Friday, December 31, 2010

In 2011 I Resolve To...

Happy New Year's Eve! Looking back at last year's resolutions, I am pretty happy with my accomplishments. For my "blog resolution" I had a goal to create a database of about 100 "quick and healthy dinner recipes", which only ended up being about thirty recipes, but oh well. I'm actually still working on this so I haven't given up. Here are some of my favorite quick and easy recipes from last year;


(**Note: Many of these were created before I was on the low FODMAPs diet, so garlic and onion will have to be omitted if you follow that diet. Also, these can all be found on the right column of my blog, under "Quick Meal Recipes" and also "More Simple and Healthy Recipes"**)


Do you make new year's resolutions? The key to making the best new year's resolutions is to make them realistic. After all, what's the point in making a goal/resolution for yourself that is unachievable, or which may be so difficult that it causes stress? This year's resolutions stem a bit from last year's but I also have some brand new ones;


Food/Nutrition: Continue to decrease my caffeine intake. This has been hard to kick because I started working at Market District where employees get free coffee all day long, whenever, wherever, no joke. Right now I'm averaging 400 mg caffeine per day. My goal is to get down to 300 mg. Last year at this time I was consuming around 600mg per day, and do you know why?! It's because I had not yet discovered the low FODMAPs diet, and I was malabsorbing half of my nutrients! Therefore I was chronically fatigued and there wasn't enough caffeine in the world to get me going. It's sad when I think about it, but oh well, I'm happy to have discovered a diet that is really saving my life, physically and mentally.


While I do have a goal to decrease my caffeine intake, I'm not incredibly worried about it. I don't have high blood pressure (in fact mine is low!) and I don't get anxiety from drinking caffeine, nor do I get a rapid increase in heart rate. This is not to mention all of the benefits that have been discussed in the news this year about consuming caffeine. Do you want to know the real reason I am so adamant about decreasing my caffeine intake? I want to be prepared for pregnancy!! I'm not planning on getting pregnant for at least 4 or 5 years, but while pregnant I will only be allowed 200 mg caffeine MAX. It will be a lot easier for me to do this if I am already consuming a small amount of caffeine. Yeah, I know, I'm crazy to be thinking so far ahead, but it's also important for me to not have to be dependent on caffeine....as much...



Work: I get a lot of questions about the homeopathic supplements we sell where I work. I'm always completely honest with the customers and tell them I don't know much about these products. This year I want to learn more about homeopathic medicine/supplements, starting with a free online course offered by one of the companies (I will focus on the unbiased objective information, not the biased subjective information provided by the company!).



Mental health: I'm still working hard on living in the moment, and not always going through the million things I "have to do" in my head. I'm training myself to be better at this, and while it's a slow process, it's working well.


I'm also working on not nagging so much. I tend to nag, as I'm told by Nick, and I realize it gets me no where. Anyone else have a problem with this? I have noticed the more I nag, the less receptive Nick is to my requests, so in fact it has the opposite effect.

We bought a house this year and we also both switched jobs. There have been a lot of stressful moments but I refuse to let stress cause our relationship any harm. I've seen relationships fall apart due to nagging, or one partner trying to control the other, and that's just not something I want to see happen with Nick and I. We work really well together and I plan on being with him for the rest of my life (which brings me to another new year's resolution...get engaged!! hehe, we'll see, I think this may be the year!).


Question: I gotta ask, what's one new year's resolution that you have this year?

Any fun plans for the evening? Nick and I are going to dinner with some of his friends and their girlfriends, then having people over to our house. Hopefully it's low key, but fun.



See you in 2011!

25 comments :

  1. Sounds like you've have a full, wonderful year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm not exactly sure I want to make resolutions for my new year. Maybe I'm just happy with my life as it is... or maybe I'm just scared to make them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great goals for the new year. I hope 2011 will bring you the engagement you're hoping for :)

    I know a lot of people struggle to reduce their caffeine intake during pregnancy. You're smart to try to wean yourself off in advance. There are enough hardships in pregnancy without adding caffeine withdrawal on top of it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've gotta say, I should also probably stop "nagging" my husband!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think you did a great job reducing your caffeine intake! It's hard. I know... And I think you are VERY smart to reduce it WAY before you think about getting pregnant. I reduced my intake to one cup a day when we were "trying" for the toddler, and it was sooooo hard to function. Unfortunately, after I stopped breastfeeding, I gradually increased my intake again, and I'm consuming way to much once again. So I think reducing my coffee consumption should be on my 2011 goals list...

    Wishing you a happy & healthy 2011, Gina!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great recap of the year! Hope you have a happy New Year!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. great goals for 2011!! I think my main goal for 2011 is to continue to learn to love myself. I preach and preach on my blog about it but it is still a daily struggle for me. So that is my ultimate goal!! love me for me!

    ReplyDelete
  8. We have a big goal in common! I'm trying my best to let go of the little tiny "to dos" that crowd up my list daily!

    ReplyDelete
  9. hmm that's interesting, I was a homeopath by profession back home!

    I have yet to try you tempeh joes!

    ReplyDelete
  10. i'm waiting for nick to plant a big honkin diamond on your finger this year! he better.

    haha and it was you i tagged in the fours so you have to do it! i guess the link didn't work poo :(

    i'm loving this fodmaps. although i'm not 100% like you but it's definitely made me feel less bloated and what not. someday soon i've got to do a post about it

    happy new year girl have fun toniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fabulous goals!

    I am looking forward to buying a car this year :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great resolutions, Gina! I'm not great about making resolutions, but I do follow through on goals I set for myself ... well ... most of them ... I especially like your goal to "live in the moment" - so important! I also tend to nag, especially when I feel my message isn't getting through, but I'm (slowly) coming to realize that men don't express themselves the same way as women do! Oh well, better to learn that at 26 than at 50 :)

    Happy New Year, Gina!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great post! I think you had a successful 2010. I am glad that you are working on the nagging thing. Been there, done that and glad I do not have to nag with Ryan around. It makes for much less stress, but I do get a little crazy sometimes so I need to work on that.

    I am working on my new years goals now, but mostly this will focus on staying with some kind of a routine while we PCS this year (permanent change of station...it's a military thing, but we were only to be stationed here for 2 years). Or at least find some way to keep sane when the time comes. This summer will end our tour here on the island. I also plan to continue with a goal or physical activity at least 4 days a week. I think I originally set that last year at 30 minutes, but I am good bumping that 45 minutes. I do 50 minutes 5 days a week, but I like the wiggle room.

    Happy New Year and wishing you the best in 2011!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Excellent goals :) Especially the engagement one haha. You guys are going to be like me and Eric where nothing changes at all when you get married haha. But it's still fun to have the wedding.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sounds like you have another exciting year ahead of you! And once you figure out the secret to living in the moment, please share with the rest of us! :) I too struggle with that one...just too much to do I guess.

    Congrats on all your success in 2010! I hope 2011 is an amazing year for you as well!

    ~Kati

    ReplyDelete
  16. happy new year, gina!
    i think you have some great goals, and i love your comment that eating the right diet can definitely contribute to energy levels. best wishes on your caffeine goals; i'm sure you'll meet those!

    i made ice cream last night in the new ice cream maker...it was fantastic! can't wait to try out all of your recipes! :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Happy New Year, Gina! 2010 was a great year for you guys!

    ReplyDelete
  18. The recipes look amazing. I definitely need to try one soon!

    One of my goals for 2011 is to stay injury free and run 4 half marathons!
    Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Fun to read; I like how you divvied up your goals into different areas. Making it specific makes it more intentional!
    Katherine

    ReplyDelete
  20. Sounds like you've got some great goals for this year!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Looks like you have well defined goals for this year! I agree that making the goals attainable is the best policy. My one goal of the year I have to say it to continue making a concious effort to eat healthy and exercise at least 90% of the time. I want to see if I can keep this up for the whole year because in the past Ive gotten possesed by the sugar monster for months! lol *By the way, I read your post after I wrote my post for the day and realized we had a similar question. I changed it slightly :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. My goal is to END the yo-yo weight loss/gain cycle I've been in for like 5 years. I want to lose the weight one more time and KEEP it off! I think your goals sound really good...and I see a sparkly ring in your 2011, I just know it :-)

    ReplyDelete
  23. E-book?! AWESOME! You get it, girl! That's a great goal! And I love your engagement goal ;) Of course :) I hope it's the year - you 2 are perfect together! I am a nagger, too. I think that goes along with living with someone though! That's what I think, anyways.

    And I love that you're focusing on caffeine reduction for pregnancy, that's wonderful and so cute to be thinking in advance like that. That's why I am focusing on losing PCOS weight this year -- when we're ready, I want to make a baby, not start getting ready to be ready. If that even makes sense :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Another post that adds an extra element...getting women to think of the body long term and your caffeine reduction places a new spin on WHY we do "health behaviors!"
    Would love to work/help on your book!

    ReplyDelete