The days of partying all night on New Year’s Eve are, for me, long gone. In fact, truth to be told, we rarely stay up late enough to watch the ball drop, so we celebrate New Year’s with the four kiddos at midnight French time (my husband is French), which means by 3:15 pm in California, we could call it a day if we were so inclined. In the evening of New Year’s Eve, after the kids are tucked in, my husband and I now have a tradition of revisiting our mission statement and our goals, both individually and as a family.
Supporting my health is always at the top of my list, and for 2013, these are my health-related goals. I want to:
- Act (and measure) without judgement
If you are a brand new runner, for instance, don’t worry if you can only run a quarter mile. Do it anyway, and do it again tomorrow. Breezily note the mileage, but resist the urge to judge it. It is non-partisan feedback; merely a metric that will actually be motivating soon enough. Stop giving all the power to the end result, and start celebrating your participation in the process. Half the battle is just suiting up and showing up, and sometimes winning even half the battle is enough to keep me motivated in the fight. And like an unwatched pot, before you know it, your numbers will creep on you, and you’ll be running one mile, then two, then a 5K. But it happens so much more pleasantly if you can dodge the judgment bullet.
- Root my decisions in self-love
I once heard that the best diet is self love. Corny, perhaps. But actually quite true. If I truly want to eat for better health, or lose weight, then I must ask myself before I indulge in, say a piece of chocolate cheesecake, “is this truly a loving choice?” Note that the answer might be yes! If I am celebrating my ten year anniversary with my husband and we had cheesecake on our first date (just an example; we had sea bass), then probably bending my normal rules this one time is the loving thing to do. Often, framing my choices in the “what is truly most loving to myself” framework keeps me on track in terms of diet and exercise goals. And, it allows me to work out in celebration of my body, not in punishment. I find joy in feeling stronger, not just in “getting skinnier.”
- Focus on consistency
I try to exercise about an hour every weekday, and work it into my schedule, no matter how busy I am. Sometimes, that means only a 20 minute workout. Instead of beating myself up, I celebrate having done the workout at all. I find that small consistent steps count far more than sporadic big ones. On crazy-busy days, I even give myself complete permission to do a 10-minute workout, and it’s just enough to get me to do it (I have a hard time making the argument that I can’t find ten minutes in even the busiest of days!). Just starting usually creates enough traction that I somehow manage at least 20 minutes (and if not, that’s OK, too).
- Do truly my best and then, let it go
We can be so hard on ourselves. I want to honor myself by letting myself off the hook once I have done my best. If a ten minute workout is all I can truly do without sacrificing my well-being (which comes from being well-rested, spending time with family, etc), then I accept that as my best and move on. No guilt allowed. The flip side to this freedom from guilt: Getting honest with myself about whether I am making excuses, or if I am just being loving to who I am and the schedule I sometimes need to keep. The more I practice self-love, the more discerning I become about knowing the difference between cutting myself some loving slack (good) and slacking off (not so good).
- Eat raw fruit or vegetables at every meal
Simply put, this easy action makes a huge difference in how I feel (and how much I weigh). I’m a veggie smoothie fanatic; it’s a great way to start the day!
- Get a mammogram.
I’m 44, so it’s on my list.
What are YOUR health goals for 2013?
Happy New Year!
Catch Melissa on the new season of Drop 5 Lbs With Good Housekeeping, premiering January 19th at 10:30am ET. Mom of four, television host and cookbook author Melissa d’Arabian (www.MelissadArabian.net) embodies family home cooking at its finest. With a lifelong passion for cooking and varied life experiences, Melissa naturally connects with today’s diverse families as she shares empowering food and lifestyle solutions that are part of a bigger story about how to eat well, be a responsible consumer and spend with purpose — all while putting satisfying family meals on the table every day. Follow Melissa on Twitter and Facebook.
Focus on my loves of life…family, children and catching them great memories on film, or should I say digital. With that will come climbing the ladder back to a healthy weight. First off, get my old pictures organized and start on the new. Daughter just got married in September and here comes a little grandaughter very shortly. So, many things to do, but foremost start by thinking healthy, because that is the key to enjoying everything else.
[...] Healthy New Year’s Resolutions [...]
[...] here: Healthy New Year's Resolutions | Devour The Blog: Cooking … Tagged: a-lot-easier, and-homemade, channel, devour, earthy-curry, food-and, global-cuisines, [...]
Whispering Misty…
So sorry you’ll pass up the workshop!…
The Ships’s Voyages…
I feel technological innovation just makes it worse. Now there is a channel to never ever care, now there is not going to be a prospect for them to discover….
Kaitlyn…
Hi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it is really informative. I’m going to watch out for brussels. I’ll be grateful if you continue this in future. Lots of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!…
site…
Wow! This could be one particular of the most beneficial blogs We have ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Fantastic. I\’m also an expert in this topic therefore I can understand your effort….
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More here: blog.cookingchanneltv.com/2013/01/01/healthy-new-years-resolutions/ [...]…
Third Flower…
My wife and that i are already now delighted that Albert could carry out his studies thanks to the strategies he had by your online page. It really is every now and then perplexing to only generally be giving away techniques which a number of people co…
centriohost rocks…
[...]we came across a cool web-site that you might get pleasure from. Take a look should you want[...]…
Healing’s Dragon…
to discover troubles to enhance my web site!I suppose its alright for making usage of a couple of within your concepts!!…
Prague the Medieval City…
[...]please go to the web pages we adhere to, like this 1, because it represents our picks from the web[...]…
Security Melbourne…
[...]Every as soon as inside a while we select blogs that we study. Listed beneath are the newest sites that we select [...]…
ultimate game card paypal…
[...]Here is a great Weblog You might Discover Fascinating that we Encourage You[...]…
cleaning…
[...]Sites of interest we’ve a link to[...]…
Chinese music…
[...]that will be the finish of this post. Here you?ll obtain some sites that we believe you?ll value, just click the links over[...]…
skinny rich bitch…
[...]The facts talked about inside the write-up are several of the top out there [...]…
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Healing’s Dragon…
to uncover problems to boost my website!I suppose its okay for making utilization of a number of of the ideas!!…
Search The Net…
[...]Here is an excellent Blog You might Locate Fascinating that we Encourage You[...]…
Santee Roof Leak Water Damage…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]…
Elite home security…
[...]The details talked about in the write-up are several of the most beneficial obtainable [...]…
dubai printing services…
[...]check below, are some absolutely unrelated websites to ours, having said that, they may be most trustworthy sources that we use[...]…
Whispering Misty…
So sorry you are going to miss the workshop!…
ip locator…
[...]one of our guests a short while ago encouraged the following website[...]…
Alt Elect…
I don’t know whether it’s just me or if everyone else experiencing problems with your site. It appears as if some of the text in your posts are running off the screen. Can somebody else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as w…
The one…
One of the greatest articles I’ve ever found…
[...] New Year's Juice FastNew Year's Juice FastHealthy New Years Resolutions [...]
Healing’s Dragon…
to seek out problems to further improve my site!I suppose its alright to create usage of a handful of of your respective principles!!…
flashlight…
[...]we prefer to honor many other world-wide-web sites around the web, even when they aren?t linked to us, by linking to them. Beneath are some webpages worth checking out[...]…
Google…
[...]the time to read or go to the subject material or web sites we have linked to below the[...]…
sneak a peek at this web-site…
[...]Here is a great Weblog You may Find Exciting that we Encourage You[...]…
more tips here…
[...]the time to study or check out the content or websites we’ve linked to below the[...]…
sydney escort…
[...]although internet websites we backlink to beneath are considerably not connected to ours, we feel they may be in fact really worth a go by, so possess a look[...]…
visit this website…
[...]one of our guests not too long ago encouraged the following website[...]…
understanding…
[...]Here is a good Weblog You might Uncover Interesting that we Encourage You[...]…
Latricia Vaudrain…
[...]below you will locate the link to some web pages that we think you ought to visit[...]…
try here…
[...]Here are a number of the web pages we suggest for our visitors[...]…
Free Advertising…
[...]Every when inside a though we pick out blogs that we study. Listed below are the most current internet sites that we opt for [...]…
homepage…
[...]one of our guests not too long ago suggested the following website[...]…
sell house fast…
[...]The data talked about in the write-up are a number of the top readily available [...]…
fact that he has to be a…
skilled writer along with having the historical information that he is contemplating to deal with, on his fingertips. he cannot fiddle with history or what occurred in the ancient times. all that the writer can do is give the past occurrences…
The Ships’s Voyages…
I believe technologies just can make it even worse. Now there’s a channel to hardly ever treatment, now there will not likely be a likelihood for them to find….
Google…
the time to study or take a look at the content material or websites we have linked to below the…
minecraft for dummies…
[...]very couple of web-sites that come about to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well really worth checking out[...]…
nottingham escorts…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]…
Dubai escorts…
[...]The info mentioned inside the article are a few of the most beneficial out there [...]…
Google…
Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a handful of unrelated data, nonetheless actually worth taking a look, whoa did one study about Mid East has got more problerms as well…
Title…
[...]below you will discover the link to some websites that we consider you ought to visit[...]…
Title…
[...]please pay a visit to the web pages we follow, including this one particular, because it represents our picks from the web[...]…