Today, It Begins...

Today marks a new beginning. But in truth every day marks such a start. And if you want to take the analogy further so to does each moment. I've started tracking my calories again. Not because I'd gained weight but because I want to be more focused on my training and racing this year than I was last year. It isn't that I didn't take my training seriously but more that my capacity to train specifically was limited by things like my weight, my health, and my obligations outside of triathlon. One of the things I've been looking at is my habit of focusing on projects and people that are not within the sphere of my interests. This is my polite way of calling these things something other than "time stealers."

But that doesn't really matter. What does matter is that I begin to burn the following equation into my brain for the rest of the year.

Time Stealers = Opportunity Thieves = Life Wreckers

I began to consider why it was that I hadn't accomplished more of my goals and I had to look at where I was spending my time and energy. Even now with all that I've learned, I still find myself falling short of my actual goals. And I have no one to blame for this but myself. To be honest, there was no real reason I stopped counting my calories in the first place. The only thing I can come up with is I let friends and family and my own short sightedness sort of take my focus away what I wanted to accomplish with that process in the first place.

So here I am, not any heavier, thank goodness. But I am finding my energy levels are waning and my desire to train isn't quite where it was. The only reason I have for this is I am again eating more food and my energy levels are lower because I now have to digest it. So I've started the calorie counting again. And my promise to myself is to do this until the season ends this year for me in November.

Today's workout I was a no show. On Sunday I want to at least get in a long easy swim. But I was sleepy all day. And one of my new rules is no working out while I'm sleepy. But I was productive. I modified my caloric intake targets to follow my actual activity levels. So no activity can mean I eat less, while higher activity means I get to eat a little more. This way as I progress throughout the season I can fine tune what I need to eat based on what I'm actually doing. No more guessing. And no more losing focus. Tomorrow, I'll start out with a run around the lake followed by a bike ride. The middle of my day will consist of a nap an acupuncture session, and teaching my yoga class. I'm serious this time. No more messing around helping other people chase their dreams. This is the start of a new chapter, and a new fitter, stronger me. And today it begins...