Here, let me share a photo of the salad I ate for lunch: a combination of raw and roasted veggies on a bed of baby kale and spinach. #obnoxious
This time of year it seems like most people are making resolutions. A new year seems like the right time to want to set some goals. And when you couple that with the desire to undo the gastronomic degradations we’ve unleashed on our bodies over the holidays, then it makes even more sense to want to return to a healthier way of living.
I don’t make resolutions per se, but I do usually set some goals for a year. Two years ago, for example, I pledged to have one date a month with my husband and also to plan one fun family event or outing every month. We more or less hit my goals for 2013 and I was satisfied.
My friend Molly’s approach is to choose three words that will define her year, and then keep those words ever present in her mind throughout the year. Even before I read her post, I had already been pondering what I wanted 2015 to be like for me, so it spurred me to write this post.
Based on Molly’s idea, my three words for 2015 are:
healthy - In November, I had my physical, wherein my doctor and I discovered that my cholesterol had gone up. Since there’s no family history of high cholesterol, the theory is that my weight, which has crept up in the past two years, and my diet are the causes. My short-term goals from that appointment are to bring my cholesterol down by mid-May without meds but instead through dietary changes. In addition, the doctor would like for me to lose around 10 pounds, five of which has already accomplished.
Even before my doctor’s appointment, I had already cut most sugar from my diet and felt really good, so I’ll continue that in 2015 as part of my goal of being as healthy as I can be. I still have a little dark chocolate now and then and occasional treats, but for the most part, I’m eating pretty clean.
studious - I feel like my brain has gotten mentally flabby in recent years and I don’t like it. To that end, in 2015, I’ll be trying to learn more. Part of this goal will be continuing with online Italian lessons, which I started last year after deciding it was time.
Part of my goal will also be reading better books, as well as other materials (magazines, websites). I don’t have a set list of books in mind, but I will be pushing myself to read at a higher level than I have been in recent years.
frugal - In recent years, I have gotten away from my previously-frugal habits and it’s time for me to revisit and reclaim them. To that end, I’ll be carefully considering all purchases and buying less, as well as sticking to more of a budget when grocery shopping.
So those are my non-resolution resolutions for 2015. How about you? Have you made any goals for the year?
Last year when my computer conked out I was reintroduced to the pleasant world of literature. Now I carry lists of books and authors with me, and when I go to the library I use those lists. Two things I discovered: good writing is so much better than adequate writing, and some books are better digested when the reader is adult.
Happy Reading! (library books, of course, to be frugal, and while eating a carrot)
never resolutions, always mental *suggestions*. I do not always follow through, but for a time, I do remember…
a few tidbits to ponder: after menopause, the desire for chocolate (often paired with salt such as potato chips) diminishes…quite astonishing, but I do believe, universally true. If you can hold on to this thought, you will find “will power” to become 2nd nature. And it is so relaxing, too!
next: less is more when you are downsizing, say, when the nest is empty. If you can slowly do that BEFORE you have to, it can be such a mental gift! You will find not much angst in the unloading of STUFF, if not having to do it in a hurry (say as in a house sold and you are moving to a different, smaller place)
last: just for kicks, have your doc give you an order for a Vitamin D level. You have to ask, it is not on the routine bloodwork done. My old ob/gyn who retired did order bloodwork to be done before I moved on to a new doc, but he did not order the Vit D level, and my new doc did. I was LOW. She was not surprised, said most people are. But, this vitamin helps calcium absorption, so it does go hand in hand with aging, menopause and that little niggling idea of osteoporosis, later in life. I found a gummy chewable Vit D supplement, and am now taking 2,000 units a day. I go for my checkup bloodwork next month, so I will see if taking a supplement does work!
that’s all the things I can think of at this point. No words of wisdom for cholesterol stuff, sorry.
I’ve always liked the idea of choosing a word for the new year. This year, Rob and I have both decided to focus on gratitude. We stumbled on the “gratitude jar” idea sometime in December on FB, and decided this was a good way to encourage ourselves.