Mental Health for the Upcoming Year!

Happy, wonderful Tuesday!

There are a lot of changes I am looking to make from last year (my 1st year of graduate school) to this year. This past year was my lowest of lows in terms of my disordered eating, depression, unhappiness, stress, anxiety, anti-socialism, workout-aholic, crossfit obsessed, etc.

I do not want another year like that. And I won’t, because I am stronger than I once was. Thanks to God, my family, my nutritionist, and YOU GUYS, I am not even worried that I will fall back into “old ways”. I have been rescued and am being made anew.

Some goals and things I am going to work on from August to May:

–Take life less seriously. RELAX. Nothing that I am doing right now is life or death, so stop treating it like it is.

–Grades matter… but not really that much. It is OK if I get a B. I will not be making myself sick/unhealthy over studying. And along with that is taking time out to be with friends, even on the busiest of weeks. Mental health is key…

–Maybe don’t renew my Crossfit membership. What?!?! Yes, I know, I love Hoosier Crossfit. It has taught me more than I could ever have hoped to learn. But it is 100$ a month, and I so quickly got sucked into it that it turned unhealthy for me. We shall see what the final decision on that is…

–Do more Yoga. Good for the body AND mind. This will be a great way to make sure I take rest days and not push my body too hard (I am awful about taking rest days….)

–Meet new people. I have not really connected with many people at grad school and have not been in contact with a SINGLE person since leaving. While I feel like I don’t fit in with many of them, I want to keep an open mind and make some new friends. It is a big school, there are bound to be others like me!!

–Join a running club. I love running on my own, but what better way to achieve the above goal than my hooking up with the local running gang?

–Go out! Be Social! I need human interaction. Studying all day is not healthy. And when I do take breaks… curling up every night alone on the couch in front of the t.v (while awesome sometimes) should not be my every Friday/Saturday night.

–Rock my Richmond Marathon in November 🙂

–Sign up for an Ironman 70.3 (registering for races just make me feel so so good!)

–Cook myself BALANCED meals. Just because I will be on my own again does not mean I can just either resort back to old eating patterns OR start eating every single food item in sight with no control. EAT LIKE A NORMAL PERSON ANDREA.

–Become STRONG and POWERFUL. These are the words my nutritionist used when I told her my concern over eating lots and “gaining weight/fat” and “looking heavy” and worries of my running being negatively affected. She said I am getting stronger and more powerful to push my body longer and harder so I can achieve all the athletic goals I still have!! I loved this answer and literally chant this to myself when I get in a “funk”)

I am very thrilled for this upcoming year… I am anxious and a bit nervous, but I am optimistic and hopeful that I have made the “turn-around” this summer and will be continue the healing process!!

Any goals for the fall/winter/semester/year???

Are you in a running club? Where is the best place to start looking?

Tags: Anxiety, confidence, disordered eating, eating, fitness, food, god, happy, health, Ironman 70.3, Mental Health, power, race, running, running club, social, strength, sweaty, workingout, workouts