I gave up on making New Year's resolutions a long time ago. There's just too much going on at this time of year. Making up some goal about how I was going to improve and change myself never seemed true. And this year, I thought I would continue my bold tradition. Afterall, whenever I've made a resolution on January 1st, it'd be broken before the 2nd arrived. Pretty much.
Then, I went out and bought a scale. The one we have is not very accurate, and it's getting rusty and ugly. So, I decided it was time to face the music. I had just finished reading Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, and I was shocked to read that my ideal weight was about 40 pounds less than what I now weigh! I have to do something about that. I still haven't figured out how to use the scale, though. It measures more than your weight, and I have to read the manual (in Japanese, of course) to know how to input my data. Then when I stand on the scale I'll find out how much I weigh, how much fat I have, and how much (little?) muscle, and perhaps a few other things. I probably don't want to know, but when I was reading in Eat to Live, I was reminded how eating more nutrient rich foods is much better for you. I used to be quite careful about eating foods in as close to their natural state as possible, but I've really gotten lazy in the past 5 years or so. It shows.
So, I suppose that means I DO have a New Year's resolution, doesn't it? And so, yesterday, I decided would be a good day to stop saying, "Tomorrow, I'll begin." I've never smoked cigarettes, (so I don't know what it's like to quit smoking), but my first day of no coffee... YUCK! Actually, I don't know if it was the not having coffee that made me feel so awful, or if I was coming down with a bug anyway and it just happened to conincide with the day I started this new experiment. Anyway, I had headache like one I've never had before. I ate something in order to take an aspirin, and as soon as I swallowed it, everything came back up. So, yesterday's start didn't go as planned, but I guess you could say my stomach was kind of detoxed.
Today went better. I forced myself to get up at a decent hour, made a simple breakfast for me and my husband. (Two of the three kids were sick and not in the mood for breakfast, and the third kid just kept on sleeping.) And as I puttered around the house doing light work, I thought of two more New Year's resolutions. Yes, I did.
Clean kitchen sink. Clean kitchen table. Every day. If you know about Flylady, you're already familiar with her clean kitchen sink concept. We'll see how it goes. If I can convince (coerce?) my kids to NOT put their used dishes and cups in the sink and just walk away, I will not be much of a grump when I get into the kitchen to do meal preparations. And if I can keep the kitchen table cleared of all the junk that gets put there, it will be a much more pleasant eating experience. So, that was today's mission, and I did it! Now, I have to announce it to my family.
I wonder if I should teach them the saying, "If momma ain't happy, nobody's happy." Nah, that'd be too much like manipulation, wouldn't it?
One plus one plus one comes to three resolutions for 2013. Oh, my!
1 comment:
I have rarely made resolutions, for I, too, would struggle to keep them past the first week...perhaps month.
But there are things I have aimed to do in the past year or so. Does that count?
One thing I do is straighten up the living room before I head up to bed. I find that it is a bit gloom-making to come down to a mess. I would say that I am near 100% on managing this aim.
I also try to make my bed in the morning. That used to never be an issue, but more often than not, I would just crawl out of bed and never look back. However, there is something more cheering about coming up to a "straightened" bedroom than a messy one.
Without a dishwasher, and by myself, I do not always do the dishes, but I make sure they are at least in the sink.
The thing I fail the most, but wish I had the wherewithal to do, is to stretch my spastic leg muscles. The pain is so great, I start and never make it past the second day. If I did stretch daily, I would have a bit easier time of it. But I am a wimp.
Could I offer a bit of advice? Okay? Great. I have seen several woman now drop significant weight by doing just three things: 1) eat a bit less; 2) walk more; and 3) drink more water. Those are doable. Nothing drastic.
My neighbor dropped 50 lbs that way. She did not really change what she ate, just how much. She started walking 10 minutes and ended up at an hour each day. She started with practically no water and ended up with four glasses.
Anyway, I think you are brave for even mentioning a resolution. AND I think there is nothing wrong with the philosophy you mentioned about happiness!
Post a Comment