My Views on New Year's Resolutions

They rarely work for anyone.  This much we all know.  Every January 1st, we all make resolutions, and two weeks later they've been shot to hell.  I've been thinking a lot about this in the last month, and have formulated a theory as to why this is.  Maybe the theory comes from my unwillingness to let go of the psychologist side of myself, or maybe I'm actually on to something.  Maybe, just maybe, someone else has already had this theory, and I just didn't know about it!  I'd like to know what you all think.

Bottom line, I think it's too much pressure.  We make these resolutions, and announce them to the world.  Then we think we have to live up to them and perfect them immediately.  When we're not seeing the change or results we want to see in those first couple of weeks, we buckle under the pressure, and fall back into our old ways.  In our world of instant gratification, we also want instant perfection.  It's just not realistic.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a complete perfectionist.  I stress myself out and drive myself completely batty over the littlest, stupidest things.  Sometimes the result is a gorgeous scrapbook that I've been working on as a gift for a loved one, but sometimes the result is me coming home sick from work with a fever and sore throat like I did last Friday.  I put a load of pressure on myself to excel, and it has really had it's effect on my health (anxiety attacks and teeth grinding to name a couple of things).  I've been working really hard over the last couple of years to calm down and not let myself get as stressed over the little things.  I've made a lot of progress, and learned two very important things.

First, baby steps are key!  Learning to accept that everything comes in small doses has really saved my sanity, and has helped me to stick with some of my goals for more than a couple of weeks.  My weight loss is a prime example.  Granted, I had some other complications that needed fixing when it came to that, but I also had to learn to accept the fact that the process was going to take a long time, and that it would be months before I really saw results.  To date, I've lost 40 lbs. in the last nine months.  It hasn't been easy, and there have been days where I've given my doctor's plan the middle finger and completely blown my diet.  This leads us to the second thing I had to learn.

It's okay to be imperfect!  No one is perfect.  No one is ever going to be perfect.  It's okay to mess up every once in a while.  I've had to learn that it's not okay to just throw in the towel because I slipped up a few times.  Those days when I threw the plan out the window have been few and far between, but I always try to remind myself that tomorrow is a new day.  You just have to make the decision to get back on the wagon if you fall off.  I still have a hard time with this sometimes, but again with the baby steps.

Last year I tackled my biggest health issue, and now that I have that under control, it's time to concentrate on some new things.  I have a few things up my sleeve for this year.  I don't want to jinx anything just yet, so I'll fill you in as they come up.  I have a feeling it's going to be a year of positive changes for me, and I hope it is for you all as well.  Just remember....take baby steps, and also remember that you aren't perfect, and you don't need to be!

Welcome 2011!

Well, it's finally a new year, and past time for a new post. I know...I'm a giant slacker. What can I say...I'm a busy girl! Just like everyone else, I have some resolutions for this new year. However, I've put a lot more thought into them this year than I normally do. I wanted them to be attainable. Not something that I'm going to ditch come February. So, here they are....

1) Love Myself. Unfortunately this is something I've struggled with for a long time. Like many people, I'm my own worst critic. That added to some lovely character traits like being a perfectionist and slight over achiever don't make for the best self esteem all of the time. This will probably be the hardest of my resolutions.

2) Enjoy Life More. Don't get me wrong...I absolutely love my life 95% of the time. I have an amazing family and amazing friends, and I live in one of the most amazing cities in the country. This applies more to my stress levels than anything else. Thanks to some genetic tendencies towards anxiety, along with some of the lovely character traits from resolution #1, I stress myself out very easily. I used to be a lot better at getting a grip faster, but in the past 6 months or so I just feel like I've been spiraling. It makes it a lot harder for me to enjoy life, and it makes me not so fun to be around sometimes (I thank God that I have a roommate who is so good at putting up with my crazy and making me feel better). So I'm trying a few things to try and alleviate some of that. Like playing music again. Working it out in the gym. Writing it down in a journal, etc.

3) Finally Winning My Battle With My Weight. Considering my less than positive mental state the past 6 months, I've made some great strides in this. However, it's time to really kick it into gear and just take care of it. I'm uncomfortable in my own skin, and I have been for a long time. I don't want to feel that way anymore. I'm back on South Beach, and I got the Zumba DVD set for my birthday, so I've started that as well. I think as I work on resolutions 1 and 2 I'll have a much easier time with my weight. As of the end of December I've lost 16.5 lbs. In the next couple of weeks I'm hoping to finally get to that 20 lb. milestone.

So there you have it, Sarah's 2011 New Years Resolutions. I'm ready for you 2011...bring it on...