Third entry: Trying to keep up with my resolutions….

The toughest of all resolutions for me to keep is the going to the gym and eating healthy bit. It’s been a long long week. I’ve significantly pared down what I take in. Some days are better than others.

Today I’m hungry. But I’m not hungry in my stomach. I’m hungry in my head. Does that make any sense?

I am truly missing the happy taste of food. The way a piece of chocolate melts between your tongue and the roof of you mouth. The crispy crunch of a potato chip when your teeth bite into it and the broken savoury pieces linger in your mouth while the flavours of the chips dance around awakening your taste buds. As I write this, someone behind me yells “hey, where’s the food?” Ha. You can’t escape it. The mere anticipation of food makes everyone happy.

My husband is making chicken cordon bleu for dinner. He says it’s a healthier version of the real thing. I have no clue what that means but am eager to go home and eat it all up! Because I know this, I’ve been starving myself all day. Half my oatmeal for breakfast, blueberries for a snack. Soup for lunch and a ryvita with peanut butter just now. How do skinny girls stay skinny? Sigh. I suppose they don’t have love affairs with their refrigerator or pantries….

Second entry: Why we do what we do….

I’m a sucker for quotes. Wherever, whenever, however I find a quote that I like, I write it down and I have a central place in one of my notebooks, where I write them all down.

Some people collect stamps or coins. I collect quotes.

There is nothing sweeter than when someone can distill a very complicated or complex idea into one sentence. A good quote a day is like a multivitamin. It helps put balance back in our hectic lives.

So, let me start this week’s topic with one of my favourites. With one caveat, since I have collected these quotes over a period of time, I may not always have copied it down exactly as it was originally said (there may be some syntax error or some minor quotation discrepancy) but the gist of the actual quote will not be tarnished.

“It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities”

-          J.K. Rowling.

Simple truth. Often times we think we are worthless because we can’t physically climb a mountain or afford a luxury vacation or drop those pesky pounds we’ve gained over the holidays. But if we just look at these scenarios through a different set of lenses, the outlook is not as dire.

Climbing a mountain:

Physical feats for the most part are challenging for me but I can chose to train/practice to get better at it. I can join a group or even make it part of my workout schedule (what workout schedule?? The one I’m going to create of course!) and at the end of the day, even if I cannot climb a mountain at least I can run up and down some serious hills.

Or, I can decide that climbing a mountain is not in my list of top ten to-do’s, and not beat myself over it. Choosing not to do something is still choosing.

Pick your battles. You will feel a lot better once you have come to terms with what is really important and how you want to allocate your 24hours.

Affording a luxury vacation:

This idea of affording anything be it a vacation, a fancy bag, a bigger house or private school for the kids is always stressful. I always feel like we whatever we’re bringing in is insufficient. Something is always out of reach.

So instead of feeling sorry for myself maybe I approach it this way…I can chose to save up for that big trip/purse/house/education.

Short term, medium term and long term goals and timelines all work when it comes to affordability issues. I can go very in-depth on this given I work in the finance world and am pretty darn good at affording things I set my mind to.

The great thing about financial goals and timelines is that it gets everyone in the family involved and excited about attaining that specific goal and because you have a timeline you can also set milestones and follow-up and have a real action plan. And primarily, when you know what you are saving for, it is very easy to save.

And the icing on the cake here is that when you finally go on that vacation, buy that house or enroll your child in the school of your choice, it will be glorious.

Nothing that is worth anything comes without effort and the more blood sweat and tears that go in, the more glorious the result. I can write tons of this. More on it, later.

Losing weight:

Ach. Toughest thing for me by far. If only I were as disciplined here as I am with my money. My problem is that I’m a very all or nothing individual. I’m not very good at moderation, which is really the key to losing pesky unnecessary fat. I know this, and yet I find myself at this crossroads every year-end.

This time, I will make a choice to be more discerning about what goes into my mouth and spend more time making what goes into my mouth instead of buying it. And if I can’t make the food all the time, I will do my best to coax my husband to make ultra healthy meals for us both! And every meal that is a good meal is a win! I really have to work with baby steps here guys.

And of course, get myself to the gym more regularly. My co-worker who sits beside me goes to the gym EVERYDAY! How inadequate can one feel sitting next to him?!

I’m going to put in a sincere effort here and keep you posted on the outcome. Wish me luck. Any suggestions different or otherwise always welcome!