The nice folks at the The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston sent me this awesome infographic to share with you guys last month and with all of the crazy that had happened around here at that time, I dropped the ball and never posted this.
I realize Thanksgiving is all but a memory, but this still serves as an awesome, fun guide if you’re wondering how to get through the holidays a little healthier. And, really, it’s a great tool to use year-round when you want to indulge and need a visual as to how much is just enough.
As for me, I spend this week leading up to Christmas in full on indulgence mode. I have yet to have cookies for breakfast, but they have made up the bulk of my snacks. I used to spend a whole lot of time feeling guilty, and almost began to this week, until I just rolled my eyes at myself and got over it.
I think one my favorite holiday traditions is the permission I give myself to enjoy swipes of candy, chips and drinks. This season I’ve felt the effects more than usual — as I mentioned before, thanks to the effects of not being able to work out – but it is what it is.
Next week is my absolute favorite week of the year – The Week of New Beginnings Prep!
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I don’t have a lick of patience for folks who poo-pooh the New Year’s Resolutions routine. I don’t think there is anything more exciting and life-affirming than the promises we make to ourselves to try and make our lives better.
To me, it’s not really the trying that’s hard. Rather it’s the trusting in ourselves, trusting that we’re capable of success, and then trusting that we can be at peace with ourselves (and our choices) when we don’t succeed.
I’ve never been 100% successful at my resolutions, but along the way it seems to add up and even out. Through all of the books, articles, classes, tools, gimmicks, I’ve learned things through my resolution promises that have contributed in small ways to the following:
1) Quitting smoking. I don’t even have a social smoke anymore.
2) Weight loss. I cannot remember the last year I went into with this being a goal because either I was pregnant or had already lost weight or was maintaining a weight loss.
3) Financial management. I don’t have nearly enough money saved for our family as I’d like, and we have more on credit cards currently than I am comfortable with, but I know exactly how and when we’ll save up for how much will make happy and when the cards will be paid off.
So, these exercises aren’t a total wash in my book. Plus, I just love the look and feel of a clean slate.
Next week I’m doing a whole host of organizing and cleaning around the house. I’ve downloaded Tsh Oxenreider’s One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, and I’ve got a whole host of things I’m considering tackling in the New Year. Predictably, they center mainly on The Three Pillars, but I have to be careful they don’t tread too far out of that arena. I’ll share them here soon, and hopefully be decent about a running tally.
One of them may be giving up being online after 8 p.m. at night on the weekdays. I get shaky thinking about it. We’ll see…
