New Year's Resolutions 2014

Are you one of those people that tries to make a New Year's Resolution every year too? Do most of your resolutions fail too? I found a great article Against New Year's Resolutions, and I am trying to follow that guidance this year. If you're too lazy to read the article, it basically says to put in place methods that are achievable each week, not big, scary goals.

Most years, I make resolutions half-heartedly, knowing that I have the ability to change at any time and I need not wait for January 1st to do so. With that in mind, the beginning of 2014 is a big one for us. This is going to be our year! So I made some resolutions put in place some methods in hopes of contributing to the making of that year. Here are just a few:

1) Run consistently throughout the week, in order to be able to complete in another distance race (marathon? triathlon? zombie run?)

Another half-ironman maybe?

2) Choose activities nightly that fulfill me and relax me, not just allow me to zone out - I am being realistic here, as I know that Tuesday/Thursday I work until about 11pm, and Monday until 8:30 and after that I really have no energy. Otherwise, I've tried to set out a realistic schedule that allows me to do things I love - guitar, drawing, writing, speaking to friends back home etc. to help me relax instead of Pinterest wasting time on useless things.

Summer 2009 before I left Switzerland - My friend Kai here is acting as my capo :)

3) Focus on the positive, especially at work. This is something I need to employ everyday. Instead of focusing on how overwhelmed, overworked, underpaid I am, I will look to all the positive points. My wonderful colleagues, my sweet children, the (meager) amount of money, the great experience I am getting. I enjoy the company of the people around me, and that is rare, I know. I have some of the most intelligent, funny, interesting students who give me their best everyday. The money I make will be paying for our trip, our house, our future.

Paul and I in front of our new house together!

Our current itinerary - subject to change based on prices!

4) Make healthy choices when eating. This is an everyday, every hour choice, which I didn't realize was so hard until I started actually trying. My mentality has always been that I am an athlete, I'm not really overweight, so I can eat whatever I want in moderation. Unfortunately, this philosophy has meant I have gained a staggering 10 kilos since being married (3.5 years). I know some of it is muscle from my tri - I have never had a muscular back or arms, which I got from the tri. But I can't explain all of it away, and there's no time like the present to start to eat healthier. This doesn't mean starving or killing myself, just seeing how I can choose better food that gives me good, natural energy.

Working in a school, we are offered sugary sweets, muffins, cupcakes on a near daily basis. It's someone's birthday, or thank you, or welcome back, or enjoy your vacation present. Since returning to school. I've had to decline something everyday. It gets easier every time, especially with my strategies in place. I have decided to use an app to help me (also a website) called MyFitnessPal. I love it because you can track the amount of water you drink, and if you input the foods correctly, you can see your nutritional intake everyday. It's easy, because it allows you to scan barcodes, filling everything in for you. I have already realized many things wrong with my daily eating - not enough vitamins, not enough fiber, not enough iron, not enough calcium. There are also many good things - I am under my daily max of sugar, sodium and fat. I'm using this information to make better choices each day. Hopefully by the summer, I'll be back to my healthy, pre-married state.

5) Make the most of my last 6 months in Switzerland. Go racketing, see the cows go up the mountain, take one last train journey, visit the Italian section, snowboard often, go to the Caves Ouverts, see my friends, and anything else any of my Swiss based friends can think of. Live a little outside of all the stressful fulfilling work (being positive!).

 

I think those goals are ambitious enough to keep me busy for the rest of year. I might have to reevaluate before we leave for our trip, as some of these won't apply. Now it's time to get off my bottom and start cleaning and cooking something healthy. What are your resolutions? How can you make them into methods? Is 2014 going to be your BEST YEAR EVER too?