Yes, my friends, it’s that time of year again. When we all swear to lose weight, organize our lives, get in shape and just generally stop floating through life.
Like most people, I’ve tried to have New Year’s resolutions. The problem with them, though, is that we try to fix everything at once. So here is my suggestion – only have one resolution at a time.
Last year I decided that I needed to get serious about roughly ten different things. In a blinding flash of the obvious, I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to wrestle with all those things at once. So I selected one thing to focus on.
I picked my health. I have a number of medical issues, which is why I can’t work a regular job. They don’t allow me to live on a schedule, so I have to do things like Uber and blog that don’t require a timesheet. So I figured that since my health was what ruled pretty much everything else in my life, I should start with it. One of my mottoes is that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time, so I broke it into bite-sized resolutions.
First bite, make sure I take all my pills every day. I take a lot of prescriptions, and sometimes I would put off getting refills because of the cost.
Second, eat better. Not go on a diet, not write down everything I eat, just… make little changes. Buy more fruits and vegetables. More meat, less carbs, since one of my assorted ailments is Type II diabetes. Snack less.
Third… well, exercise is a problem. I have arthritis in my hips, and I’m starting to feel it in my knees. If I go anywhere where I have to walk much, I need to use a rollator walker. But at least I have managed to fight off my husband’s suggestions that when we go to Disney World that I take my father’s old wheelchair. I really think it is better for me to try to stay on my feet, and the rollator lets me sit down when I need to. But I don’t want to spend my Disney day with other people backing into my face.
How has it worked? Reasonably well. I talked to my doctor about changing some of my pills, which has helped a few things. I’ve lost weight, which makes my pills more effective, and may lead to eventually lowering some doses. I’m sleeping less, which is good (I have been known to be out for as much as 23 hours straight) and I seem to have a bit more energy. Most importantly, it has changed some habits.
The idea is to modify behavior to eventually achieve the result you want. It took years to get your life where it is now, and you won’t be able to change it in a tiny fraction of that time. So take bites. Decide what will really make a difference and focus on that. Good luck!
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