Making the Cut: A Lifetime Resolution

The first of the year just passed us by and most of us have made resolutions. Or goals. It's all the same thing really, so call it what you will. There are things I want to accomplish each years. Some simple. Some not so simple. But all things that I can easily measure, as to make sure that I know without a doubt that I accomplished that goal. So when I was making up my list of things for 2014, I was really thinking about what I wanted to do this year. I easily wrote down several different things. But the one thing that wasn't on my list was anything about exercise or weight loss.

And here's why...

I'm not at the weight I want to be at. I would love to be at my pre-pregnancy weight, which I was at right after Addie was born then I proceeded to gain weight over the course of this last year, mostly from July to December - yuck, I don't want to think about it! This year isn't about that. If that's the only reason I want to exercise and eat healthy then I might as well quit before I start because I know that I won't be accomplishing my goals. The first sign of weight increase - which could very easily be from muscle gain (muscle weighs more than fat) - then I'll probably get discouraged and give up.

So I decided to put no exercise or weight loss goals on my 2014 list. I decided to put it on my lifetime list. But instead of saying that I want to be such-and-such weight and the oh-so-vague "eat healthy." I decided that I wanted to be healthy. I want to do what I can to get myself feeling good. I want to find healthy foods (for all of us). I want to be mindful of what I'm eating and how much I'm eating. I want to exercise - be it by doing Jillian Michaels everyday and walking when I can or finding something else that I love. I want to do what I can to be in the best shape and feel the best I can.

Don't I deserve that? Don't I deserve to be kind to my body and treat it as best as I can? So why shouldn't I start healthy habits now? I'm not saying I'm going to cut out our every other Friday ordering pizza from Papa John's nights. I'm not going to cut out candy of all kinds. I'm not going to only eat organic and never allow myself to enjoy the things that I do love. But it's all about moderation. You shouldn't denying yourself anything because then in most cases you end up having a taste and then you can't get enough and before you know it you have eaten way more than you intended in the first place. So it's not about denying myself those things, but limiting them. Save them for special occasions.

I'm not going to become a slave to working out. I'm not going to say that I have to do it every day or else I have to make it up on the weekends. I feel too much pressure doing it that way. Weekends are reserved for spending time with my hubs and kid. They are reserved for laying in bed together, laughing with a certain little girl who's laugh is one of the best sounds in the world. They aren't for getting up early and forcing myself to do something that I don't really want to do. I'll get my exercise - I'll go for a walk with my family. We'll do the Wii together. We'll go to the park. But for those weekends that we decide to cuddle up on the couch and watch movies all day then that's okay too.

I'm not going to fret over weight loss or gain. If I set myself on the path of my life healthier then the weight loss will happen. Stressing about it sure isn't going to help. I'm not going to become a slave to the scale. Because it isn't about that. My husband loves me no matter what. My kid loves me always. So I should give them the very best me. I want to be healthy for me. But even more so for them. I don't want to have heart disease or high blood pressure or diabetes. I have so many things working against me already in my health history that sometimes it feels like an uphill battle, but if I do everything in my power to be healthy then hopefully I will live to see even my great-great grandchild (it could happen - my great grandma is still alive). I want to be able to run and play with Addison as she grows up and I want to be able to do the same with my grandkids some day.

So that means more than a temporary weight loss goal. That means a lifetime goal of being healthy. Of eating the right things, but not denying myself things that I do love. Of working out, but not becoming obsessed with it to the point of stressing about it.

So what I'm doing here and now is more than just a yearly goal. This is a lifetime resolution. This is taking charge of my life and doing my best to feel the best I can always. This is taking charge of my health, exercise, and eating in order to live a better life, a happier life, a fuller life.