The Opposite of a New Year's Resolution

I was poised to start 2013 off right. I really had all the best intentions. I worked from home the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve, and worked out diligently. I even ran on Christmas morning! Then, life got in the way. And I can now only look back on how well I did during the month of December, minus all the eating of course, because I haven't done much since! An exhausting week-long business trip to CES in Las Vegas, which included late eating and excessive drinking did not leave much room for fitness. No one forced me to drink cocktails and eat fabulous meals, but I have to admit I enjoy that part! Unfortunately, it was those late nights and several cocktails that interfered with my ability to go to bed early or wake up early to fit in a work out. As they say, "Shit happens."

Cocktails at Fleur

 I tried to get some relaxation time at the cleverly-named spa, TheBathhouse,  at my hotel, cleverly called "TheHotel."  The massage was lovely! But 50 minutes was not enough to recuperate from my week in Las Vegas. Spending time relaxing by the hot pool area and in the steam room did help sooth my throat and voice, until I went into the casino again 2 hours later! Bah!

Nothing more relaxing than the sound of water

Since I've returned from Sin City, where smokey air got the best of me and took away my voice - which I really use every chance I get - I've been saddled with work, laundry, getting back into the groove with the kids, and the excuses continue. Further, we are experiencing record low temps in CA (boo hoo for us, I know) and my early morning runs have not been happening! Girlfriend does not do below 30*. And just a few weeks ago I was striving for bad-ass status. Not now. Brrr. I have been eating well since I've been back - all 2 days so far. But its something!

Ahi Tuna Steak at Mesa Grill

I cannot dwell on what could have been, I can only look forward. Today, I am planning to do yoga in the morning to ease back into it. Thursday morning, I plan to brave the chill and meet up with Scrappy Mama to run at 5:30 a.m. Friday I will run on the dreadmill before work. Saturday bootcamp and Sunday, Dailey Method. These are my best intentions. If one or more of these do not happen I will not beat myself up. Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed, afterall.

Hail Mary (Bloody Mary) at Sporting House

 Fit and Fabulous with the Best Inentions in 2013!

Hello 2012!

I could not be more excited to get up and brush myself off after being so sick these last couple of weeks. I still hack occasionally but my energy is back and I'm operating at 98%. I am back at work (BOO) and my kids still have this week off. They are going to a little sleepover at their grandparents tonight and mama is getting a massage! The Christmas decor is packed away, and I am looking forward to a quiet night reading The Hunger Games and watching some TV and drinking tea. I plan to wake up tomorrow totally healthy, and kick 2012 into gear.

Don't worry party people, I did manage to enjoy myself on New Year's Eve despite still being in recovery mode. Our good friends came over with their kids and a babysitter. We drank, we nibbled, we laughed. And then we left our children at home with the sitter and went to a great dinner at a restaurant here locally that we love called Odeum to ring in the New Year. This is the first time in our 7 New Year's Eves that my husband and I have gone OUT. We always do something, head out of town or host friends at our home. We usually avoid going out because everything is over-priced, over-crowded, and service is terrible. However, this year, we had faith that our small town restaurant would not be any of the above. We were not disappointed and had a great time. We returned to our house and sleeping children to continue the festivities and this year I made it to 2:30 a.m. Our friends spent the night and we had champagne and watched the 49er's win the next day. Later, we spent the afternoon/evening with my family for more eating and football. It was a great day.

I am not a huge "resolution" gal but I don't think its ever bad to have a goal at any time of the year. Right now I am focusing on de-sugaring my body. Please note I did not say detoxify...only because I am not giving up coffee and will still have the occasional glass of wine. I just indulged in way too many desserts over the holidays and have been having way too many carbs in general. My plan is to try to prepare healthy lunches that are less bread and meat centric and to keep my snacks small and healthy. I am stocking up on almonds, greek yogurt, and bringing big salads to work. I usually focus on eating healthy, but I don't typically pay much attention to calories and need to be better about portions. I am going to start off hardcore and taper off after a couple weeks, as I know once I start running again I will need more fuel than this:

Breakfast: Soft boiled egg and coffee
Snack: A cutie
Lunch: Mixed greens salad w/chopped cucumber, tomatoes, 1/2 packet of tuna w/ 1tablespoon sunflower seeds, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Afternoon snack: An apple and green tea
Dinner: TBD

Heaping Mound of Healthy Salad

One for My Mid-morning Snack

I really want to try to shrink my stomach and lessen my appetite. When I start to feel hungry, I will stop and drink a glass of water first. I am curious to see how starving I am going to be when I get out of my massage after eating a majorly reduced amount of food like this today. I will make sure to have some almonds beforeI go in so my stomach growling doesn't freak out my masseuse.

If I am up to it I may do a walk on my treadmill tonight, which sounds crazy after a massage but I need to take advantage of the fact my kids will be at my parents. I plan to try my new Skinnygirl Workout that I got in my Christmas stocking tomorrow morning. I am DYING to run, but I need to get rid of this chest congestion for good...I don't want to prolong it by hitting the pavement to early.

Did you indulge during the holidays? Have you stopped your holiday eating or are you having trouble putting the brakes on? 

The Resolution Solution

So we are almost a month into 2011. I never make New Year's resolutions as I vow to work on certain things throughout the year, and this year was no exception. However, I don't see any harm in sharing some of these things with others. Sharing things in this blog that I have chosen to focus on - balancing working out, healthy eating, saving money, family and work - has actually helped me achieve this balance. I am fairly certain that I will achieve a better success rate at staying on top of things I tend to be less organized with all year long by sharing them with you.

The first is so easy. I have several dear friends whose birthdays I would like to recognize every year with a card. The sad thing is, each year, the way I recognize it varies. Sometimes if I'm on the ball, I buy a card in advance and mail it to them. Other years when I am not organized or have a lot going on, they get an email. Sometimes its a phone call, and sometimes its a late email or phone call. Just writing that already makes me feel lousy. Honestly, not every one of these friends calls me, emails me or sends me a card on my birthday. Some of them do. And I like it. I would like to makes someone's day that way. So, I want to purchase cards to have cards on hand so that each month I can send cards out to my friends who have birthdays that month.

Secondly, I would like to organize the maintenance of my house the way I have organized my workout schedule. Having certain things scheduled on certain days works for me. I live in a good sized 5 bedroom 3 bath home. It is a given that I must do some laundry every day in order to prevent me from backlog. It is a given that I must go to work every day, come home, feed my kids, bathe them and put them to bed. It is also a given that I must clean the kitchen every evening after dinner. So, if I can just add 1 cleaning task to my evening it will prevent my weekends from being a clean-fest. I will have to make a list or chart of some sort. This is going to be challenging as I already feel I lack personal time, but I am not striving for perfection. If I can just make it work some of the time I think  I will be happy!


Third, I want to try to get my kids to bed 30 minutes earlier. My 2 year old Buddha naps at least 2-3 hours during the day, and at night he sleeps about 10 hours. My 4 year old Monkey gets about 10 hours at night also, but is very hyper and is just worn out by the end of the day, since he no longer naps. I put him to bed right after the Buddha goes down, but after a little evening chit chat, a book and prayers it ends up being about 30 minutes later. Sometimes in the morning its hard for me to wake him for school and I wonder if he'd be less moody if he got more sleep. In any case, I wouldn't think more sleep would be harmful.

Third, I want to yell less. Enough said. 

So that is my plan for now, I hope for some level of success! How are you doing on your resolutions? Hope your year is off to a good start.