2010 - Here I Come!

Happy New Year!

Every year, just like everyone else, I make a new year resolution or two and work on them for a month or two and then fail miserably at them. So this year I almost decided to save myself the trouble and just not make any resolutions. That thought lasted a whole 2.7 seconds because let's be honest here, that just isn't me. I love to participate in things like this just because! So the next approach would be "what would make me more likely to keep them?" Here I came up with a few things:

1. Avoid the "lose weight" resolution
Problem - Been there, didn't do that. I'm an instant gratification kind of person so every time I say "I'm going to lose weight" and then after two weeks I have only lost a pound I get horribly depressed and then eat my way back up to my original weight or above it!
Solution - So I decided to find some small goals that would give me instant gratification that would inadvertently lead to weight loss!

2. Avoid hugely "life changing" unrealistic goals
Problem - Don't get me wrong, I think most things are possible to start or stop cold turkey but it is going to be a heck of a lot more challenging than if you ease into it. So if I'm already prone to not keeping my resolutions why would I want to make it even harder on me?!
Solution - Instead of "stop eating fast food" I'm going to try "avoid fast food". This will hopefully prevent me from getting frustrated when I only have 30 minutes to eat and forgot to pack my lunch. Also, more importantly, this will give me a little wiggle room instead of completely throwing my resolution out the window the first time I get in a predicament where I have to grab some fast food.

3. Plan for failure/boredom
Problem - With only 1 or 2 resolutions if I fail at 1 or 2 then all hope is lost and I am done for! Or if something that sounded like a great idea and then later I realize I don't really care as much about it then again my resolution fun is over til next year.
Solution - Make several so if i fail or get bored of 1 or 2 then I still have some to keep hope alive! Or if one takes a while to get going then I have others to keep me in the "resolution spirit".

4. Be held accountable
Problem - If no one knows you are failing at a goal then who cares? Sure it sucks to be disappointed in yourself but it sucks even more to be disappointed in yourself and to let other down too! Also more importantly they can't support you during the difficult times.
Solution - I once read in a magazine to blog about your weight loss to give you a sense of being held accountable but I've never been much of a blogger nor felt like anyone reads this thing anyways. However, now that Twitter has came along hopefully if I post things about my blog on Twitter then people will read it and hold me accountable! Cheer for me when I do good, boo me when I do bad, and coach me when I need help! So....basically my success rate depends on all you Twitter folks.... no pressure. =)

**As a side note, I had those points formed so much better in my head but then James turned on Mythbusters and I caught myself staring at the TV ever so often only to glance back at the computer and realize I had totally lost my train of thought. Alright.... back to the resolutions**

So with these points in mind I have made 8 small resolutions this year, none of them including "lose weight" might I add. They are:

1. Avoid fast food
2. Be a better Granddaughter
3. Become a morning person
4. Get back to the gym
5. Get in better cardio shape
6. Pay off Mazda or Student Loan
7. Research better eating habits
8. Volunteer

(You can also find these resolutions on my right sidebar as i continue to blog and this entry gets pushed down into oblivion.)

As I said earlier I didn't make one of them "lose weight" but ideally if I succeed at 1, 4, 5, and 7 (geez, i didn't realize so many would affect my weight) then losing weight should come naturally and would be an added bonus! Plus that would make weight loss a life change instead of a fad diet which would prevent yo-yo dieting.

You may wonder why I listed 4 and 5 separately. While 5 probably relies on 4, 4 does not mean i would be doing Cardio. I mainly want to be in better cardio shape because every day I take 2 flights of stairs at work and it makes me out of breath! that is embarrassing at 26!!!

I would like to clarify that number 7 doesn't mean find a diet. It means looking at foods from all angles. Also researching what is best for me. Like there are things that say 1 cup of coffee is good for you but I also have acid reflux and even just 1 cup of coffee seems to make my acid reflux worse and give me stomach issues later in the day. So in that case I would look for another drink that would have the same benefits as coffee but doesnt increase my acid reflux. Maybe there isn't anything better, maybe i would just need to compromise and only have coffee like 3 times a week or something. Also I may be on the verge of having high cholesterol so I would like to research foods that would lower that. That might mean not cutting out eggs but just switching to egg whites. You get the idea? (Please note: at this point no research has been done so everything i just said could be completely wrong about coffee and eggs)

I plan to start blogging about these individually to go more in-depth and kind of outline a game plan for working towards each goal. I will probably break them all down into their own entry unless it is just really short.

Alright, time to get ready for bed. Right now my solutions and this new resolution method sounds like a really great idea and I like to think that I am good at analyzing situations therefore looking back at situations in my life and learning from them but only time will tell.


Getting older is all about getting wiser, right? I believe it should be.