My goal this year is to make very specific (with numbers) resolutions so that I may have a fighting chance to keep them.

I resolve to take better care of my body by...

1. Drinking at least 1 liter of water everyday.

      I hate water. I hate it! It has no taste. It's like drinking in air. It's very unsatisfying for my taste buds. But as water is satisfying to the rest of my body parts, I need to drink more water. According to Mayo, you should drink from 2 - 3 liters a day in order to replace your lost fluids, but... baby steps.

2. Exercising for 30 minutes at least 3 times a day.

      Since being on winter break from teaching, I have really been able to reunite with recreation. On Wednesday, I got to exercise with Pilates on Fifth (FREE on iTunes!!); on Thursday, I got to go skiing; today, I'm going to go running on the complex treadmill. However, when school starts up again, I know I'm not going to be as good. School kicks my butt I'm so tired at the end of the day to even hold my head up. But the bright side is that on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays I don't "do school" so I should, could and hopefully will fit in a few minutes of muscle love. My goal is to tone my obliques, abs and quads. And to hopefully not tone my gastrocnemius at all...!

3. Bringing back Meatless Monday.

      In my last year of college, I started doing Meatless Monday as an ode to my animal friends who I love because 1. they are cute and 2. they are delicious. I don't have the discipline to become a vegetarian. I care, but - let's be honest - I don't care that much. So this year, I resolve to bring back Meatless Monday.

4. Sticking to a skincare routine.

      Here's what I'm supposed to do everyday: Morning - cleanse, tone, moisturize, and sun-screen; Night - cleanse, tone and deep-moisturize.

      Here's what I have been doing: None of the above. Not regularly, anyway. Well, this is the year.

5. Going out on a limb to say... NO UTI's IN 2011!!

      :0) For reals. So necessary.

Other resolutions:

6. REALLY sticking to a budget.

      HAHA, I know this is already the ONE I'm going to struggle with. I love clothes and shoes and the sound of swiping credit cards too much. Let's just put it out there. For someone who lives a pretty conservative lifestyle, I have no self-control. None. I'm going to do myself a favor and stop going to the mall, Ann Taylor Loft and yes, even the grocery store. Ever since I started teaching, shopping (especially for groceries) has had this really calming effect on me, but it's also making me dirt po' (po' because I'm so poor I can't afford to put the "or" :)). My plan (thus far) is to reevaluate my spendings and earnings via mint.com and then at the beginning of each month (I wish it was weekly because I am a short-term orientated type of lady), put each budget in an envelope or label it somehow. Once it's gone, I have to stop. This worked really well for me with Starbucks. I put $25 on a gift card and when it ran out, I wasn't allowed to renew it and therefore couldn't buy coffee. But tomorrow I can! :D

7. Completing 4 full hours of school-related work everyday after work.

      I have a tendency to come home, throw my books and papers on the floor, (take off my pants), heat up dinner, and veg out in front of Friends. Then I get into food coma and then the trouble starts. I find that if I immediately begin work (even if that means working and eating which I HATE to do), I fight through the coma. I just need the discipline to be able to remind myself of this.

8. Completing 5 "To-Do" List items a day.

     I don't do a lot of the things I want to do everyday. "There aren't enough hours in a day!" No, I really think there are. I'm just terrible at time management. And I'm probs not gonna get any better at it. Some things you can't change (this is why "become athletic" is not on my resolutions list.). So the list is just going to have to be limited. Five important things that I really want to get done. Finito. 

9. Completing 5 "To-Do" List items a day, plus 1 new or deliberately kind thing.

      Because being nice 1. rocks, 2. makes someone's day, 3. I love making people's day!! Also, I am getting closer every day to the person I want to be. One of the things I wish I was more of is being adaptable to change and accepting of spontaneity. Two days ago my new thing was texting people I haven't talked to in a while (but still like) to say hi and to wish them well. Everybody likes getting texts (not as good as mail, but it's cheaper and faster).

10. Recycling more.

     I know, I know. Reducing is the most important thing to do. Because if you don't have it, you don't need to recycle it. I am working on reducing my carbon footprint. I am really trying to be attached to my water bottle and when I forget it, I always get a drink in something I can recycle. Just thinking about it now, makes me feel guilty and I feel guilty that this is at the bottom of my resolutions :( I'm sorry, Earth!!! And I know reusing is the second best thing to do but I'm not a DIY goddess and I'm not sure what I would do with the things I normally throw away or recycle. At Method (they make house cleaning supplies :) and they are awesome), they used their own used bottles to fashion a chandelier.

Really cool, but as innovative as I like to think of myself, what am I going to do with more than one plastic bottle chandelier? Reusing is really hard! And admittedly, I don't like hard... so that is why I'm going with recycling more. I'm usually pretty good about it because my conscience is evil (but really awesome at keeping me moral) but sometimes I do get lazy. I just have to keep reminding myself... every time I don't recycle, a polar bear dies and a tree cries! I sound like I'm kidding, but I'm for reals. You remind yourself too. 

11/Bonus resolution. Looking cuter and being funner around the boyfriend.

      3 years sure can make you look scrubalicious. (And a couple of months in PG County can make you gangstaaa...) It's important to be able to be comfortable with whatever you look like on any given day, but still putting in effort is a nice way to say, "Well, I know you already think I'm super cute, but let me remind you." :O) 

I know I probably won't keep all (or any...) of these, but I love making resolutions. Being on the brink of a new year makes me excited to think of all the wonderful possibilities to continue to do better and grow. And it's nice to remind myself of the things I want for myself when I have the time to think about it.

Happy Halloween New Year! (I actually said Halloween in my head first. Maybe a resolution should be getting a calendar to keep my months straight.)

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