January's Commitments

January's focus will be... me.  When I thought about what things I wanted to focus on over the next 12 months, the things that came to mind seemed like they were going to take a lot of energy.  And so, similar to Gretchen Rubin this month I'm focusing on me & getting into the healthiest habits I can.  I should have kicked off this campaign when I turned 30 (getting "old" and all), but better late than never.

There are 2 things that I know I need to do, and yet I rarely do them:

• Floss
• Take off my make-up before bed

I know.  It's shameful, really.  I tell myself that flossing once "every few days" (interpret as you will) is good enough.  I also tell myself that because I really only wear under-eye concealer and mascara (I'm 30 and put on make-up like a 15 year old), it's not that bad because my skin can still breathe.  While it is true that my cheeks aren't caked in foundation all night, my mascara does flake a fair amount and gets into my eyes.  I know this because my eyes hurt when I wake up.  This is not normal.  

There are also 2 things that my husband and I talk about and do a decent job at accomplishing, but I'd like to be more committed to them:

• Get more sleep
• Eat more vegetarian meals

Most nights, after the baby is in bed and laundry is folded and dinner is cleaned up and put away, my husband and I zone out in front of the tv for "one episode of Mad Men".  One episode turns into three, it's way later than we thought, and guess who's tired the next morning?  We keep saying we need to be in bed by 10pm... this month, we are actually going to do it.  Will I be better rested and thus, happier?  I'll tell you in about 3 weeks.

On the vegetarian front, we actually do pretty well.  It's not that we don't like meat.  It's more that we know we need to eat better, which in my house means eating more veggies & whole grains.  It's easier for me to incorporate more of those things into means if they are the main course, instead of a piece of meat.  I also enjoy our grocery bill a lot more when I'm not buying meat and cold cuts.  That said, I will still order a chicken burrito bowl at Chipotle.  

So my January Commitment to Healthy Habits includes:

• Removing my make-up every night
• Flossing 1x a day
• Getting in bed by 10pm every night
• Making vegetarian dinners 5 out of 7 nights & having salad or leftovers for work lunches
• Drink at least 2 Tervises full of water every day (my Tervis holds 24 oz)
• Walk for at least 20 minutes a day
• Track my food in My Fitness Pal 

I threw those last 3 in for good measure.  Who doesn't need to be more active or drink more water?  And the food tracking?  Trust me, I need to drop a few pounds :-)  Looking at this list, I am wondering why I even need to write these things down.  Of course I'm supposed to drink 48 oz of water daily - I did it when I was pregnant!  Of course I'm supposed to eat well and floss my teeth!  

But I don't.  So I wrote it down.  And now I'm committed.  As of today, there are still 4 weeks to go in January, which means 4 weeks of working on these 7 items.  I am honestly hoping that by the time February rolls around, I don't have to stare at the list written on my bedroom mirror (Crayola 8 Count Washable Window Markers are very handy for this) to know that I need to take off my mascara before crawling into bed.

These past 6 days were planning days.  We settled back into our routines after being away for almost a week and a half for Christmas.  We relaxed all weekend.  I thought about how I wanted to go about making this year a banner year for our family, and what commitments I could make to help us achieve our goals.

And so the Commitment to Healthy Habits begins.  Happy January!