New Years' Resolutions

There's a statistic (that I'm making up right now) that 50% of all Americans make New Years' resolutions and 50% of them break them within the first week.  I won't say my track record is any better, but, like a mosquito to one of those electric bug zappers, I'm compulsively drawn to them.  Ooooh... pretty and bright... zap.

This year I'm planning to do something different.  Taking a page from Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project, rather than just make a list of stuff that I want myself to want to do, I've come up with a theme for the year (hers was being happier) and plan to identify one thing per month to work on that relates to the theme.  Because life and priorities change in unexpected ways, I'll pick the project at the start of each month rather than trying to identify 12 things right now.

This year's theme is one I've written about before: finding balance between work, life, and motherhood.    This month's goal is to start/develop a workout routine that will be sustainable once I go back to work.  Mainly, I need to go to bed and get up early enough that I can exercise before Daniel needs to leave for work and figure out a nursing/pumping scheme that will allow early morning exercise to happen.

So let it be written.  So it shall be done.

Monday's post on The Happiness Project lists 5 questions to ask yourself about your resolutions:

1. What would make me happier?

• Daily exercise and (hopefully) getting back into shape  
• Working out at a time that won't make me feel like I'm cutting into time I could have spent with Scott (because he's asleep)
• Working out for an amount of time that allows me to achieve some realistic fitness goals (run a 5k or 10k, not a marathon) without driving myself/Daniel crazy or causing sleep to suffer (too much)

2. What concrete action(s) would bring change?

• Going to bed after the feeding after dinner so I can get in some sleep before Scott's late evening (10-11pm) snack
• Getting up after Scott's early morning (4:30-5am feeding) to exercise.  So far he's not a morning person in the least, so I'm not worried about exercising while he wants to play (not that he really "plays" yet) 
• Learning to operate my pump and starting to pump so even if we aren't in sync one morning, Dad can give him a bottle if he wakes up hungry

3. Am I a "yes" resolver or a "no" resolver?

• A "yes" resolver for sure.  I'd much rather do something than try to stop myself from doing something.

4. Am I starting small enough?

• Um... I think so.  Waking up to workout out first thing in the morning is a habit I love and ingrained a long time ago.  I just need to be a bit more strict about bed/wake-up times and more flexible about what kind of exercise routine I can do.

5. How will I hold myself accountable?

• I can post about how things are going - probably in my Friday weight loss/fitness update.
• I know it's generally bad news to try to enlist your spouse as your New Years' resolution cruise director/drill sergeant but I can encourage Daniel to encourage me to get to sleep earlier rather than goofing off in the early evening.