I always write a post about New Year’s resolutions at the beginning of the year, but time completely got away from me last month. (I hate saying “New Year’s resolutions” because it sounds corny, but that’s basically what I do every January.) Honestly, I’m not even sure what goals I’m going to focus on this year. I like trying to learn from each year – what works, what doesn’t, why it doesn’t work, etc.
First, let’s see how I accomplished my goals last year…
1. Get my weight back to the maintenance range of 125-135.
Ha ha! I’m in the same boat this year. I actually did get back into my maintenance range and stayed around 130 pounds for a long time, up until a few months ago – I’m pretty sure I figured out how to maintain that level. But like late 2022, I gained about 15 pounds. I considered changing my maintenance range, but when I got above 130, I just didn’t feel well. I’m curious to see what this year will be like.
2. Run 500 miles (cumulative of course).
How could I forget this? ! I just read last year’s post that said this. To be honest, I don’t remember writing it. Needless to say, I didn’t reach that goal – I only ran about 78 miles. However, I did start a daily running habit and I have now been running for 126 consecutive days. I only ran one lap around my neighborhood (0.4 miles), but my goal was to make it a daily habit. Even though I didn’t hit 500 miles (not even 20%, haha), I’m pretty happy with the habits I’ve developed.
3. Complete a handicraft project every month.
I may or may not have finished it. I do a lot of craft work, and I’ve especially enjoyed sewing this year. I didn’t keep track of what I did during the year, so I’m not sure if I achieved this goal.
4. Expand my vocabulary.
I started by learning a new word every week, but I found myself completely forgetting it. So I decided to start learning Spanish on Duolingo. I take at least one class every day, and it’s day 221 now. It makes me feel a little crazy when I think about how much I learned in such a short time!
Even though I didn’t actually achieve those goals last year, I’m not the least bit frustrated about it. 2023 is a crazy year, and it’s not good. For me, surviving is enough 😉
I decided to try a different approach to achieving my goals this year. I will only have one goal, and I will focus on this one goal, not several goals. I think having a separate goal makes me more likely to achieve it. I still do the other things as usual, but I’ve narrowed my list down to just one thing.
Eat more vegetable.
Very simple! correct? I have been vegan for almost two years and my diet has become healthier. However, I still wasn’t eating the recommended amount of vegetables every day. The more I understand how diet affects health, the more I want to eat healthy. Vegetables are the healthiest food!
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| This is kind of funny – one vegetable my whole family loves is Brussels sprouts! |
I know the word “more” is not specific, but I wrote it that way on purpose. I didn’t want to put a number on it because I didn’t want to measure the vegetables or have to go to a specific number for the variety or something like that.
I *really* enjoyed reading and listening to How Not To Die by Dr. Michael Greger. He is a nutrition expert with a passion for using food to prevent and even treat disease. Yes, these “experts” are everywhere these days, but one thing makes him stand out: He wants to teach people how to use food as nutrition so much that he donates every penny from his book sales and business to charity. Charity. His website is non-profit. There are no sponsors or ads on his website, nor anything to suggest a hidden agenda. He wrote thousands of articles and backed up his studies with all the research. He doesn’t sell products, he just publishes facts (backed by research). If there’s one trustworthy expert in the food and beverage industry, it’s him (in my opinion).
He created what he calls the “daily dozen” list of 12 things we should try to incorporate into our diet every day. It can feel overwhelming when you see this list, but he says don’t strive for perfection—it’s just a guide to help make better choices. In fact, you can download the app using Checklist – it’s free and has no ads! – But here’s the list (you should be able to click on it to make it larger):
I was surprised to find how many of these I already get every day. What’s missing are vegetables! To try and get more veggies this year, I’m going to try my best to follow this guideline of a dozen a day. This means eating leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, and other vegetables every day.
I started doing this last week and have been inspired to keep doing it. There are many vegetables that I like, but I don’t cook them often because I’m the only one in the family who likes them. Jerry will try anything I make and he never complains, but I feel guilty making food that I “know” he doesn’t like. He always tells me that if I make something that tastes good to me, he will eat it. I try to do that but I feel so bad.
Dr. Gregor writes about how your taste buds change when you change your diet (something I’ve noticed many times over the years), so Jerry and I created a two-week challenge for ourselves. This doesn’t sound like much of a sacrifice to me, but I promise you, it’s hard for me – I have to cook meals that sound good to me, but I “know” Jerry doesn’t Will like it. (I put that in quotes because we don’t actually know if he will like it.) In return, he will eat only whole foods (including meals I cook) and see if his taste buds start to change.
We just started yesterday, but it was fun. I was anxious, but Jerry was excited, hahaha. I made the Sweet Potato Taco Bowl yesterday – roasted sweet potatoes with black beans and corn, taco seasoning, quinoa with lime, and spicy cashew cream sauce. This sounds wonderful to me! But I would never do that because that’s simply not what Jerry would choose.
He also promised to be completely honest about what he thought of the dinner I made. I don’t want him to tell me he likes something if he really doesn’t like it. I was surprised how much he enjoyed the taco bowl yesterday! He said it was something he would definitely eat again.
Vegetables I crave are sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and mushrooms. If I could find a mushroom dish that Jerry liked, I would be happy! I want to be clear that this was not my idea – Jerry was actually very excited about completing this challenge.
Anyway, I’ve been working on a daily dozen (I love that I’m not trying to have the perfect list every day). It’s only been a week or so, but I feel great. Maybe by the end of 2024, I’ll be able to check off all the marks on my list!