Resolving & Further Evolving

I was thinking about New Years Resolutions and about how passive that sounds. By contrast, resolving to do something sounds active and somehow more powerful. Therefore, I decided to resolve this New Year, rather than make resolutions.

I further noted the relationship between resolve and evolve. Resolve gives the impression of happening just once. Whereas, evolve communicates an ongoing process. To me, life is more like the latter. You go along, trying new things, keeping what works and what makes you happy. Sometimes there's that eureka moment, but mostly, it's a series of baby steps.


A couple months back I presented my health report card, along with some goals for improvement. Here's a review of my core principles for healthy living, with my scores then & now, and any related goals & notes:

Consume a Plant-Based Diet
Grade then - B; Grade now - A-

• GOAL: Increase meatless dinners to 3 weekly; Limit meaty lunches to 3 weekly.
• NOTES: I think I hit the 3 meatless dinners most weeks, if I give myself fish as meatless (which I decided to do shortly after the original post). I would like to see fewer of the meatless dinner involve pasta. I definitely limited my meaty lunches. Most weeks, having only 1 or 2. If I did go over, it was because I needed to clean up leftovers!

Choose Lean Meats & Low-fat Dairy
Grade then & now - A

Make at Least Half Your Grains Whole
Grade then - A-; Grade now - A

• GOAL: Use a non-rice, non-wheat whole grain once weekly.
• NOTES: Done. I am surprised in retrospect how modest a goal I set here. I am also unclear why I didn't allow for rice. I was not using much brown rice at the time & have certainly increased that. I've also served barley & bulgar a few times each. I've continued to lean heavily on whole wheat varieties, but I know I have expanded my variety!

Limit Discretionary Calories
Grade then & now - D

• NOTES: Thank goodness I didn't set a goal here. The holidays after all! I will say that I consumed less in the way of sweets & potent potables this year than in years past. I think we chalk this up to mommyhood!

Move More
Grade then & now - B-

• GOAL: Increase rower/stretch/tone workouts to 3 weekly.
• NOTES: The holidays, a minor illness & some time out-of-town were brutal on this goal the past month. I did okay the first month. The past few weeks, I've shifted my strategy to walking the dog instead, though I'd still like to use that rower more!

Write Down SMART Goals

Grade then - C; Grade now - B

• GOAL: Reassess in 2 months ... just in time for New Years Resolutions!

... and NOW ... for the resolving & further evolving!

• Plants -
• Continue to consume no more than 3 meaty lunches. Serve 3 meatless dinners per week, only 1 of which is pasta or pizza based!
• Choose organic off the "dirty dozen" produce list.
• Grains - 
• Continue to experiment with different grains, serve a non-traditional one at least 2 times monthly.
• Limit refined grains served in the home to 1 weekly. (We all have plenty outside the home, after all!)
• Moving - 
• Walk the dog briefly every night after toddler bedtime, unless truly extenuating circumstances.
• 3 times weekly, do additional activity after walking - rowing, lifting or stretching.
• SMART - 
• Reassess in June - why not for 6 months? --- because that's when I finish my masters! I'll be pleased if I can accomplish the goals. I highly doubt I'll have time to write about them while we're working on them!

I also resolve to make a few changes unrelated to my physical health. I resolve to address those in my next post - to be titled "Redirecting" ...

Till then, happy tween week! :)

A Time for Joy ... and for Finding it in Smaller Stuff

'Tis the season ... and that jazz.

This time of year is full of wonderful "stand-out" moments. Special events, parties, Santa photos, decking the halls, making/decorating/consuming cookies ... making memories & starting/continuing traditions.

But don't forget the joy in the smaller stuff too. Give yourself time to find it.

This afternoon, my mom brought over sugar cookies she'd baked. She'd made her special icing and brought along sprinkles. When I was young, we used to make literally hundreds of sugar cookie cut-outs. One year we topped over 1000. Her cookies are world-famous. We've recently discovered it's all about the icing & started using the store-bought dough. Anyway, we passed the tradition down to the next generation today. My daughter had a blast, and we all delighted in watching her. (Each time we weren't watching she managed to sneak another extra cookie!)

This evening, we drove to a nearby touristy town with a great lights display. We stopped for dinner at a favorite brew-pub, then strolled around the square. (Stroll = take turns chasing a 20 month old)

These were both completely awesome times. Wonderful wonderful memories. What I think made them enjoyable was that none of us had had too much.

Earlier in the day, we did nothing. We stayed in our jammies till just before my parents got to our house. The height of excitement was playing with the dog. And guess what -- that time was awesome too. Wonderful wonderful memories. Apparently, my kiddo's butterfly PJ bottoms are also bossy pants. She arranged her Daddy & me just so, "sit sit" and tried to tell the dog just want to do too, but he has yet to accept her as Alpha. The dog is just a funny funny oaf. It is seriously too easy to fool him as to the whereabouts of his toys - good thing we never call on him for the purpose for which he was bred - you know, retrieving game.

We had plans on the horizon, excitement to anticipate, but no reason to rush all morning. Now that's a gift worth giving your family & yourself!

Do you ever feel like you're at a sprint from Thanksgiving to New Years? What ways have you found to slow down?

Food & Love, part 1 of 2 (Holidays & Special Occasions)

How do you celebrate holidays & special occasions? How do you express affection or concern. Food, food and food. Am I right? If so, you're by no means alone. I don't have stats to back me up, but I think it's safe to say that American culture is rich with food.

Look at today. Certainly, there are the fireworks. But there's also the food. Hot dogs, hamburgers or BBQ, anyone? Then there's that inevitable sheet cake or giant cookie done up with strawberries & blueberries to look like the flag. There's the bevy of side dishes, from baked beans to potato salad. And so on.

What's a health-conscious patriot to do? I noticed today that a small group can be very helpful in this regard. My husband & daughter & I got together with my parents. After a beach outing, we snacked on watermelon. (And during baby's nap, some peanuts & beer). The main meal was pulled pork sandwiches (with my Magic BBQ sauce), vinegar & oil cole slaw, baked beans & corn on the cob. Dessert was Dutch apple pie a la mode. By no means, a health resort meal. BUT - there weren't 5 other side dishes and 3 other desserts, or 3 different chip'n'dip appetizers.

Have you noticed how people like to contribute? This is nice, social, etc. But, I contend, it contributes to overeating on holidays and special occasions. For some reason, everyone brings enough of their "world-famous [blank]" to feed double the party. And, I at least, feel compelled to try a little of each. Of course, they worked hard on it! Yet, even if I just take a dab of this & a dollop of that, I end up feeling much more full than after a regular meal.

Today, I felt just fine. Granted, the meal was a little larger than usual, but not exponentially so. It was more the content, context & activities that made the day special.

Well, how are you going to make use of this observation? You can't exactly get rid of your extended family! I only accidentally lost mine after finding a job & husband 1400 miles from home! I miss them terribly, and I'm thrilled my parents brought a little more Nebraska down to Florida.

What my mom & I did that you could use, even if you have a large family, is plan. We talked about what we would each make. Since it was her house, she did the main dish & chose a couple sides. I plugged in with one additional side & dessert. 

In my experience, the host of a large family gathering makes enough to feed everyone attending, but then they all bring even more food! So ... if you're the host, consider sending some emails or  making some calls to set up who will make what, ensuring that there won't be such an excess of food. If you aren't the host but feel comfortable talking to him or her, do so!

At this point, most of have certain health goals, and a little support goes a long way. You might be surprised to see your family get behind the idea!

Part 2 of 2 (Food as Love) coming soon!