I'm not one for making New Year's Resolutions because I know I'll never be able to live up to them, but there are a couple of things that have been weighing heavy on my mind, and I'd like to make some improvements. So I decided to give the resolution thing a try this year. And I'm told that if I write down my goals, I'll have a better chance of keeping them so here goes:
1. Mindful Eating - In general, I eat way too much and most of what I eat isn't very healthy. Orthodox Jews have a "rule" they follow that involves saying a blessing before they eat anything. Every type of food has it's own blessing so it's not as easy as just saying one general blessing for all kinds of food. You have to really be mindful of what you're eating and select the appropriate blessing. Now I'm not going as far as memorizing and saying these blessings but I am going to strive to be more aware of the food I eat. Is that chocolate bar really worth the calories or could I get by with carrots instead? I've been practicing this mindful eating for a few weeks now and while I've had good days and bad days (yesterday was a bad day), I have noticed a difference in my weight. I'm liking it.
2. Mindful Spending - I general, I spend way too much money and the things I buy aren't much healthier than the food I eat. In fact, I can blow through a bunch of money in no time and not even recall what I spent it on. I hate this about myself and want to change it. So as with the awareness about what I'm eating, I'm also applying this rule to what I buy. I was in Marshall's a few days ago and had a cart full of stuff. Before I went to check-out, I took a serious look at everything in my cart and decided I didn't really need any of it. So it all went back to the shelves. I left the store feeling great instead of guilty about spending too much money on stuff I didn't need. And I never pined for the items afterwards. As with the eating, I have good days and bad ones. Today was kind of a bad day that I don't want to discuss but hopefully tomorrow will be better and my bank account will start to see the difference just like my weight.
How about you? What New Year's Resolutions have you made? Are you sticking with them? Any advice for me?
Happy 2012!
4 comments:
I don't do resolutions, they depress me, but I like your "mindfulness" approach. Rather than chastising myself for doing "bad" things, how about praising myself for being mindful.
I like the concept
You can do this! The helpful thing for Mindful Eating is to make a list and post it on your fridge of healthy snacks you have. You could also post everything you have in your fridge and this will help you keep track of what you have for meals and allow you to make a grocery list quickly.
For Mindful Shopping it sounds easy for me to say...Don't go shopping. That time you are using shopping what else could you be doing with it? Maybe you could be sitting at the park reading a book enjoying the quiet. Or you could take Zoë (is that spelled right?) to the zoo or something that is having a free day? Museums and zoos tend to have those you just need to check online. Along with that you could make a full list of everything near you with the days that are free or discounted and keep it on the fridge and a copy in the car along with the hours/phone numbers. If you think about going shopping check your list...what else could you do. Oh and add the library on there. It's always fun to have new books to read that are free. :)
Haven't left a message in a while bc I moved...and it's been crazy. Glad to see you had written a new post!
mel
Hi Mel, thanks so much for your comment. Lots of great ideas : )
Mim that's exactly what I'm trying to do. If I have good days, I praise myself and if I have bad day, I say, "tomorrow's a new day"
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