Wednesday, January 16, 2013

New Year, New Resolutions

Like many I started out my year with a couple of New Year’s resolutions. My goals for 2013: 1. Be on time 2. Eat healthier 3. Exercise. 

Two weeks into January and I will admit that I’m off to a rocky start.  I am doing better with arriving on time. Just recently I attended a wedding with my husband and two children. We made it into the church just seconds before the processional began down the aisle. Okay so we were later than I planned. At least we were seated before the bride walked down the aisle.

Most days I eat fairly healthy. I find it’s easier to do when I’m a work. I pack my breakfast and lunch so I don’t give myself the temptation of having to choose healthy in our cafeteria.  I also drink a lot of water. Not only does drinking about 75 ounces of water each day help to keep me full, it also makes me feel better. I use BPA free water bottles with straws and I find it’s very easy to drink this much water daily. My food struggle usually occurs at dinner time and on weekends when I’m dining with my family.  It’s so tempting to cave in and eat prepared meals or fast food when you’re tired from working all day. My husband and I work together on Sunday to plan our meals for the week. We look for high protein, low carb, and always try to add a vegetable in. Don’t get me wrong, my family eats pasta and pizza too but when we do, we have whole grain pasta and thin crust pizza. My goal is to make the majority of my eating sensible and healthy but I find that it does me no good to completely deprive myself. I sneak in a piece of dark chocolate here and there and every now and then I will have a brownie or cookie with my kids.

I haven’t done much exercise since my first child Lily was born nearly five years ago. Trying to fit exercise into my routine has been a struggle.  I already get up at 5:00AM as it is. Where is there a hole in my day after working 9 hours, fixing dinner, and bathing and putting my kids to bed? I’ve exercised twice this week and I’m really proud of myself. So far I’m squeezing this in when my children and I get home from school/work and before preparing dinner. To observe me with my five year old daughter and one year old son trying to do a workout video at home is quite the sight but at least I’m getting a little exercise and spending time with them all in one. I also do as much walking as I can while I’m at work. Rather than taking the shuttle to the building from the parking lot, most days I walk. I also try to use the stairs when I can to increase my cardio.

From experience I’ve learned that setting unrealistic New Year’s resolution is going to be a lose-lose situation for me. I’m hopeful that I’m on the right track for a timely and healthy 2013.

Mindy Seals works in the information technology division at Texas Health Resources and is balancing work, married life, raising two kids and sticking to New Year's resolutions.

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