The Goal......The reason......The race.

The real goal of 2010 for me started actually just after Thanksgiving. It is a goal that I would have never imagined that I would have picked but it just sort of happened one night. It began with a little reality TV - The Biggest Looser. I love that show but it really has little to do with the weight loss or transformations of the body for me; it has more to do with the transformation of the mind. I am enamoured with the psychology of mind over matter. You take these large people; for the most part they have given up hope of their dreams, they are stuck in a body that limits them because the word "can't" is part of their regular verbiage. On day one, they have to run a mile. To them, that is the impossible. However, at the end of the show, the remaining finalists are running a marathon. In just a few months, they have taken their very overweight bodies and their limited minds beyond what they thought they were capable of. The most amazing thing is to see their minds transform from "I can't" to "I can" and "I did". What was the difference other than amazing trainers and motivation of a worldwide audience? They lost the verbiage, "I can't". That was what was holding them back from their dreams. They begin to realize that if they could conquer this one very hard thing in their lives, they could conquer anything.

I hate to run. I was right along with them with using the word, "I can't" when it comes to running any real sort of distance. Sure, I can bust out a mile or two and do it regularly but I do it in intervals because as I tell myself, "I am not a runner." I drive my daily routes and see the wonder girls; the Amy's , Nicole's, Trisha's and Louise's of the neighborhood with their perfect strides running their 4+ miles along the perimeters of our neighborhood. I think how nice it would be to be a runner like them. I tell myself that some people are born to run and some are not. I can do other things.

I pondered this as I watched the marathon race on The Biggest Looser. The difference between me and the Wonder girls is that I give up after a mile and they keep going. They don't say the word "can't." They just do it. They probably don't love it and probably had to work up to it but they get out there and do the work. I thought hard about this. I like to work out and can think of many other ways to get a work out done but I decided that I needed to do this. I needed to change my verbiage. I needed to be able to say "I can" and show my children, and myself, that we can do what we put our minds to.

I immediately got on the Internet and found a race that I could enter. This would show my commitment. For you runners, this may seem a bit on the easy side but for a first time runner, the 10K seemed like a marathon to me. I had 8 weeks to go from running one mile to 6.2. I found the London run. It was perfect. It is a race for our friend's daughter who died from leukemia to help other families. I was in. I found the training schedule and was ready to go.

As I have said , the running for me has nothing to do with the actual run. I am not doing it for a weight loss goal or really any other reason except for I want to change my mindset. I would rather do any other form of physical activity. But, I began. The first time I ran 3 miles without stopping seemed like a miracle. I couldn't believe that I could do it. Then 4. I ran the perimeter, the same perimeter as the wonder girls. I have 3 weeks to go and even though I really hate every minute of it, I can do it. Now I wonder, what else can this wonder girl do? I can't wait to see. This is my "I can" year. It is going to be great. What "can" you do? Make it your year to find out too.

Recipes are to come and a new Enlightened Homemaker store blog! If you need more supplements, I am ordering this week.