Baby Steps! Keeping Those Resolutions in 2014!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

It is that time of year when most of us make our New Year’s Resolutions.  I don’t make many, mainly because I never keep them, so it seems like a waste of time.   Sometimes, I vow to cuss less and then some slow driver pulls out in front of me, with no one behind me for miles, and proceeds to poke along in front of me and before you know it, I need a bar of soap to wash out my mouth. 

I am also not very good at giving up something.  I have many Catholic friends and family who have to give up something for Lent and I always wondered why they just didn’t give up something easy like Brussels sprouts or watching reruns of Full House.  I guess that is why I am Lutheran. We don’t have to give up anything during Lent and that’s a good thing because once you tell me I do, I would be driven to have it. For that reason, I could always understand Eve being tricked in the Garden of Eden by the serpent, except for the part that she got close enough to a serpent to be tricked.  He wouldn’t have been able to fool me because I would have been running in the opposite direction.  On the other hand, if it had been Adam telling me I was not allowed any fruit from the tree, oh boy, I would have been two fisting those apples and shoving them into my mouth faster than you could say, “did you just spit an apple seed at me?”

Almost every year, I vow to lose weight and this year I mean business.  I have already hatched a plan that the dogs and I are going to walk/jog on our walks starting January 1.  We were at the park the other night and I was showing John how it was going to work with the dogs and me running, and around the corner came the park ranger in her car.  As she passed by, I told John I bet she was probably checking out a call they must have received about a gazelle sighting in the park and he said he wondered if she had any luck in spotting one.  

Yesterday, I took the dogs from him and ran straight up a hill and when we got to the top I did the whole Rocky up the stairs thing, including the jumping, the air boxing, and the hands over my head thing and all he said was, “slow down and catch your breath, that was a pretty good 50 meter run.” 

My plan is to run after dark in our neighborhood. I think jogging under the shroud of darkness will work best for my neighbors and me. After all, no one wants to see a middle aged woman huffing and puffing and clutching her heart and screaming at her dog to slow down when they just happened to be looking out their window.  Oh, and by no means am I planning on wearing compression leggings or running tights, because I am afraid pulling them on and up will cause my hips and boobs to meet somewhere above the waistline.  I also plan on only taking one dog at a time, because two dogs could mean the difference between a leisurely jog and a Usain Bolt sprint, especially if we have a deer sighting. 

I need to buy reflective vests for myself and the dogs and I hate to invest too much in these items for fear this new weight loss plan of mine does not stick.  I thought about just buying reflective tape and putting it on my shoes, but John said oncoming cars might think there were two extra long dachshunds wearing some sort of bedazzled coats coming straight at their tires. I would also hate to be like my Megan who used to want to join everything as a child only to quit as soon as we purchased the uniform, the leotard, the equipment, or the shoes.  She once took ballet lessons and immediately hated it because she found out she had to learn ballet steps and positions BEFORE she could be the lead in Swan Lake.  The vests are a definite must because if I collapse on the way up our long driveway and I’m too weak to shout out their names, John and Hayley should surely see me as they try and leave for work in the morning, since it is still dark out.  I would hope they would come looking for me before that, but it might depend on what is on TV that night.

No, my New Year’s resolution is to lose weight and exercise more and no more excuses.  How could this plan fail when I have the best running buddies available?  I don’t know because as I am writing this I am already wondering if I am biting off more than I can chew, although if I worried about biting less, I may not have this problem to begin with in the first place.  Gee, you know what? I just looked at the calendar and January 1 was yesterday and I prefer to start my diet after a weekend, so I am going to bump this whole idea up to January 6.  I think that works better for Fudge and Vern, too!  Here are our New Year’s resolutions:

 

Laurie-to be healthier in 2014

Fudge-to come when called or at least pretend to know her name when we scream it!

Vern-to sleep through the night or party alone in the living room!

John-to be quicker to admit his wife is always right (he was asleep when I wrote this, so I had to guess what his would be)

 

Baby steps!  This is a lot to bite off and it isn’t going to happen overnight, so we need to take baby steps to make this work for 2014.  Meanwhile, Happy New Year and here’s to keeping those resolutions!

[Janice Jones]

Laurie, First time I am responding to one of your wonderful blogs. Firstly, Happy New Year to you and yours!
I am also starting the weight loss "thingy" on January 6th after the last family feast on tomorrow. Good luck to you!
I can relate to your story of your daughter quitting after you buying the leotard. My daughter quit ballet at 4 years old when they insisted she pin her bangs off her face. I still remember the "I don't think so" attitude and she never set foot on the studio again :-)

[Bonnie and Kona]

Oh Laurie, You are on the right track. You are still making the resolutions. That's a big step. I hope you all are great successes in your resolve but most especially Vern because I still cannot believe you have to get up with that big boy every night. 

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Vern's expression says it all!  Heck with all those silly resolutions, give me my Martini!  Love your look on resoultions Laurie, especially the one of waiting until January 6th.   That darn old Holiday food always creeps up on me and I do not understand why?  Afterall, eating all the cookies, cakes and candy is tradition, right?  I would go back to WW, but they would say "Here she comes again" on the loud speaker, so like you, Libby and I will do our "walking" (this old body is not running) and get our veggies going and hopefully we will be better in 2014!  Happy New Year to you and yours too! Love, love, love this blog!

[DJ & Chance]

LOL, love the resolutions. I am making Chance adopt Fudge's resolution, and I am resolved to get fit but don't have a plan :)

[Gail and Bailey]

Good luck with the running Laurie!  You are correct about having great running partners with Fudge and Vern....  If you take them out to run one at a time, just think about all the exercise you will get.  Carol is right about the FitBit being fun and motivational.  I had one about three years ago and loved it but it kept on breaking and after sending it back for a replacement on two different occasions I finally quit using it.  It sits in a drawer now.  Hmmmm maybe my resolution will be digging it out and using it again.....but only if you get one too!!  :)

 

[BG and Gavin]

I think Vern needs a black "Olive" for his martini (wink, wink).

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Laurie, I love your determination and Vern's martini!  I'm intrigued by the FitBit -- but then again, my relationship with Siri hasn't always worked out so well so I can just see myself arguing with a FitBit :)   Laugh more and love better and everything else kind of works itself out :)  

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oh and Carol, I may start an Unfit Bit club. You wear now devices and do nothing much.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I made exactly no resolutions. In fact, until people on TV and now you reminded me I forgot that some people do this. It's really much easier just to surprise yourself if you accomplish any little thing. I did promise to do something for Calla's teeth every night after her dental cleaning and lo and behold I have. I think I feel I can do no less for her than me. Maybe you should just resolve to watch Downton Abbey, I bet you will love it : ) But good luck with the Rocky Balboa stuff and do keep us updated. I must say that despite all that Sylvester Stallone looks pretty bad.

[Carol and Banjo]

Love your blog Laurie….and your determination.  My daughter (the one who does Iron Man Triathlons) gave me a FitBit for Christmas.    Apparently she thinks I need to get in "shape".    Anyhow……I LOVE it!!!!!     I've lost three pounds since I started using it this past Sunday.    In a nutshell it keeps track of your steps and activity level….even your sleep patterns.    What's really great is I can easily log in any and all food or drink and it keeps a running tally of total calories consumed as well as calories burned.   It's been very motivational for me as I have it set to reach a daily goal of 5miles/day.    I haven't reached that yet….but it keeps me on my feet longer and active more even around the house….doing housework, etc.    It's freezing cold here so I've been going on the treadmill.  Sometimes 20 min at a time….sometimes (like just a few minutes ago) for just 5 minutes.  

The really cool thing is you can link up your account on line with "friends" and keep each other motivated.   I know how competitive you are (a little birdie told me).    I would love to be your FitBit friend.   If there's anyone else out there whose interested, maybe we can have a DK FitBit Club!