Tuesday, 1 May 2012

My Plan for a Marvelous May

If I learned anything about myself this year - it is that I love making BIG SWEEPING DECLARATIONS about health, wellness, and happiness - but I need to make smaller more manageable goals to create a plan I can actually stick to.

May tends to be a tricky month for me. There are birthdays, family events, BBQs, and long weekends - all of which interrupt my Type-A regimented schedule and include lots of food-centered activities. These events tend to derail all of my good intentions. I skip my weekend workouts and gorge myself on deliciousness.

Now everyone has these weekends. And I actually believe everyone needs these weekends from time to time, else you become a soul-sucking, no-fun, calorie-counting, exercising Monster! BLAH!

The issue with May, and the following warm weather months is that it is easy for "these weekends" to become EVERY weekend. Which as fun as that can be, won't be so great for my Race Plans. Or my goal to start training like a "real" athlete.

So I have decided to make some mini goals for this month to ensure I don't slide down that slippery slope and that I stay focused on my training.

1. Training is Priority!

I am 8 weeks post-op and slowly but surely returning to my normal self. And a BIG part of returning to my normal self is returning to my normal training routine. I want to get back into the swing of things, and to me that means...
  • Running 3-4x a week
  • Strength Training 3x a week
My distances are going to be short this month, because I am still recouping and rebuilding. So I am planning to stick with 5km as my distance of choice for May. Strength Training is also limited, because I am under a weight restriction until June. So this month I will be focusing on the lower body only. Its all about the LEGS people!

2. Focus on a Clean Diet and Increased Protein

Despite all the temptation - I am going to try to stay focused on eating healthy whole foods. I want to fuel my body not my emotions. MUCH easier said then done! This is one of my greatest dietary struggles. Food has always been so tied to my emotions. I eat when I am stressed. I eat to celebrate. I eat to relax. I eat for fun. I eat for a million reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with nourishing my body. So this month I am definitely going to try to eat more  mindfully and healthfully.

I am also going to try to increase my protein intake to help build the strong powerful muscles I am trying to cultivate for running.

2. Take My Vitamins

This is an effort to stay focused on my commitment to Nutrition and fueling my body properly. I am going to incorporate supplements to help make sure my body is getting all the vitamins and nutrients it needs to perform at its best.

So those are my mini goals for a Marvelous May!

What you guys doing to create the kind of month you want?

Make sure you comment, tweet, or facebook us to be entered to win this months amazing prize packs from NeoCell and Sparkly Soul. (winner will be drawn at random on May 30th - the more times you comment the more chances you will have to win!)

Love Your Favourite Darwinian Fail
Krysten



9 comments:

  1. Nice goals. I agree with all the May weekend plans! Love sticking to my schedule too! Haha.

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  2. That really is a type-A calendar! My goals this month are to run the first 1/2 marathon of the year (basically to remind myself how much more diligent I need to be about training-like today it's raining, and I know it will be a fight to get a run in after the rain stops), and I also want to eat better so my gallbladder will stop being such a pain!

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  3. I think having mini-goals is a great way to keep yourself on track without it being overwhelming.

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  4. I love this idea of having small goals. It feels so much more attainable and I know you'll be able to handle this :) Thanks for sharing and the idea!

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  5. Yay for mini-goals - easier to meet and even to exceed - and who doesn't love that? Eyes on the prize - you are going to DO THIS. As for me, my goal is to switch up my cross training with a 6 week UXF class 2x/week at my gym and to lose 5 more lbs. This'll get me to closer to my goal of being in the best shape of my life post BMX!

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  6. You know, I've heard few fitbloggers talk about NeoCell. I review supplements now, and I'm a bit intrigued. Keep me posted on how those vitamins are treating you. They sound like a good company!

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  7. These sound like excellent and totally achievable goals, Krysten. As for me, I'm going to remain focused on HIM training, eat nutritiously (which means plenty of fat to keep cravings at bay), and recover from my post-PhD slump/blues by trying to knit and read to my heart's content.

    Keep up the great recovery, K!

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  8. Love this post! For me, May is about finishing my first Half Marathon and then getting my bod in a different kind of training mode for MetConBlue. I am inspired by your training schedule and am going to make a similar one but squeeze back in some activities that fell to the wayside with the 1/2 training, ie Ballet Fit class, Yoga, and definitely a couple of Crossfit classes along with running. The countdown begins :)

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  9. Vitamins are the bane of my goal success existence, lol. Why are such little things so hard to fit into a day. :)

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