Do your own thing and don't worry about anyone else!

It's always driven me bonkers to see the resolutionists at the gym in January. So much so that I haven't been to the gym in January in years. I usually just pretend I'm on a gym vaykay, or take my training outdoors so I don't have to cringe as I try to figure out what exercise this person claims to be doing on a machine intended for anything but what they're doing on it. I commend people for trying, I just wish they would go  the extra mile and take a class or do an orientation session in whatever form of exercise they plan on pursuing so they don't end up hurting themselves or someone else. Of course, this is not solely the practice of the January drop-ins. I have never gotten into the habit of listening to music while working out, so my distraction or entertainment (as needed) is people watching. Because of this I think I have become quite the form Nazi. I mentally police knees during squats, arm positions during bench presses, etc., and the biggest culprits? The football players, they strut around the gym like prima donnas, yet 90% of the time it's all I can do to not go over and scream "you're doing it wrong!!!" This year I will be breaking with recent tradition and hitting the gym in January, in the evening (because, like it or not, I need to be there!). I will try not to kill anyone. I will try to remember that I'm there for me and my own journey, and therefore, I need just focus inward.

I will also be participating in Marsha's (of Strong is the New Skinny) 30 day challenge on her site Strong Lola (and her FB group), where she's leading a 30-day paleo challenge:

The idea is to begin the new year on a healthy nutritional note, whilst having a support group (virtual  or not) to share the journey, recipes, challenges, discoveries...
Since I know that the trip to Chicago means I won't stick to a clean diet, I need to throw in a dash of honesty - it's my birthday this weekend, and the celebration of 10 years of friendship with the most hardcore women ever, and it means we let our hair down and party hard. It also means we'll throw a workout in there someplace, but  I know Cris and her Chi-town peeps will have pulled out all the stops to ensure the five of us have a blast. So I will be doing a truncated challenge - eat clean all of January with the exception of the days in Chicago (5th - 9th). Not really THAT bad. If you know me you know I don't believe in lying to myself, so I will not even pretend that I can stick to the challenge while I'm  away.


So instead of complaining about the resolutionists or being troubled by not being able to make all the Strong Lola goals, January is about me learning to live within my own boundaries and knowing it's not going to kill me, so I don't have to beat myself up about it.

My women's crew racing at Welland 100 years ago

10 years later and I'll be damned if we're not all still so fabulous! As someone said today, such a lovely bouquet of flowers.