Opportunities

I have the Wall Street Journal sitting on my desk at work. It's from 12/31/10. And it's just the entertainment section. I picked it up a week or so ago with intentions of reading the cover story "Cultural Resolutions" in which artists share their goals for the coming year. I don't know why I hadn't read it until now, but it's intriguing and inspiring to see that even simple things can be goals. Nanette Lepore, a designer, wants to do "more flirting, including with her husband". Ozzy Osbourne: "I'm still alive, so I would say that I was successful with my one resolution last year".  There is a pianist who "intends to do the most difficult thing - to make people dance" and a Danish artist who wants to "create a work of art that only consists of a feeling". David Shore, creator and producer of "House": "i want to find something else that inspires me." Isn't that always a fabulous goal? hmm...

So, the beginning of the year provides this opportunity to formulate new goals. And I've been tossing some around in my head, but I think it's time I actually get a few of them down on paper.

I've actually already started one. This "cleanse". It's not a cleanse so much to remove the toxins from my body as it is to remove the shit from my diet. I've tried, unsuccessfully on a few occasions to clean up my diet. And I always fail. I figured a good sweeping of all the bad (like diet soda, coffee, sugar, vending machine snacks, the crap I want before I go to bed at night...) was a good way to get there. It's a focused attempt at breaking some bad habits. Seriously, they're habits at this point. I used to have that coffee every morning because it was what I always did. And the Coke Zero at lunch? The same. And having something sweet after lunch? yup. HABIT! The idea is that I will bbreak these habits after three weeks, and therefore eat cleaner all the time.

Already, I've noticed changes. I don't get overly hungry (which, yes, Zen, I'm sure comes from my food choices that create a spike and then a dip in blood sugar), but I also don't get overly full. I was eating pretty well; plenty of fruits and vegetables. But probably too much sugar, bread, crackers, and...beer. Now, well, now it's lotsa water, which leaves me with better hydrated skin! It just so happens to be a recovery week, so maybe that has something to do with it, but I have steady energy throughout the day. I don't have that dread after work that there lies another trainer session. There is a slight dip in the mid-morning, but I think that will pass as I continue to cope without my caffeine. AND I'm sleeping through the night! That used to never happen. I can't wait to see what happens in the days to come.