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My arm hurts. It didn't hurt bad at all right after the surgery*, and I thought I had gotten off super easy. Now the nerves are starting to heal, which is GREAT, but also neuropathy = ow. Okay, moving on ... I am seriously recovering WAY faster and better than I had any right to expect. I was back in the gym 3 days post-op. Can't do anything with barbells yet, living on leg press and one-armed DB/KB stuff, but at least the habit remains intact. And if I keep progressing the leg press, theoretically I shouldn't lose too much on my squat. I hope. Anyhoo. 2018 BIG GOALS Build a library (I have a bonus room in my house that has been designated "library" since we bought the place over a decade ago. But it has really always been just the junk room.) Finish the bloody novel! (Bad habit - start a book, get about 25% through it, get a "great idea," start a new book. Stop that. Finish one.) Pay off half of student loans (Self explanatory, right?) Lifting/fitness goals TBD - depending on my recovery rate and how far back I have to start over from. I would like to do my first competition this year. This challenge: Write every day - I'm trying the Julia Cameron "Morning Pages" thing again, but if I fail at that I will fall back on 4theWords (streak = 444 words/day) Write down everything I want to buy that isn't clearly grocery or fuel, put it into Want or Need column, limit "want" spending to <20% of discretionary income (this should impose a mandatory cooling-off period of at least a few minutes actual thinking before I impulse buy just everything that Amazon/Etsy/et. al. shows me.) Go to gym at least 2x/week, 3x is better, do whatever my coach sez because she has a lot of experience rehabbing injuries/surgeries like this Participate fully in my gym's upcoming 3-month Transformation Challenge whenever it comes along Re: 3-Month Transformation Challenge - the coach/nutritionist that owns my gym does this every year. It involves three months of sticking like glue to a personalized nutrition plan (customized for age, gender, goals, etc.) My gym-mates who have done it before say that it is not at all torturous, there are reasonable accommodations for cheat meals and eating food that actually tastes good, and it is super effective. They haven't released any details yet about this year - like, for example, the start date! - my coach says it usually starts around the second week of January to allow everyone who traveled for the holidays to get back into the groove. I need to do *something* about my food. I cut my calories back for the surgery/recovery period since I am not training hard and I didn't want the combination of reduced activity + holiday eating to result in too much BF gain, but a lot of those fewer calories came from cookies and truffles, and I am feeling a little bit like * if you missed my ultra-whiny last challenge ... I had damage to my ulnar nerve at the elbow (funny bone) that was making my hand numb and tingly all the time. While my surgeon was in there anyways fixing that, she went ahead and did the carpal tunnel surgery that I also kind of needed but had been putting off. Surgery date was Dec 19. Recovery prognosis: 12-15 weeks, should be good as new. I'm really enjoying not feeling like my hand is always "asleep."