elyssa: recommitting

location: snowy toronto

christmas and new years have come and gone. i'm back at school for my last semester of law school. it's time to reset goals. reaffirm. recommit.

2010 was a year of great pride for me. since the month of may, ive maintained a regular fitness schedule. 8 months marks the longest period of continuous progress in my 5 year on/off love affair with fitness. i've discovered that exercising 6 days out of 7 keeps me feeling my best. what's important is not what i do - but the fact that i do something to get the blood flowing. yoga on easy days. cardio circuits on hard days. after 8 months of commitment, i feel the healthiest i've ever been. hardly succumbing to colds. and benefitting from much needed endorphins. i've become convinced that keeping active is the key to a happy life.

home for the holidays brought christmas trees. festivities. cakes. biscotti. and of course the inevitable 5 pounds.

5 pounds, however, that we're gained happily in the company of loved ones. and intermixed with daily exercise - either by doing a workout dvd at home with the boy or taking a yoga class in a downtown studio. sometimes a quick 30 minutes of elliptical in front of the tv. or just a walk through the forest.

in the past, a cookie and mug of hot cocoa would have been my signal to spend the rest of the day on the couch. this year, i took my cookie and cocoa to the couch like any other year - but at the end of the day, i kept moving - and as i return to regular exercise in the new year, my body is thanking me for never giving up.

my goals for the following year are as follows:

- to continue to practice the art of exercising for health, not for weight

- to resume regular yoga (december was by and large a yogaless month - and my aching body knows the difference)

- to try new things (run a race perhaps?)

- to pay attention in school and relish the dwindling days of my academic life

- to plan for the future in a way that minimizes stress and maximizes the endless possibilities that lie ahead

- to cultivate a constant awareness that in every step i take i am never alone