Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year....

A friend of mine doesn't call his New Years resolutions "resolutions"...He calls them "intentions". I like that idea because we all know that we start off the new year with the best of intentions--they just don't always stick. So, with that being said, here are some of my intentions for this new year:

1. Eat healthier
My son has been a vegetarian for over a year now and I've honestly been inspired by him. I'm not saying I'm going to throw away all the beef in my garage freezer (I love steak way too much for that!) But in researching vegetarianism and learning to make vegetarian-friendly dishes for him I've discovered that I love a lot of the wonderful flavors in meatless meals. I realized how many tasty things you can do with vegetables besides just heating them and plopping them on your plate next to your meatloaf. So although I'm not planning on giving up meat, I definitely plan to add more vegetable-based dishes to my meals.


2. Get more exercise
Yeah, I know....this is one that everyone says they're going to do. But I am in the middle of an honest-to-goodness freak out about what has happened to my body lately. After years of never having much fat on my body, even when I was pregnant with my son, I am now dealing with the "muffin top" syndrome...and the reality that I am collecting fat around my middle like a hungry squirrel storing up nuts for winter. My Wii Fit game is gathering dust on a shelf and the last time I laced up my walking shoes was several months ago (although I try to attribute this last phenomenon to the colder winter months.)  Maybe it has something to do with the days in my early twenties when I worked at a health club and taught aerobics three times a day (after riding my bike to work), but I have always kind of prided myself on being physically fit.  I can honestly say that this is the most un-fit I've been in all of my adult life.  This must change.  I guess it will kind of go hand in hand with intention number one.  If anyone out there who happens to be in close proximity to Nampa is looking for a walking partner, let me know!  (It's so much easier to stick to these things when you have someone else who wants to do the same thing and can hold you accountable.)


3. Be more self-confident
I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way in my life I started caring way too much about what other people think about me.  And I started second guessing myself a lot.  I'm sure it was somewhere around those awkward years during junior high school when I overheard the boys at school talking about me...("too bad about her face")...Or maybe it was when I was a single mother and was so worried about making the wrong decisions, afraid that I would permanently ruin my son's life.  Possibly sometime during my first marriage when my overweight husband used put-downs as a protection mechanism to lash out at others before they could do damage to him. 
Regardless of when it happened, I know I need to change this.  I need to be proud of who I am.  I need to remember that I am very knowledgeable when it comes to what I've learned on my jobs over the years.  I need to realize that even if I make a "wrong" decision about something, it can usually be fixed.  If I have to ask someone about something I don't know, it's not because I'm stupid but because I'm most likely dealing with something new.  I am woman, hear me roar!  Ha ha....(Okay, now I need to get that old early 80's Enjoli commercial out of my head....we all remember that one, don't we?)


4. Learn something new
I want to learn how to knit.  I guess technically this wouldn't be something new because my mother taught me how to knit back when I was 16 years old.  I attempted to knit a scarf for a guy I knew who road a motorcycle (for some reason my 16 year old mind thought that a man on a motorcycle needed a scarf).  I think I was a little bit ADD back then because I got tired of it quickly and it ended up being only about two and a half feet long.  I remember giving it to him and he just kind of tied it around his neck like a giant bow tie.  But now that I'm older, knitting seems like a great way to pass the time when I don't have a book to read.  It also seems like it would be very relaxing, once I get the hang of it again.  So be forewarned friends and family--next Christmas you may all be getting hand knitted hats, scarves & tea cozies!

Happy New Year! 

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