Making 2012 my best year yet

Even before I read MizFit’s reasons for not making resolutions or Heather’s very general resolutions for 2012,  I’d been toying with the idea of doing New Year’s differently.

I mean, come on: This is my 40th year on Earth, and for at least 20 of them, I’ve resolved to “lose weight and exercise more.” How often do I achieve those goals?

Since I’m still hovering at about 235 pounds, you know the  answer to that: “Not often.”

I’m sure I say it every year: This year will be different. This year, I’m going to do as I say, not as I do.

But a few weeks later, I’m back to scarfing down junk food and not working out.

This year, I am going to do things differently — by not making resolutions, per se.

Yes, I will have goals for 2012. And yes, they will involve continuing to pursue publication and reaching my goal weight (75 pounds to go, according to the new tools at Atkins.com). But instead of making a resolution to eat less and move more, I’m going to focus on one thing:

Making 2012 my best year yet.

Just how do I intend to do that, you might wonder.

Step One: Do what Roni suggested in an article on making your New Year’s Resolutions stick over at Dieting Smarter:

This year commit to changing your attitude. Find a small way, every day, to live just a little more consciously. It will serve you much better then an unrealistic weight loss goal.

Each day, I want to focus on making at least one conscious choice to live well (hopefully more).

What that means will probably change from day to day.  It might mean picking up the phone to call a friend or family member I haven’t talked to in too long … spending a few extra minutes looking for a photo to go with a blog post … trying a new recipe … doing a few yoga stretches throughout the day … happily parking at the far end of the parking lot …

The possibilities are limited only by my imagination.

Other goals in 2012:

• Try at least two new recipes a week. I might cook my way through one of the George Stella cookbooks or keep hitting up the recipe database at Atkins.com. However I come up with the new recipies, I’m tired of being in a food rut.
• Rejoin the gym so I can take Zumba and yoga classes again. As long as I can find the money, this one’s going to happen.
• Continue to polish my manuscripts and get them into the hands of agents/editors. I can’t count on finaling in the Golden Heart again, but even without that boost, I can keep my name and ideas out there. All it takes is finding the one person who likes my writing.
• Grow my blog/online presences (both here and on my writing blog, Love & Laughter).