Part 2: New Years Resolutions
/Last blog I talked about creating New Years Intentions vs New Years Resolutions. To show the enormous impact this mental shift made in my year I wanted to share my 2019 experience with intention setting!
In 2019 I set out with two clear intentions:
Make health a priority over weight loss
Become physically stronger
To be honest I started with very vague ideas because I was so sick of trying to micromanage my body. All I knew was that I didn’t want to follow any eating plans and that I wanted to feel strong.
The first intention was a little unnerving, it was the first year I didn’t set a weight loss goal. For years I had made loosing the last 5-10pounds my resolution, but every time I lost the weight it felt short lived. I would start eating again in excess due to deprivation and more often than not I couldn’t even appreciate the changes in my body because I was being so critical. This year I was just fed up with being unsatisfied with my body.
I embraced intuitive eating whole heartedly in 2019! I honored my food cravings, noticed how foods made me feel, and ended up realizing I disliked more of the foods I “craved” than I thought.
I realized I don’t like cake and would much rather have pie. I realized that having a vegetable with breakfast makes me feel like a winner! I realized that food is fuel for the life that I want more than a tool used for comfort. For once food was not occupying my metal space in excess.
One of the biggest decisions I made was to continue to not weigh myself. I started in October of 2018 after a mini meltdown, for more info on that saga and the freedom I have felt since not weighting myself head on over to this blog . In short, it is 2020 and I still fit comfortably in all of my clothes from 2018. The most rewarding feeling is that I did not waste an entire year panicking about small five pound weight changes that happen naturally in life. I gave myself permission to change and this bled into more areas of my life where I was attempting to hold on to a false sense of control by micromanaging.
The second intention was much more challenging than I thought. I had the perception that to be strong meant being able to lift heavy. For three months I reworked my squat and deadlift form. I walked away feeling physically unsatisfied most workouts, because this wasn’t how I truly wanted to be moving. I was forcing myself to lift because I thought it is what I should be doing.
I turned to instagram for some workout ideas and found several people who were focusing on using body weight vs weight lifting. Funny things most of these people had normal looking bodies like myself. They made it looks soooo easy! I found myself trying to do the most simple exercises like handstands, sitting up in a V, and push up variations. These exercises were more than just challenging, but almost impossible. However, I would walk away from workouts feel significantly more satisfied failing than when I was successfully lifting all of my sets and reps.
I allowed my intention of being strong to evolve! I started focusing on movement that made me happy and made me feel strong. I mentally shifted from workouts being an item on my check list to feeling excited about moving my body.
This also gave me the mental space to further let go of the idea that when I was working out I was “sculpting my body.” I had minimal control over what areas of my body were going to become larger, smaller, or more defined. This encouraged me to appreciate my body even more for what it could do vs how it looks.
Here are the results of all my fun play times with body weight!
This year was hands down the most rewarding year of my life. Instead of constantly scrutinizing my body and trying to change it I honored the hell out of myself! I am walking into 2020 feeling empowered, healthy, and strong.
I invite you to do the same! No matter how that looks set some intentions that allow you to feel empowered!