Breaking New Year’s Resolutions

For someone who doesn’t love steadfast rules, I do like the idea behind New Year’s resolutions. Coming off the crazy busyness of the end of the year, I see January as my month of “rest”. It presents a lull where I have time to reevaluate what is going on in my life and what I want the New Year to bring. I can “resolve” to make better efforts and start better habits that will hopefully feel so good that they will stick when life gets busy again.

Making Resolutions
I don’t have a particular system for how I set these goals for the New Year. Last year I wanted to see Of Monsters and Men in concert (I did, it was amazing), I had a lot of specific goals around writing (some I achieved, some are still on the list), places I wanted to travel to- the list varies. It’s fun to look back and see that my husband and I accomplished things we set out to do. And it made for good discussion why we didn’t complete some, if they are still a goal, if they have changed, and what new things might be added.

This year, like many, I resolved to eat better and get in 30 minutes of exercise a day. I already eat pretty well, but there is always room for improvement. I exercise regularly too, but I know I could do a little more.

In hopes to be bikini ready for my birthday trip to Vegas, I decided to give up any alcohol during the week. My usual go-to is wine and this is an easy way to cut out 150-300 calories a couple nights each week.

To work on my 30 minutes a day, I came up with a practical list of what I might actually do to fit those minutes in.

Breaking Resolutions
Well we aren’t too far into the year and my good friend from high school asked me to meet over cocktails on her mid-week night off. She is usually incredibly busy and this has always been her “free” evening to take a little break. Darn it! We were due to catch up and it felt really silly to say no because of a deal I had made with myself. I said yes, and then rethought what I really was trying to accomplish with these goals.

Reevaluate Your Goals
I want to eat/drink more consciously so that I am aware of what kind of nutrients (or lack of nutrients) I am putting into my body. So I agreed that I wouldn’t drink on Friday night to swap Thursday for Friday. I really didn’t like the idea of breaking two resolutions at once, so I thought about how I was going to fit in the 30 minutes of exercise between dinner and meeting her. The restaurant was just under two miles away. So I traded in a cute sweater and boots for my running gear, and jogged my way down the street to meet her.

Breaking a resolution didn’t feel like a bad thing because it made me rethink what I was really trying to accomplish and helped me create ways that help me to stick with what I’m trying to achieve.

When we set goals for ourselves I think it’s important to revisit them frequently to evaluate how they are working for us. It feels great to realize that I don’t miss a couple of glasses of wine during the week and I’m saving money! My husband has jumped on-board with the 30 minutes a day and has been great at nudging me when I’m feeling lazy.

I hope if you hit a wall, you won’t give up on your resolutions, but will explore ways you can work around it. Good luck!!

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