My New Year's Resolution

I typically don't make New Year's resolutions. For whatever reason, I feel like if I make it a point to "resolve" to do something, I am just setting myself up for failure. I would rather just make a less formal decision to make a change in my life, and that way, if it doesn't happen, it isn't a big deal. This year, however, I am making one resolution.

I am going to start leading a healthier lifestyle.

I am going to eat better. This doesn't just apply to me, either. This one applies to the whole family. My kids are ridiculously picky, so therefore, we have been tailoring our meals to what they will eat, which isn't much. Our weekly dinners consist of frozen chicken fingers with spaghetti (our version of Chicken Parmesan, I guess), tacos and cheese rolls, chicken quesadillas, black beans and rice, and at least one night at Chick Fil A. While most of these meals wouldn't necessarily be horrible if there were also some vegetables on our plates, they aren't balanced meals, and that is something we need to do better at. My kids supposedly eat vegetables at school, so they can eat them at home too, right?

I am going to exercise. Now that I have lost the weight I wanted to lose, I need to get in shape. I was carrying Rylie up the stairs tonight, and she was HEAVY. She only weighs a little over 30 pounds, so that shouldn't be so hard for me. I used to be strong, and now I feel so weak and tired all the time. Plus, my back and neck are always killing me, and I know if I worked out and strengthened my muscles, I wouldn't have half of the aches and pains I have. I'm too young to feel this damn old.

I am going to get more sleep. If you read my post about the changes going on around here, then you know that I have only been getting on average about 4 hours of sleep a night for the past year. Honestly, I'm surprised my body (and my mind) is able to function as well as it has. I know I can't keep going like that, though. Human bodies need more than 4 hours of sleep a night.

I have to get healthy for me, and for my kids. My father left me at way too young of an age, and I don't want to do the same thing to my children. My father had very serious health problems. Some were caused by his unhealthy habits, and others were most likely caused by genetics. I know that arthritis runs in our family, and my dad also suffered from coronary artery disease. Over the last year of his life he also became diabetic. He was suffering on and off from diabetes symptoms, and after a while, he was formally diagnosed.

So I have just over 24 hours to eat like crap, I guess. After tomorrow, we will be eating healthy, balanced meals at least 5 times a week. As much as I would like to say that we will do it every day, I refuse to set myself up to fail at this. We will still eat out occasionally, and my kids will still eat processed garbage every now and then, but I am going to try to do better and make our plates more colorful. I will find recipes for kid-friendly meals that will appeal to my kids, and we will have at least one vegetable with every meal. I also plan on laying off carbs, and may even try to find some easy diabetic recipes to make, since those are always either low-carb or carb-free.

As much as I hate to make New Year's resolutions, I have to do this. And I will.

What about you? Are you making any resolutions this year?