My entire life, I have listened to people make New Year's Resolutions. I remember in grade school, we had to make them as part of some silly writing exercise. Mine were typically something like being nicer to my brother, work harder at school, be a better person, etc. Once those ridiculous elementary years were over, I didn't have to pretend anymore. Of course, in high school, all the girls would talk about how the new year meant they had to start watching their weight. That got tiresome even faster than the writing.
I have no problems with the idea of resolutions. It shouldn't take the start of a new year to make them, that's all. There is so much emphasis on January being the "best" time to start making positive changes. Look at the number of commercials for gyms that start immediately after Christmas. How many of those gyms are bursting at capacity in January only to be empty by mid-February? I don't think it's because people don't want positive changes in their lives. I think it's because they emphasize that they can only make changes in January and once January is over and they don't see immediate change, they quit.
I made a resolution last year that I was going to have my surgery. I went to all the classes and all the pre-operative doctor appointments. I went to the support group. I accepted that the positive change in my life was going to take time and a whole hell of a lot of effort. This was NOT going to be easy. I had my operation in October. Almost three months post-op and I am still working hard. I am not where I want to be, but I am making the effort to get there. A change of life does not happen at the turn of a calendar page. It happens when we are mentally ready to commit.
I have been working out regularly in the gym in the basement of my work building. I go Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I go specifically those days and not three days per week. I've gone from 10 minutes to 25 minutes of treadmill and stationary bike. I am now at 15th speed on the bike. I cannot extend my time any more, because my work is a bunch of clockwatchers. I can, as I have, increase the resistance on the machines I am on. I had a co-worker ask me to go downstairs with her on Tuesday. I said that I couldn't because I only go down M, W, and F. She asked me why, and I told her the truth. If I don't go those specific days, then the week will get away from me and I just won't bother. She thought it was great that I was dedicated to going down those days and following through on those days.
Life at home is up and down. My son is still home for his winter break. He'll be going back to school in two days. He still seems to expect to have pizza, chips, soda, and other crap in the house. He doesn't really get how things have changed with food. He likes the stuff I've been cooking and has helped himself to generous portions. I don't think that he gets that this food I've been cooking is now the norm in the house. The girls have adapted to life with the protein high foods. I just get easily frustrated with everything because I am not chock full of sugar and caffeine to keep things moving. Everyone is old enough now to be a help. Still, if I am not running the show, everything goes in the crapper. It's very frustrating and I don't see any way to fix it.
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