I was at a wedding recently and the person sitting beside me was eating a very large piece of cake while simultaneously telling me about her great new gluten-free diet. She had fallen into a common dieting trap: using the rules of her nutrition regime to justify less than optimal nutritional choices.

I'm "only" 31, so it may be premature to already have a list to tell my younger self, but I have been a trainer for almost 12 years, and working out seriously for 16, so I feel I am entitled to at least a preliminary list.

The letting go comes with not trying to see so hard, or hanging on to what is disappearing. My husband puts it as, not trying so hard to be sighted, but excelling at who I am. Fight for who I am. Pulling back from what I was.

I have been out walking a lot lately as we finally have some nice weather. I was thinking a bike ride would be nice. A run would be nice. I mentioned this to my kids. These were things I used to be able to do unassisted; running, biking, rollerblading, and more. For a moment they felt sad. I let them know those were my has-been moments.

Too many of us take our bodies for granted. We sit for hours, or train constantly (me!) without fully contemplating the stress our lifestyle places on our bodies.

I cannot imagine being an athlete without my children to shape who I am. They challenge aspects of my training; patience, being able to adapt on the fly, and looking deep into why I train. My oldest daughter wrote an English piece on courage, it brought tears to my eyes because I did not realize she saw me that way.