Here's February!

Well, as I've said before, January 2012 sucked eggs.  February must not be nearly as full of junk as January, right?  I sure hope not, cause this girl thought 2012 would be better than 2011.  2011 had it's good moments, but overall, was a blah kinda year.  I expected much more out of 2012.  


So, Ms. February (I think this month is female)--what do you have for me?  Getting to the gym for the first time in months--yep.  Gonna do that.  Really.  Great books to read?  Without a doubt.  Time spent with my sweetie?  Of course.  More detrashing of the house?  Oh yes--much more awaits the garbage can.  


But what about fun stuff?  That remains to be seen.  Except for a planned weekend away with Bud to have some quality "alone" time, not much.  Looking to my piles of clipped out recipes to refresh the cooking skills and focus on eating a bit more healthy--and smaller portions.  I promised Bud I would get us to eat healthier.  I think first up is the baked kale chips I seen and heard so many people talk about.  Simple to make, and gooood for you.  I'll try them once for sure.  


And running--what about that?  I've been reading all the blogs with all amazing runners who have kept going through the winter months, and have races planned out for many months to come.  I still want to run--I do enjoy the feeling afterwards, like I've worked out hard--all that sweating and muscle aching makes me feel oddly clean, somehow--a detox of crud in the body and the mind.  I don't feel that way when I work out with weights or ride a bike.  I think propelling myself forward by my own power has something to do with it.  I am trying very hard not to put myself under pressure to look at races.  I want to enjoy them, and be prepared for whatever race I do, so I have a lot of work to do on that end.  There are things going on in my life right now that could potentially stress me out, so I think it's important to get some of that off my back by exhausting myself with running and working out at the gym.  Plus, I pay each month for that darn membership--why waste it?  And I've been sharply reminded in the past week or so that being healthy is a gift--sometimes things are beyond our control, but being healthy luckily for me is within my control.  I cannot sit by and gain more weight and feel yucky.  I'm blessed with a body that doesn't have any congenital problems, no health problems due to diet, and I have to appreciate that.  And appreciating that means thanking my body every day for getting me up and moving around all day, every day.  Treating my body with more dignity and respect is my goal for this year.  Respect, sadly for me, doesn't come in a hostess cupcake--dammit!  This will be super hard for me to do, but I will work on it!  


And YMX has had some wonderful sales on running shirts lately, so I have no excuse now not to get out there and run.  I have two new shirts to try out, so that is motivation enough for me to get me started.


What's keeping you motivated?