Hopping on the Resolution Train

(Picture taken last week as a hint to the title of the next Cerulean Jade song)

Last month I declared that I didn't need New Year Resolutions . . . well, that didn't last.  It's all that Holiday Guilt.  I'm not exempt.  Surviving that span between Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years somewhat unscathed is hard.  What's even more tragic is that yesterday I went to Walmart to get New Years Eve stuff, and Valentines was already lining the shelves!  There's no break in the commercialization of Holidays!  At least Groundhog Day hasn't been commercialized.

So, yes, I'm hopping on the whole "Let's Get Healthy" train.  But, unlike past years, I'm changing my attitude towards it.  One of my facebook friends found the 8 Week Weight Loss Challenge on the Six Sisters' Stuff blog.  It's quite brilliant, really.  There's a downloadable chart that's really well put together.  And though there's a weight loss aspect to it, the whole program is all about common sense healthy living, and for each common sense thing you do, you earn points.  I love earning points.  It's even more fun if you do the plan with someone, and you can compare how many points you're earning.

In a couple weeks all those "how to succeed on your resolution" articles will turn into "why resolutions always fail."  I see it every year, and it's not so encouraging for those of us still trying.  Sure, I'm going to mess up here and there.  I may not get all my vegetables in, or drink all 64 oz of water, and then there's chocolate, but if I mess up, do I quit?  I think the problem with resolutions is that sometimes they're too strict.  No carbohydrates!  Exercise six days a week!  Mess up once and it's all over.  That's why I like this 8-week plan; it allows for messups, knowing that you're going to keep at it regardless.  Not all categories are going to be kept perfect, but that's okay.  It's a life style change; losing weight is a happy consequence.

This year I'm making an attitude change, and below is going to be my daily motto, which I will read each night before going to bed.  I've shared this quote before, but it's so fantastic, and worth reading a million times over, that I'm sharing it again:   

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

  

Happy New Years!  And may you be successful in all your plans:0)