As we get into the first full week of what is allegedly Spring, with gradually warming temperatures that threaten (promise?) to finally allow us to put our winter stuff in storage, we gear up to our renewal rituals. Spring Cleaning, for instance, where we chuck all the stuff that has very little use to us anymore. You spend a day, a weekend, a week, scouring the house for odds and ends, battling dust bunnies and cobwebs, tossing old stuff from the closets to make space for the next season’s worth of stuff. Some people start new projects, like a new story, or they take up painting or macramé. In a way, it’s almost like reliving our New Years’ Resolutions from three months ago.

My Spring renewal project, aside from Spring Cleaning and finally organizing my writer’s desk, is centered around health.

When I’m not a writer, I’m a healthcare professional. I see people all the time who have gone about their health haphazardly, and while I’ve never been as bad as that, I’ve noticed certain things about getting older that don’t sit right with me. It’s become harder to lose weight as I get closer to the 10th anniversary of my 29th birthday, the night shift schedule that I was once able to handle with ease is now taking a toll on my sleep patterns, aches and pains start sooner and last longer after I do things I usually enjoy, like basketball or running. The realization that between my job and the amount of time I spend in a chair writing or scouring the internet, my life has become more sedentary than I want it to be, and that has to stop.

My focus this Spring will be on changing what I don’t like. Starting April 1, I’m on a limited-sugar diet. More greens, more raw foods, less bread, rice and pastries (oh, pastries, how I’ll miss you so). Label-reading in the supermarket is going to be my newest hobby. My workouts will change from the mass-gaining focus I had in my 20’s, to a more mobility and general fitness focus now. I have a hard bedtime of 8:30 AM now, and I’ll do 50 pushups every hour at work to break up all the sedentary time. By the time summer hits full-swing, I want to be where I was at age 30… which is a great thing because most of my clothes from those years are coming back into style.

Several years ago, on my old blog, I did a series called “Chubby Me,” where I changed what I ate for a summer and really dove into a workout plan, and chronicled it with photos. I never quite finished it, but I did drop 12 pounds quickly and felt great. Maybe I’ll do the photos again, maybe not. Maybe I’ll share them again, maybe not.

Maybe I’ll get around to organizing my writing desk as well. Who knows?

Any Spring Renewal habits you have? Sound off in the comments!

#2017 #writing #newprojects #weightloss #health #fitness #Spring