The Resolutions

Farewell and good-night, 2009.

And for 2010: I don't usually do the New Year's resolutions thing, but this year is going to be different. I'm planning on some major diet changes. But just for the first three months of the year. After that, we'll see. Hopefully keep things going to a degree, but not quite as strictly. My mom came up with the idea and will be doing most of these with me, which will definitely help me keep my resolve strong throughout the three months. So, without further ado, here they are:

1. No refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup We did this for atleast a full three months last year, and it was actually surprisingly easy! The fine print: Honey, agave nectar, maple syrup, evaporated cane juice, etc. are all okay, but no artificial sweeteners (which neither of us eat anyway). An exception can be made when sugar/HFCS is only a minor ingredient in food that isn't really that sweet and not meant as a dessert, for example pad thai or pasta sauce. That way the vast majority of sugar is still avoided, but it's much less of an inconvenience.


2. No gluten Yes, I'm going for a ride on the gluten-free bandwagon! Additional details and fine print you may or may not care about: This is the only resolution I'll be doing on my own. At first I was just going to do no wheat or no white flour, something like that, but then I thought, what the hey, I'll just go for the whole enchilada, it's almost the same thing as no wheat anyway. Especially since, as with no sugar, I might not be super strict on this one either. Like with things like soy sauce and whether or not something otherwise permissable is processed in a facility that processes wheat. I don't think I will worry about that stuff, just the obvious stuff like bread, crackers, pasta, etc. And I have to remember those other grains that are far less ubiquitous but also have gluten--rye and barley, I think. I'll look it up.


3. No alcohol Should've banned this one a looooong time ago--it has just got to go. For a little while atleast. Additional details: While I didn't really have a hard time teetotalling it while pregnant, the little bit of leeway allowed by breastfeeding is sometimes difficult for me to manage. While trying to juggle the two (drinking and breastfeeding), I feel I've gotten into a gray area more than once that I'm just not comfortable in. And even if I weren't breastfeeding, I think drinking less would still be a good thing for me.
   
   
4. No tobacco I am not a daily smoker, but this one just goes hand in hand with drinking.

So that's it! My goals in doing this are to have more energy and just feel better overall--physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and all that. And, of course, if I lose a few pounds, I'm not going to complain.