New Year's Resolutions

Image found here.

New year's resolutions seem to be falling out of favor, but I enjoy making them. I like giving myself goals to achieve or creating a guide for myself to live by for the next year. Now that I have started a new chapter in my life as a married woman living in Florida, I feel like a re-set is a great idea for creating the life I want for this new beginning! 

Here are my new year's resolutions in 2025 (in no particular order):

These are some healthy potato nachos I made! You can find the recipe here.

1. Eat healthier. This is a nicer way to say "lose weight." Not that I particularly feel overweight, but I know I could be better to my body and eat foods that are nutritious, not just tasty. This is very difficult when I have SUCH a sweet tooth: I LOVE desserts. I think part of this was instilled in me when I grew up, because my dad always had to have dessert after dinner, whether it was cookies or ice cream. So now I like to have dessert every day, too! Having a sweet or two every now and then is okay, but I've been going overboard lately. My husband is better about it because he doesn't buy sugary things; if treats aren't in the house, he can't eat them. But I like to have sweets available should a craving come over me, but now that means I have two half gallons of ice cream sitting around and any baked goods I make myself (or ones I've bought from Crumbl). 

So first of all, I need to stop buying sweets. I have already started weaning myself off of Crumbl, so that's good. Secondly, if I do want a dessert, I just need to change the portion size. I never feel guilty eating ten M&Ms after lunch at work; that's so small! It's more like when I eat a good-sized piece of pumpkin pie five days in a row after I baked the pie to begin with. Less is more in this case!

Along with eating less sugar, I also want to eat more nutritious foods in general. Now that I go into an office every day, I have to get back into meal prep, which I haven't truly done since pre-COVID. And while noodle casseroles are quick and easy for that, pasta drenched in alfredo sauce is not exactly healthy. I want to try new recipes with mainly proteins and veggies, and just natural ingredients in general (maybe I'll use Hello Fresh for inspiration). I don't want to make boring meals of chicken-veg-rice, but healthy versions of food I like, especially Mexican and Indian cuisine. Thank goodness for the endless recipes I have at my fingertips with the internet!

AND I want to drink less. Alcohol is a poison in the end, and is full of empty calories. It's so easy to drink though when you're at a party or out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. I find myself drinking almost every day, and even if it's just one glass/drink, I feel like that's too much. I can also tell myself I'm saving money every time I go out to eat and don't get a drink along with my meal. I won't put a number on it, but I will try to be more conscious about my drinking and just go for seltzer water instead.

Image found here

2. Exercise more. This sort of ties in with #1. Before I moved to Florida, I was working out two times a day regularly, alternating between Pure Barre and Orangetheory (whichever one I didn't take in the morning was the one I took at night). But since I have moved, I spend so much of my time commuting that I have a harder time being able to work out as often as I'd like. I have already bumped down my OTF membership to just eight times a month instead of unlimited, and I frequently find it difficult to make even that happen! And while I do have a gym in my community, most of the classes offered are held during the day when I work, so I only occasionally make it over there to ride the spin bike for 45 minutes. 

So next year, I am going to attempt the Pure Barre Platinum Barre Challenge. I have never tried this before even though I have been a client for years and have now been teaching since August of 2023. The challenge is to take 15 classes every month, so 180 classes for the year. I think I can do it! I already take class about three times a week (i.e. the weekday mornings when I'm not teaching), which means I would only have to take three extra classes on top of that. The past few months I have been trying different gyms, like F45 and Barre3, but for next year I will focus on Pure Barre so I can complete this challenge!

Me with some of my Theta sisters in DC. I miss them!

I grew up with Rachel and Marshall, so they are some of my oldest friends!

3. Keep in touch with friends better. Now that I have moved, I have to make more of an effort to stay in touch with my friends. I can no longer email them about meeting up for dinner or seeing a show together. I actually had a similar resolution many years ago: I spoke with a friend on the phone who didn't live near me once a week. And I did it! So if I did it before, I can do it again. But just like trying to schedule times to meet up, it can be tricky to match up calendars for even a phone call. I have been trying to talk to people when I'm in the car (since it usually takes me almost an hour to get home after work), so maybe I will just lean more into that. Even quick calls are better than letting friendships slip away!

Me with the Ladies of Umbria (i.e. the women who live on my street!)

4. Create lasting friendships with new people. In hand with staying in touch with my friends back in DC and elsewhere, I would love to make true friends down in Florida. My husband and I have been SO lucky to have already met so many wonderful people. Our street is very social, and our neighbors frequently host parties; they always invite us and make us feel welcome. I have also met other people through a local synagogue, the Junior League of Sarasota, and the fitness community.

But most of these friendships are surface-level, which I guess makes sense, since I have only known everyone for a few months. But next year, I hope I can hang out with more people in smaller groups, rather than large parties, to really get to know them. I am going to aim for doing a double-date twice a month (unless a neighborhood party is scheduled and we know we'll see them there), and aim for more ladies' dinners, particularly after my workouts (now I could actually get to know some of the women from Pure Barre instead of just taking class with them!). Friendships are one of those things that you get what you put into them, and I want to put a LOT of effort into making new friends so I feel like I have a full circle of support in my new home of Florida. 

Image found here

5. Less screen time, more reading. This kinda of goes against #6 (see below), but ever since I started my Instagram account, I find myself getting lost in the scrolling, especially before bedtime. I tell myself I'll only look for ten minutes, and then I look at the clock and it's well past my bedtime! So next year, before I even climb into bed, I am going to turn my phone off. That way, when it's time to turn in, if I'm not quite sleepy yet, I will read a book or magazine. It's better not to look at the blue light of a screen before you go to sleep anyway, and I am very embarrassed by the low number of books I have read since moving to Florida six months ago (umm, I think it's two).

I brought so many novels and non-fiction books with me in the move, so I better start reading them! I have nature books, lots of (auto)biographies, and just brainless fun books. After a month or two into the beginning of COVID, when we all realized the pandemic was going to last longer than we ever imagined, I told myself to read more, and I did. I only read books by female authors, and I really liked setting this mini-challenge for myself. I truly love reading, and I just need to carve out more time for it. Just like with exercise: if it's important to you, you'll make the time. I think my first book of the new year will be Amy Poehler's Yes Please. I lugged it all around Italy with me and never opened it up, so I'm going to read it for real this time!

Gotta fill up my Instagram profile!

6. Continue to build my Instagram presence. While I want to stop staring at my phone right before I go to bed, I do want to stay active on my newest platform. I started my Instagram account before I moved so that my friends at home could stay in touch and see what I'm up to. And it's been working! I love seeing all the little hearts from people liking my photos or their comments on my posts. But as a Millennial, I'm in between an older generation that doesn't care about social media and a younger one who LIVES online. I don't naturally think about taking a photo wherever I am, but I want to get better about that. This is especially true when I do social things: I have been to SO many parties and yet didn't take any pictures! So in 2025, I want to work on recording my shenanigans through photos and posting them online. Similar to this blog, Instagram can act as an online diary for me to remember all the fun things I've done and the wonderful times I've spent with many amazing people. 

There are other things I'm tempted to add here, like going to Shabbat services once a month. But I want to set myself up for success, and this list is already somewhat daunting. Hopefully I can make all this happen!