2009: Destroying "I Can't"

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and, following convention, I'm thinking about everything that went on in 2009. At the beginning of 2009 there were a lot of things I thought I couldn't do. I didn't think I could get down to 135lbs. I didn't think I could run a mile without stopping. I didn't think I could successfully control a ground fight with a bigger, stronger opponent.

2009 proved me wrong. :)

Goals Met in 2009

1. Body by BJJ!! I reached my goal of 135 lbs and am still steadily losing!! This morning I weighed in at 134.0. To put that in perspective...

Before BJJ:
Weight: 144
Pants size: 9


After 4 and a half months of BJJ:
Weight: 134!!!
Pants size: 4 or a 6, depending on the brand.


2. At the beginning of 2009 I couldn't even run a mile without walking a few times during the run. And by run I mean stumbling jog. This morning I ran a 9:08 mile. Not amazing by most standards but awesome by mine!!

3. I competed in my first tournaments and placed 2nd in one and 1st in the other. Also got a good sense of where my BJJ game is and where I need to improve. Working on those goals in 2010! One of the things these tournaments proved to me was that BJJ works against bigger, stronger opponents. At De la Riva, I was the smallest girl competing and yet I still placed 2nd. That's not a testament to me, but to the techniques. They work!

4. Thanks to the fear of not making weight for the aforementioned tournaments, I broke my addiction to comfort foods!! Woohoo! Food is fuel now, not just something I eat for the taste and enjoyment. This is not to say I don't splurge every now and again but it is a rarity, not a rule like it used to be.

Other Highlights from the Non-BJJ part of my life:

1. My son started preschool and is thriving. He is a strong-willed kid if there ever was one and I was really worried that he would constantly be in trouble at school. But he has thrived. The one time I had to keep him home for being sick he cried because he wanted to go to school. I don't expect that to last but it's nice for right now!! ;)

2. I got my dream job of being a Youth Pastor and I'm loving every minute of it, even the trying ones. God has taught me through this year to let go of control and stop trying to force things to happen the way I want them to. He has challenged me to go with the flow and learn through the difficult times!

3. I finished the rough draft of a fiction novel. Not anywhere near ready to be read by anyone, but it's a solid draft I can work off of. One step closer to my goal of writing--and COMPLETING--a novel. ;)


2009 showed me that I was setting my limits too low. I am capable of more--physically and mentally--than I thought I was before. In 2010 I'm raising the bar for myself.

Goals for 2010

1. I want to be able to run a mile in 8 minutes or less. I walk four miles every morning and, for the last few days, I've been jogging the first mile. I'm going to keep that up and add interval jogging, sprinting and walking for the rest of the 3 miles. I tried it out this morning and enjoyed it.

2. My BJJ training goals are pretty non-specific. I want to be better at sweeps, at taking the back, at maintaining side control once I get it, at...oh, pretty much everything needs improvement. What do you want from me? I'm a white belt! ;)

3. I want to compete in the April NAGA in Florida. And place. This is going to be difficult because I am forced to move up a division since I placed 1st last NAGA. Hard training, here I come!

4. In my personal life I'd like to stop relying so heavily on people's approval. I need to be confident without needing other people to tell me that I'm doing a good job, whether it be in Jiu-jitsu, in my work with the Youth Group or any other area of my life.

5. I want to finish that novel. ;)

Hope all of you have a safe and happy New Years!! See you in 2010!!