No Regrets in Paris!

Well I am here, in Paris, in the City of Love, to run a Marathon next Sunday.  These last LESS THAN 48 hours since I arrived have been breathtakingly amazing.  I have visited the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Avenue Mouffetard, and today I will go to the Orsay Museum and Notre Dame again, because I didn't make it inside last time.  I will go to the Isle of Cite' this afternoon and have a cafe in the park like I told a friend of mine I would, and then tomorrow it is off to Versailles. 

42 Days ago I wrote a note in my "memo" section of my Iphone called "No Regrets in Paris" and it said "How I conduct myself for the next 40 days will determine whether I have regrets in Paris or not."

The reasoning was this.  In the past, I have been a classic self-sabotager.  In this new life, this new me, I am not.  In the past I have made goals and then NOT achieved them.  In this new life, this new me, I achieve them.

My question to myself 42 days ago, was basically asking was I going to be the old me or the new me going in to Paris?

I chose to be the new me.

I believe the reason I asked that of myself is that for some reason that day my confidence in myself was shaken.  I think I had gone a few days without running, which was OFF my training plan, and I gave myself an ultimatum. 

If that is what happened (and I'm speculating here because I really don't remember exactly why I took that moment 42 days ago to ask that particular question), then I may have used it as a decision point to switch back over to the new mindset, the mindset of health.  Because you see, even though I have developed habits of health incrementally and sustainably over time, occasionally an unhealthy habit, if I "feed" it, will gain strength and pop it's head into the picture again.  If I recognize it for what it is EARLY on, then I can focus on the HEALTHY HABIT again right away.

My training schedule was demanding, but common as marathon training schedules go.  I ramped up from a Half-Marathon distance to a Full-Marathon distance in about 10 weeks.  Looking back, that was one of the most difficult things I have done in my entire life.  But I did it.

NOT ONLY do I have NO regrets, I have already RUN the distance of 27.3 miles,  and I have remained TRUE to my eating plan such that I am a healthy BMI of 21-22. 

I truly have no regrets.  And I have no regrets IN Paris either.  Not only did I COME here with no regrets in how I have conducted myself to reach my goals, I am also CONTINUING to conduct myself in an authentic manner.  What does that mean?  Well I can tell you it is NOT a big list of "things I can't eat".  It IS a big list of "things I want to DO" - and consequently I DO eat, but my focus isn't on FOOD SEEKING BEHAVIOR unless it is a beautiful juicy yellow bell pepper and tomatoes which are two of the things I found yesterday.  My focus is not ON food here, it is ON LIVING.  And I am doing much of THAT!  =)

So reach for your dreams, all!  Never let them go, but DO remember in order to ACHIEVE them you need to DECIDE WHEN AND HOW.  Then GO FOR IT!