Welcoming 2014 with Open Arms, Eyes, and Hearts.

While I’m not one to set New Year’s Resolutions, I do like to plan for some short term goals as well as set the intention for the upcoming year. I also like to reflect and think back on the previous year. While I typically keep my yearly intentions and goals to myself  – and they are often just race goals – this year I've decided I’m going public with my 2014 year plans to as many people as possible. I’m hoping this will help hold me more responsible to them.

2013 was a year with a ton of ups and downs – like every year. And to expect 2014 to be much different seems naive. However, I am very excited to announce that I am planning on starting the course work necessary to complete a post-bacc so that I can begin moving forward with my long-term goal of becoming a Registered Dietitian.

Since beginning this blog, many people - friends and strangers alike - have written to me asking for help with their diets. I can sincerely say that it is one of the most gratifying experiences of my life.

Since I was trained as a historian, before I can start a master’s program in nutrition science, I first have to go back to the undergraduate level to fulfill some basic science and anatomy requirements that I have not done. I suspect that many of these courses will be difficult for me, but I also believe that I have the dedication, work ethic, and passion to help me get through the process. I also know that I can count on my incredible support network of friends and family. I consider myself very fortunate that my boss just agreed to support my request for class reimbursement, so hopefully most of my class work will be paid for by my job. 

As always, I am also recommitting myself to another year as a compassionate and healthy vegan. I encourage you all to join me, and try eating a healthy, plant-based vegan diet for the month of January. With the holidays over, now is a great time to commit yourself to healthy eating. Get a free 21-day vegan meal plan from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

I’m also hoping to launch a redesigned and enhanced BYOL site sometime this year. I’ve already started talking with a web designer, but now I just need to commit. I’ll be honest, this is a lower priority for me right now, but I’m hopeful that by 2015 BYOL will finally look like a respectable site!

I also want to announce that I have an upcoming surgery - it's just 9 days away. After several repeated injuries in my lower right leg over the past 3 years, my sports doctor finally linked the muscle damage to a bone growth in the back of my knee. I will be having the bone growth removed on January 9th in the hopes that after I heal, I will be able to avoid these injuries. I already have two Half Ironman events scheduled -Eagleman in Maryland, and the inaugural Princeton 70.3 - so hopefully I will recovery quickly and will be able to get back to my current fitness level relatively quickly.   

I hope you all had an enjoyable New Year and that the closing of 2013 was a pleasant one. And as always, I want to thank all of you for continuing to follow my musings about the power of plants, proper nutrition, and sport. I promise you all that BYOL will continue to offer the latest research on nutrition, as well as many new and delicious plant-based, low fat, high carb recipes. (Yesterday I learned of a new report from the World Health Organization was released stating that meat is more dangerous than cigarette smoking! Exciting times, indeed!) 

Wishing all of you a happy 2014! 

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.