I know I’m a little (fashionably) late to the party, but I want to talk about New Year’s Resolutions. I normally don’t make them, not because I’m one of those annoying people who claim to make smaller attainable goals all throughout the year. I hate and admire those people with equal ferocity. But because I normally have trouble thinking of things that seem appropriate.
In general, I am a fan of large sweeping declarations, but New Year’s seems to call for slightly more manageable resolutions than just “I want to get in crazy good, Victoria’s Secret model, shape”. There are a few smaller things I have been meaning to work on lately so I figured I would buck my no resolution trend and give it a shot this year. Here they are in all their glory:
- Improve my posture. I recently realized that I not only have the rounded shoulders of most desk jockeys, but I am starting to hunch a little bit. Since no one wants to look like Quasimodo, I think steps need to be taken to correct this asap. I’ve done a little research and think it might be caused, or at least exacerbated, by the strength of my upper abs compared to weaker back muscles, my relatively large boobs, sitting at my computer, and genes (my grandma has developed a definite hunch as the years have gone by). I am working to fix it by trying to stretch our my chest and upper ab muscles more and focusing more on total core and back exercises rather than ab exercises, and just trying to be more cognizant of it overall.
- Improve my flexibility. I have always been the least flexible person in any group. I can barely touch my toes and you really don’t want to see me attempt a wide angle seated forward bend. It is not pretty. I am going to make sure I keep incorporating yoga and stretching into my weekly routine. I might even invest in a new yoga dvd (I’m too embarrassed to go to a class).
- Learn to make more meatless meals. More specifically meatless meals that are not based around pasta, cheese, and eggs. It would be a bonus if I could find some that the Hubs might eat.
- Increase my mileage on my runs. I’ve been stuck in the 1 ½ to 2 mile rut for a little while now. Partly, because the park near my house has a great running trail that is 1 ½ or 2 miles with an extra little loop. It seems like a lot to start the whole trail over again and I’ve been too lazy to come up with a new trail. Also, I think mentally I’ve gotten comfortable with those distances, for some reason anything more than 3 miles sounds like a lot. (Yes, I am not a marathoner)
- Work off the approximately 5 pounds I put on over the holidays. All that eating was totally worth it, but now it’s time to get back to reality and kick up the exercising and kick down the sweets and carbs.
Hopefully these things are small enough that I will be able to a) remember them and b) stick with them. We shall see.
the crazy little things 