The Simple Life at Home

Well, 2009 is just hours away. Another year ends. Another begins.

As I have gotten older, and perhaps wiser, I've stopped making resolutions. I've come to see that January 1st is just like December 31st. There's no magic reset button that suddenly makes me have infinite willpower to conquer my bad habits. That would be really nice, but it's just not realistic.

However, there are some habits I would like to work on, regardless of the time of year. I've been thinking that maybe the best way to work towards a healthier, happier life is to make small, gradual changes. As opposed to the big sweeping changes all at once that I usually try to pull off and give up on after just a few short days.

So here then are what I want to work on for the first half of 2009. I'll think about the second half of the year later!! Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

January: Not eating at night. I'd like to make it a goal not to eat after 7:30, but for sure not after dinner if we eat late for some reason. The nights of sitting up alone consuming a bag of chips have to end.

February: Exercising 5 days a week. Currently, Hubby and I meet at the gym 3 times a week. I would like to get in the habit of adding in two more days of exercising here at home. We are not planning on renewing our membership (for financial and other reasons), so I need to get into the habit of exercising at home anyways. I've got a treadmill, exercise ball, free weights, exercise bands and countless workout DVD's. I've got no excuse!

March: Get enough sleep. Normally I get 5-6 hours of sleep at night. That's usually due to staying up late (see January!) to watch silly tv or surf the internet. I want to make it a habit to bed in bed by 11:00.

April: Drinking more water. Many days I allow myself to become dehydrated by not drinking much of anything. Most days I drink 1 to 2 sodas. I do drink water - just not enough of it. And I know that drinking those sodas is just drinking empty calories. But it's like an addiction, I swear!

May: Upping my fruit and veggie intake. I love, love, love veggies! I love salad, broccoli, green beans, even brussels sprouts! But often I don't take the time to prepare them for myself. It's easier to do some that you just grab from the cupboard. Fruit? Well, I'm not such a big fan of that, to be honest. I like it - just not enough to choose it over something I like more. I'd like to change that and make healthier choices in my eating habits.

June: Actually take all those supplements I have in my house. Calcium, B vitamins, Vitamin E - you name it, I've got it. But I never take them. I'd like to take them just to get rid of the bottles!! LOL!! No, I've read so much about how important supplements are, but somehow I just never think about it.

So that's my plan. Small baby steps. A little at a time, instead of overwhelming myself with change. Perhaps I won't lose a ton of weight in just a few weeks, but slow and steady wins the race, they say.

If you have any ideas for the second half of the year, bring 'em on!