New Year’s Resolutions are tricky. It’s great to want to make a positive change in your life, but if you bombard yourself with expectations at the beginning of the year, it’ll probably be nearly impossible to follow through on all of them. That goes for any time of year I suppose. If you have all these resolutions and have trouble realizing them, it might make you more likely to abandon them all and give up. And that is not what we want.
Maybe it’s time for a new way of thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. What about 12 resolutions, but instead of starting them all on January 1st, you start a new resolution each month (and try to keep up with the old ones as you add the new)? On January first, start with one new intention – it doesn’t have to be hard; maybe it’s even better to start with your easiest goal to give yourself some confidence for the harder ones ahead. (See below the lists for my own resolutions plan.)
Here’s a list of ideas to get started:
Food & Fitness Resolutions
- Ditch diet soda (and artificial sweeteners in general).
- Eat less. (Makes you live longer.)
- Go to a yoga class 2-3 times a week.
- Get out for a 20 minute walk every day. Take a friend or family member.
- No eating or snacking after dinner.
- Eat breakfast daily.
- Cut back on caffeine (1 cup a day!).
- Eat less grains and sugars.
- Eat more organic and local food.
- Eat more salads.
- Only have dessert once a week (but make it good).
- Do 5 sun salutations each morning when you wake up.
Mental & Social Resolutions
- Read more – a book a week? (Or at least 30 minutes a day, if the book is too long to read in a week.)
- Hang out with friends twice a week.
- Laugh often.
- Go to the movies, a concert, or another kind of show – 3-4 times a month.
- Stay hungry. Stay foolish. (What does this mean to you?)
- Join a credit union. (Going “local” for finances.)
- Track your spending and then find a way to save $100 each month (that’s just $25 a week, less than $5 a day).
- Meditate for 5 minutes a day (option to increase time on a weekly or bi-weekly basis).
- Go out on a date once a week with the husband. (Get dressed up!)
- Give away old or unused clothes. (Or any other items you’re not using.)
- Donate time to charity.
- Organize one area or room of your home each week.
My plan is to pick one from each list each month and stick with it. For the first month I’m going to do Food Resolution #1 (ditch the diet soda and artificial sweeteners) and Mental Resolution #1 (read a book a week). I already broke Food Resolution #1 by having diet soda yesterday and no-sugar-added ice cream (I think it had Splenda) at a dinner party, but I’m counting today as my start because I didn’t come up with my lists until today.
My book for the week is called Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States
I will leave you with this delicious salad that I bought at a little deli near my apartment for lunch today:
It has a mesclun-ish base, grilled chicken, roasted veggies (zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant), mushrooms, diced beets, and sauteed fajita veggies.
Eat less? But that will make me unhappy and thus make my supposedly longer life not so nice to live…>:-p
I have a bunch of resolutions. One of them is to hurry up and make a decision about my blog. I’m thinking of either quitting cold turkey or taking a long hiatus…
@Sophia: Oh wow! Yes… hiatuses are good. I selfishly would not want you to quit, but I totally hear you on that front. Happy New Year 🙂 Will you be in NYC anytime?
I agree with Maggie that I’d like you not to quit entirely, but I can totally understand the need for some time off blogging.
I’m sticking with just one – more playing in 2012. Happy New year to you, Maggie! 🙂
@Kath: I’m adding play to my list 🙂
I would be with you about reading more! that’s a must!!! so keep me updated about good books! 🙂
happy new year Maggie! we should get together soon!
@coco: Yes we DO need to hang out! I want to teach you a personal yoga class 🙂 I’m loving the book I’m reading now, about the history of American English. Sounds boring but it has so many fun little random facts.
Happy New Year Maggie! Love your resolutions – I ditched pop a long time ago, now I don’t even like the taste – not even my beloved Diet Dr. Pepper!
Hugs!
Biz
@Biz: I’m impressed!! I always “quit” diet soda and go right back to it a few weeks later 😛 Love that you call it pop. My college roommate would call it that (I think we weaned her out of it over 4 years though).
Eat less? Eat nothing after dinner? Eat less grains?
Sounds like diet mentality from a celebrity in one of those silly gossip and fitness magazines. Are you overweight or something? You don’t look it.
@Jane: Hi Jane! As I said, these are not necessarily my resolutions, but suggestions for others who may be reading – my readers tend to be on a weight-loss journey, or looking for ways to maintain their weight loss. As someone who lost weight in the past, these are all things that have helped me to lose it and keep the weight off. I also have PCOS which makes it especially hard for me to maintain the weight loss (and recently some of the weight has slowly been creeping back on!). The “eat less” thing has been shown in recent studies to extend your lifespan. Somehow I doubt that anyone who lives to be 100+ years old has an issue with binge eating. As for eating nothing after dinner, you’ll sleep better! Try having your big meal earlier on in the day. I feel much more refreshed in the morning when I had a small dinner the night before. And eating less grains – this is primal/paleo ideology – if you want to learn more, check out Mark’s Daily Apple. My site is not directed towards people looking to gain weight, or people who are trying to recover from an eating disorder. If you have any more questions don’t hesitate to email me or leave more comments 🙂 I love feedback!