Here’s to a Healthy 2013

I have been hesitant to share my 2013 New Year’s Resolutions with you because I rarely if ever accomplish my year goals.  Like last year, my only goal  I actually completed was reading The Book of Mormon.   I exercised great for 5 months than hit a few hiccups and lost momentum and never really picked it up again.  My bank account isn’t any stronger than it was a year ago despite a year of trying to be thrifty.  So yeah, I am a little disappointed in myself and a little gun shy.

But then I got thinking.  Well, at least I did read the Book of Mormon and exercising for 5 months is better than not exercising at all.  And maybe I don’t have more money, but I do have some better habits and awareness as they relate to thrift.    I mean I wash out my Ziplocs! That has got to count for something, right?

What I am saying is, I believe it is better to start and not finish, than never  to start.  I am better off than I was a year ago, even though I am not where I wanted to be.

So with that being said, I am going to officially declare my one word (or two) for 2013…

My focus for 2013 is HEALTH and WELLNESS.

Different topics just speak to me at different times and HEALTH is screaming my name right now.  And when I say health I am not necessarily talking about my weight.  Rather I am talking about managing stress, moods, sleep, nutrition, energy, relationships and general well being.  I think health has my attention right now because I am turning 40 this year and I hear the clock ticking.   And my mom’s cancer last year really gave me a wake up call.  Not to mention the fact that I am tired of feeling like a slug…make that a grouchy slug.

To optimize my chances of success, I am doing my New Year’s Resolutions differently this year.  I am not saying I am going to lose 30 pounds or I am going to exercise 4 times a week.  Instead of setting goals that I fail at 3 months (or 3 days) in or that require diligence day in and day out, I wrote a long list of things I can DO in 2013 to bring me closer to my overall goal of better health.  My list includes some simple tasks like phone calls, field trips, and appointments, but my list also includes more time intensive tasks like experiments, research and habits.

This to-do list goal approach allows me to ebb and flow with the craziness of motherhood as well as my own energy cycles (some might call it ADD.) I might rock it in January and February and cross 10 things off the list.  Then I might get sick in March and go on vacation in April and cross nothing off.  But this time instead of feeling like a failure, I can pick right back up in May by just looking at my to-do list and seeing what I can do that month.  I will have good weeks and bad weeks and more productive months and lazy months, but in the end I will still be progressing towards health and wellness.

Here is my 2013 Health/Wellness list in no particular order.  Read at your own risk.

-check out yoga studio in Alpine

-call yoga teacher in ad

-get a mammogram

-get foot doctor’s name from Jessica

-take care of growth on foot (tmi?)

-get TV and office out of the bedroom

-attend 2 classes on essential oils

-read “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan

-read “Eat to Live not Live to Eat”

-organize healthy cooking group

-2013 fruits and veggies in 2013 (This is a family goal that the kids are helping me with. More on this later.)

-try a recipe for a homemade yogurt

-add 1 meatless meal a month to the dinner rotation (12 new meatless meals by the end of the year)

-go check out the new Trader Joe’s store

– perfect my homemade wheat pizza crust

-visit health store in Alpine/Highland

-ask Karalynne about olive oil

-join produce co-op

-order locally raised beef with Chelsea

-taste test healthy peanut butters; find one the kids will eat

-make travel size essential oil key chains for me, Elle and Chad

-run a 5K  (Gasp! Chad actually laughed out loud when he read this one.  Don’t worry I am laughing too.)

-visit a farmer’s market

As you can see some of these goals I can knock out in one afternoon and some will take months or all year.  Some are baby steps and some are giant leaps. But I like that I can move at my own pace and have good days and bad days.  And if I accomplish even half on my list, I am moving towards my larger goal of better Health and Wellness.

Last year I did a Thrifty Thursday in conjunction with my New Year’s Resolution to strengthen finances.  So this year I will do something similar.  I will have more health related posts on my blog because that is what I will be doing with my time and energy.

Maybe I will call it Wellness Wednesday or Fitness Friday or Too Hot to Trot Tuesday…

So here’s to a Healthy 2013!

And good luck to you with all of your New Year’s Resolutions.  Remember at least you started.