Eating it up

I have never been one to be serious about making New Year’s resolutions. I suppose I always figured that was the best way to set myself up for failure. After all, everyone seems so gung-ho for about 6 weeks, then life slips back to the patterns established well before the Christmas season. Many people just tell themselves, “hey, I gave it a shot!” and not look back. So why do we, year after year, feel pressured into making changes that happen to coincide with a trip to the mall to find a new calendar at 50% off?

Tonight I found myself doing what resembles a New Year resolution. I decided to make some changes, but this one encompasses a few things I need to work on: procrastinate less (but not too much or I’d lose blog topics 😉 ), eat better, and improve my overall health. I looked at those 3 goals and realize they are pretty general. I suppose I came up with them a bit backwards to the way people normally think to make commitments to change. I am doing something specific which translate into a goal covered off by those global ideas.

I sat on the couch with my MacBook and googled “meal planner templates”. Why? Well, I hired a personal trainer last April and have decided that isn’t the only way I will achieve my goals. Don’t get me wrong, I love the changes I’ve seen and felt, but now I want more. I finally came to the admittance that exercise is only a small portion of my goals. I need to be honest with myself and know that my eating habits suck and I will never realize how great I can feel unless it changes.

I don’t eat enough. Period. I try to eat well but I also have an aversion to cooking so I tend to grab what is convenient after I have waited so long to eat I am famished or hope my hubby is home cooking me dinner. I hate eating breakfast, refuse to eat leftovers and if there were a pill I could take and never have to eat again, I would be quite happy. Fancy restaurants are a waste for me and I don’t care that my food looks like art. I eat to live, not the other way around.

I have to embrace that food is fuel and if I want this amazing body to feel amazing, I have to fill it with premium nutrients. Thankfully the scale isn’t a motivator or a deterrent for me. Nope, I just want to show off my new muscles and feel good doing it. So here begins my journey to attempt to plan out everything I need to eat a week at a time. Plan, shop, and eat. Simple enough to write in a blog but it remains to be seen if I will fall into the category of “hey, I gave it a shot”.

t.g. 2014

Resolutions of the Eternal Optimist

I got to thinking about New Years and resolutions. Many people think of New Years as a starting point to make goals for what is hoped to be achieved in the year to come. Many take the opportunity to look back on the year past and what was, or in some cases, wasn’t accomplished. It is a time to reflect on what perhaps didn’t go well and also remember the unexpected, pleasant revelations that made the year one for the books. Each year brings new and different experiences whether small or life-changing and it doesn’t matter if we are ready or not, the New Year is approaching in a few short hours.

I often reflect back on the negatives that occurred in the year past, but vowed this year to only look ahead. We cannot change what has happened, but we can set in motion what we hope for the future. I decided to take a more positive approach to the New Year as I got thinking about a friend who I have always considered an eternal optimist. She has made a life-altering decision, and although it may not be viewed as a happy decision, she is only seeing her future as positive and enlightening. She is not focused on the past, but rather looking towards an amazing future for herself and those around her. She reminded me that the ultimate goal in life is happiness and love. Some of the toughest decisions in life make for the most exhilarating results.

As 2012 approaches, I vow to make only one resolution: be the eternal optimist who finds happiness, love and sets in motion all that I need to achieve my dreams.

Optimist: someone who isn’t sure whether life is a tragedy or a comedy but is tickled silly just to be in the play. ~Robert Brault