Holiday Hiatus

My lack of posting effort on this blog, ironically, dwindled over the fall until I completely forgot about it over the holiday season because I was, of course... baking. Oh, God. I swore to myself I was only going to have nibbles of anything I made, I was seriously cutting down the pop and chips to a bare minimum, and snacking on veggies the rest of the time I got a cookie craving. Like New Year's resolutions, that didn't last beyond my first batch of holiday sweets. Taste-testing turned into seconds and thirds. Portions got suspiciously larger, no matter how small a plate I used to cram everything on. How did this happen?! If everything didn't look and smell so good, I could have breezed through Christmas without any extra pounds gleefully blinking on the scale. It doesn't help that I've been neglecting my hours at the gym, either. I went on Sunday morning this past weekend to work out with my mother. Needless to say, there was a lot of hurting on Monday....

So! Resolutions need to be made here- and not specifically the New Year's kind. I figure if I actually write them here, for the few people I'll let see, I'll be better held accountable for what I say I'm going to do as far as better habits. Since this blog relates to food, I can't see why I shouldn't broadcast here my changing attitudes to what I eat and what I do to improve (and maintain!) my health. After all, if you can't enjoy what you eat without guilt, where is the fun in food? Moderation is key, right? Right? Plus, I volunteer for a breast cancer organization, and there's always an emphasis on healthy eating as a key part of prevention of not just cancer, but all kinds of other things that negatively impact your body and your life. Yes, I love to bake. Yes I, like Hammy from Over the Hedge, "like the cookie". I enjoy food. However, I don't enjoy my eating habits, which have to change. Here's my plan to start implementing those changes:

"I like the cookie."

1. No more soda pop. Certainly no more Coke for the rum. If I drink rum, it will be no more than one or two glasses a night, and with orange juice or chocolate milk.
2. Each time we get vegetables on grocery day, I will prepare a platter to keep a veggie tray in the fridge at all times.
3. No more chips. Non-buttered, non-salted popcorn is healthy, but sweets should be saved for weekends.
4. My baking efforts will be cut down to once or twice a month. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop blogging my favourite recipes- far from it!
5. Drink more water (ugh) and start up a food diary again (double ugh).

These are just what I can think of off the top of my head. I find it's sometimes best to start with a few things, and then add more as they become automatic habits- which worked awesomely for me in 2010 when I started personal training. Unfortunately, like many good things, my newly acquired good habits fell off the wagon eventually. Maybe keeping this in my blog will get me cracking at them again. My final resolution is to work out no less than three times a week- and my mother and I are back to our near-daily 45 minute walks four to five times a week.

As I'm looking at this post window, it seems like a lot. It seemed like a lot back when I did it the first time, too. However, I know now that it's more than feasible, it's absolutely possible to achieve. And really, don't we all have to start somewhere?