in my food choices? Maybe. But I still don't feel anywhere close to confident about it. And then, I discovered this article this morning about a new health rule - "Quit Worrying about Your Health." The point - if you're already pretty healthy, then a cookie once in a while, or any other kind of slip up, in the long run, isn't going to hurt! No, it's not permission to eat cookies and chips all of the time, but the occasional treat or getting less than 5 - 9 servings of fruits and veggies a day isn't going to kill me!

This shouldn't be a huge revelation, and yet it caught my attention. Maybe I won't think so much about how I fuel my body or log my workouts. Perhaps I'll be less compulsive... again, perhaps. I found this article to be good food for thought.

While I haven't vowed to "lost 10 pounds" or "cut out all sugar in my diet" this year, I think that I've subconsciously resolved to try to move to a healthier balance and devote some brainpower to other areas of my life. It's a bit scary because I can't check those goals off on a list in the same way. But just like being able to balance well on both sides of a yoga stance, I think that focusing on this other half will help me strike an overall healthier balance in 2010.