Sticking to those New Year’s resolutions
By Karyn Bowman
How many times in the past week have you heard anyone besides media people say new year’s resolutions are blown within the first week of the year?
New habits are hard to make. I have heard studies say it takes about three weeks to make a new habit stick. But when the payoff is a smaller dress size or better blood sugar numbers, the hard work is worth it. And lets not kid ourselves, to make these changes does take effort on our parts.
Usually this time of year I pull out Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. While Breathnach has gone on to bigger and better things, I still find guidance in her book to find a more authentic self. I like her push to do a gratitude journal or to have a gift drawer for yourself for those days you need a little comfort.
It is books that Simple Abundance and The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron that helps a person discover what they love. And it makes you think about how you want to make that dream come true.
Being a more authentic artist is only one goal on my list. The other is to lose weight. I am one of those people for whom breast feeding did not work as the incredible weight reducer after pregnancy. I would be so hungry not matter how much I drank that I would continue to eat for two. In the last two years, I have taken some of the weight off. so much so that I have taken clothes to the consignment shop because they were too big for me. But I want to go further to make a goal that is realistic for my height and body shape.
I noticed in my various e-newsletters that Dr. Jon, a veterinarian, encourages his readers to take their pooch for a longer walk than usual. His reasoning is that it has been shown that people lose weight better when they exercise with a buddy. And there is no better buddy than the one with the big eyes begging you for a walk. Of course, you might want to give the pooch a check up to make sure he can handle to extra exercise.
I did that one day last week. Storm is on orders from the vet to lose weight. So Storm and I did a walk around the block. He loved it. I was thinking about getting warm again but at least I did get my exercise in. Once the weather gets really cold, Storm gets a little short changed but I know sooner or later he and I will find our way into a regular routine of an afternoon walk.
Have you kept up with your New Year’s resolution? And has it made a difference yet?
Karyn Bowman is also known as Mom Goes to the Movies and wrote for The Daily Journal as their movie reviewer for over seven years. She lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook.
