Oh, look...2013.

I am not one for Hoorah posts about what I did this year or what I will do next year but yet here I am. :)

There were some good things this year and some not so good things....such is life though. It was an up and down year health-wise, which is always rough, but despite that I ran over 2500 miles this year which is pretty awesome. I experimented with some different diets to see wht would work best, and I am still not sure, lol...tried some different training routines and I'm not sure about that either.

So....I find myself at the end of the year. beginning of a new year pretty much fried. I did not accomplish some pretty important things(to me) this year, the last several months have been difficult on ALL levels, and my diet and running have suffered amongst other things. I abandoned any plans to do any races in 2013 unless I sign up at the last minute aka race day, and have no set plan for training. In reality though....I would LOVE to make 2013 the BEST year ever. I would love to FINALLY get my health sorted out and BE healthy, as in ALL the time. I would love if the worst thing I had to worry about was the ocasional cold, etc. Unfortunately, even without the Lyme I still have other autoimmune issues to deal with that are not going away, but it would be nice to have all that in check. A lot of that falls on me as I am WAY at the bottom of the list when it comes to taking care...hell, the CHICKENS come before me, lol! But, that needs to change. I need to be more selfish this year with the hopes that I can reduce my stress level, and increase my health. I want to FINALLY get my Personal Trainber Cert, along with my Sport Nutrition Cert, run the trails and mountain more, get back to raw food eatin', smoothie drinkin,' good feelin....much of that involves setting boundaries, and putting myself first.

I am usually good with boundaries but when I am stressed and emo, I get weak. I say yes when I need to say no. I over extend myself when I already have too much on my plate. I offer to do, take on, etc WAY more than I want or need to do and then I don't have the time for *me*...Raising kids is a full time job. Add to that homeschooling said kids who are VERY active, a bunch of animals, land, a hubby with a very stressful job, a job of my own...yeah. Doesn't leave much time to do anything extra never mind things I need and/or want to do. I get a run in MOST days and that is it. Due to all of this, I have fallen into a bit of a pit...

Stress and Autoimmune ANYthing are not a good combo. I had a Lyme relapse this summer followed by a nasty case of the flu not long after I came out of the relapse...then I went into some of THE hardest months of my life emotionally...so suffice it to say, my adrenals are shot, I am sure there are various other things out of whack, I ate badly if at all, couldn't sleep, yet kept pushing...and where does that get me? Well, exactly where I am now. Haven't been able to run in a week, I feel pretty much like crap, have NO appetite, toss and turn every night...crashing.

I know plenty of people are busy and have go-go-go lives and as much as I actually ENJOY that, I also know my body simply does not. I will GOGOGO- crash. GOGOGO- crash. I am pretty much over this and would REALLY love more consistancy and to be ble to temper things in such a way that I feel well enough to do all things in moderation. Moderation is my lesson, and something I am NOT very good at. I also have some other interesting lessons this year that have made themselves known...and I was actually surprised as they were lessons I thought I already learned...funny how that works :)

So...the plan is to do what I need to do to take care of myself, to support myself physically by way of the right supplements, taking the time to go back to raw food and smoothies, resting when I need to, and saying NO when I need to. No one is going to tke care of me FOR me, I need to put on my big girl panties and do it myself. And that is what I intend to do :)

Much of the external stress will hopefully be dissipating over the next 2 weeks or so, and other things will fall into place as well. Hoping that as the days head towards Spring, and a time of New Beginnings, I too will be heading towards a new beginning of sorts. That's the plan, anyways... :)

Happy New Year, y'all...hope you get what you need, and have the strength to leave what you don't. :)