new year’s resolution
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December 13th, 2008
The new year is coming up fast, and many of us take this time to look at ourselves and our lives and make a change on January 1st. It’s really an arbitrary breaking point, of course–after all, why not decide to stop smoking today? Why wait 18 more days? I suspect that it’s the way humans are wired, or maybe just the way our culture is conditioned, and setting a milestone on the first day of the year is a good way to keep tabs on yourself.
I’ve made a new resolution every year for the past ten years or so. I know that a lot of people have trouble sticking to their resolutions, but I’m proud to say that I’ve stuck to most of mine. The trick is to set yourself a goal that is achievable and not ridiculously impossible.
Most of my resolutions have had to do with my weight or eating healthier. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have had similar resolutions. Have you been able to keep them? I started thinking about resolutions like “I’m going to exercise every day!” or “I’m going to exercise three times a week!” or “I’m going to exercise at least once a week!” “Only salads from now on!” “Only organic!” But those goals are really hard to do if you don’t ramp up to them. My exercise plan of 2005 was dead by February.
Instead, I’ve decided to start cutting certain foods out of my diet every year. I identified a food that I liked a lot and tended to eat a lot of, but that I knew was bad for me. Not an ingredient, mind you, a “food.” So I wasn’t cutting out dairy, or sugar, or white rice… nothing that would make me scrutinize a menu when going out to eat. Just something that would make me think about little alternatives.
In 2007, I gave up Hot Pockets. You can laugh if you want to, but I love them things! Pop ‘em in the microwave and you have a meal in less than three minutes! The trouble was that before 2005, I was eating at least 2 packages of Hot Pockets a week, (two in each package), and sometimes more. That’s a lot of bread and melted cheese. So I decided that they had to go. I haven’t eaten one since.
In 2008, I gave up Frappucinos. You know, those Starbucks milk drinks that come in those fancy little glass bottles? I love those things, too! Even though I knew they were mostly sugar and milk, and nothing really nutritional, I’d still suck ‘em down, sometimes two in a sitting. That’s just bad news, no matter how you slice it up. So I haven’t had one all year, and I don’t plan on ever going back to them.
The plan for 2009: Ice Cream. This one could be tough. I love myself some ice cream. I like a sweet taste after a meal, and sometimes it’s on sale at the grocery store, and those Hagen Daaz flavors are so delicious! But I can finish a quart in two days, which means I can eat a pint of ice cream a week. And I do. It’s time for me to say goodbye to ice cream for once and for all. *sob*
I’m looking forward to it, actually. What I’ve learned from these tiny resolutions is that they make me a little more conscious about what I’m eating. I think about my choices more than I have in the past. Even though I will still have a cookie or two, or a piece of chocolate cake, even though I will order that pasta with heavy sauce, and I still love myself some pizza, I am a bit more moderate about it than I ever was before.
If you’ve had trouble with your resolutions in past years, I urge you to think about whittling down your giant plans and making them smaller. Don’t overburden yourself with something that you’ll ultimately fail at–it’s amazing how good it feels to be able to say something as simple as “I haven’t had a Hot Pocket in two years.” It gives you that much more motivation to try something new next year. Hopefully, this isn’t the last January 1st you’ll ever see. You’ll have time to make new resolutions every year for a long time to come. Figure out what small (but significant) change you can make and then stick to it for a year. You just may surprise yourself.
Good luck! 
