SOME NEW YEAR BUSINESS

Winter break is over, Winter break was lots of fun…and now it’s time to get back to the grind. Well, I guess it’s not as bad as I make it sound. But being on winter break was a lot more fun than the thought of going back to work. You know those bumper stickers that say “I’d rather be…” Well, that’s about it. I’d rather be on winter break than at work.

Of course, because I work at a University, I have ANOTHER break to look forward to, in about 10 weeks. And coincidentally, 10 weeks is just about as long as I should take to lose 10 pounds! Maybe even 15. So I’m hoping when Russ and I get down to Florida for our visit, everyone will see a healthier me than I am at the moment.

Holiday eating can really do you in, can’t it?

It’s all about good health now. It’s not that I don’t KNOW what to do to stay healthy, it’s just that I have a hard time staying motivated. But the new year is a good motivation. Here are some things I plan to do in the new year:

Drink lots of water. Whenever I’ve been losing weight and feeling healthy, water has been a big part of my daily routine. I don’t think there’s anything healthier to drink.

Oatmeal. It’s good for you, full of fiber, and fills you up. No problem at work each day to boil some water and mix it into some oats. It’s almost a “convenience food,” it’s so easy. Raisins in oatmeal are good too. With a handful of raisins in your oatmeal, there’s no need for additional sweetners.

I know yogurt is a good healthy food, but while I’m trying to lose weight, I’m going to lay off all dairy products. That’s what worked for me last time. I’m not really a big fan on dairy products, but I do like cheese quite a bit. But I’ll lay low on the cheese (and yogurt) for a while, if it can help.

Booze. No booze. Booze is good for the holidays, it’s very festive and all, but this time of year is not about being festive, it’s about losing weight and being healthy. For whatever it’s worth, back in 2005, when I lost 30 pounds in seven months, I did not have a drop of booze that entire time.

Gym. Oh yes, the gym! Russ and I are going to check out a gym tomorrow. There is a gym in town that is about a five minute drive from my work, so I could easily get to it on my lunchbreak, and right now they’re doing a special where you pay month by month, $10 per month. So if you find you’re not actually using it, there’s no giant committment, you can just quit. Hopefully that’s true, and hopefully that won’t happen. We’re going tomorrow night to check it out some more. Russ and I like to walk together sometimes, but we walk at different paces, so if we can go together to the gym some times after work and get treadmills next to each other, it will be like taking a walk together, and we can each go at our own speed! Also, I think he will like it if he can use one of my mp3 players and listen to the radio, or some podcasts, or maybe “read” a book that way. As for me, as always, I’ll be listening to music. One of life’s great joys is to be exercise and listen to music at the same time, and I miss that I haven’t really been able to do that too much lately, so I’m really excited and hoping this gym will work out, and if Russ comes with me, we won’t even have to give up driving into work together! (Which is another one of life’s great joys!)

There’s a lot more, of course, but this is all I’m mentioning at the moment, so I’ll have something left to talk about tomorrow!