While it is fun and exciting to look forward to the new year filled with opportunities, adventures, and the Unknown, I like to take some time to reflect on the past year. In doing so, I thought I would share a few things that went down in 2018 that were important to me.
Sooooo, this is NOT a food and nutrition-related post in case you want to tune out at this point.
The biggie for me, and perhaps obvious to those who know me well or worked with me, was my job change. And that little thing called “starting your own company”.
There was nothing “wrong” per se with my former job situation. In fact, I have much to be grateful for when I reflect on those 7+ years. However, I realized I was feeling too cozy in the CZ (Comfort Zone) and it was time for Change.
I pondered many job options, but kept coming back to continuing the work I love so much… and wanting to find my own way to do what I want to do. After many restless nights, nail-biting, anxiety attacks, and tears, The Nutrition Mechanic was finally born.
And then the real learning began. All you entrepreneurs and small business owners know what I mean.
The bottom line is that I feel passionate about the ‘why’ of my work: To change lives through food and its nourishment. To assist my clientele in living more healthfully and for athletes to fulfill their athletic pursuits and dreams. All while letting food be a fun and celebrated piece in our human social connection.
Athletically, there was little racing and competition. This was also a year of healing for me, which translated to exercising for “fitness and fun”. I know that may disappoint some of you, but if you’ve never been in those shoes, then you just don’t understand. The healing I speak of involved physical and emotional healing. We’ll leave at that for now.
On a non-sport personal note, music came back big in my life. Like… me getting to love on my axes. (I always wanted to say that.) My band, which consists of uber groovy women, got to perform a handful of times.
Janestown. These gals rock my world!
4th of July. Trying to channel Jimi Hendrix. That didn’t work.
The process of preparing for a performance reminded me of training for a race. There’s lots of practice (training), reworking of songs (adjusting training format to promote the desired adaptations), exhilaration/frustration (“Man, that was an awesome run!” vs. “I hope that crappy run was a fluke!”), pre-performance nervousness (“Am I ready for this race?”, “Will I execute my race plan as I expect?”, etc.) and so on. What a kick to draw the parallels.
Music helps my brain, my healing, fills a void in my heart and soul.
Okay, a few other notable happenings of 2018:
I competed in my first Olympic distance relay triathlon (with 2 family members), doing my first ever competitive ocean swim in Hawaii. Out of the CZ for sure with a mass men’s and women’s relay start. I fell in love with ocean swimming.
I began a morning routine of meditation and setting intention for each day. I can no longer imagine starting my day without this.
I hired a business coach to teach, inspire, and guide me in all things entrepreneurial. She has been a game changer and keeps me out of the CZ.
I started doing HIIT work and more focused strength/resistance/stretching with the help of professionals. All thanks to a conversation with The Man Dave Scott that I was not a part of (blog on that in the queue). For me, doing HIIT is WAY OUT of the CZ.
I learned to accept instead of fight, understand instead of deny, and treat instead of band-aid my somewhat rare neurological condition that I’ve kept under wraps for a long time (blog on that in the mind-queue).
Related to the above, I did my first ever tandem biking (as the stoker) this Fall with my ever-so-gracious husband. Relying on someone else to navigate and control a bike puts me out of the CZ. More of this in our future, for sure.
Also related to the neuro situation, I started work with a few different therapists to more aggressively work on healing mind, body, the mind-body, and deeply lodged ‘issues’ I never had addressed or realized their power on my nervous system. Again, the CZ is nowhere near. By the way, if you pooh-pooh my getting therapy, then you likely need it just as much or you can just take a hike outta my world. <— Wowee, I said that.
I got to support-sherpa-nutritionmechanic a dear friend and resilient athlete at the Ironman World Championships. Seeing her achieve a dream was truly a dream of mine. And she did it with a broken foot in close to 10.5 hours. WTH, woman!
If you’re still reading this… I got my medical marijuana card here in CO. Yep. I haven’t used it yet, but there’s more blog content to come on that subject for sure, eh?
Thank you’s, hugs, and high fives go out to those who supported me:
Meredith Atwood
Andy Blow
Garret Rock & Scott Evans
Megan Finnesy
Ryan Ignatz & Michael Stone
Jeff Kildahl
Carolyn Milles
Isabelle Nadeau
Todd Nixon
Sam Piccolotti
Linda Quirk
REVO Physiotherapy
Marisa Rastetter
Shoshana Riss
Cheri Ruskus
SDV Photo
Varun Sriram
Suffer Better
My amazing clients - you know who you are!
My amazing training coach colleagues - you know who you are!
My Husband, Mom, Mom#2, and all of my other supportive family and friends
My doggie BFF who has let me cry, laugh, blab, and sweat it out with her on the trails
Thank you for reading and wishing you an exciting year ahead. Perhaps even some good times out of the CZ.
-Dina