It’s the time of the year to make resolutions, and this year I resolve not to make any more resolutions.
Making resolutions simply doesn’t work for me. Resolutions are things that I should do. I should lose 10 pounds. I should stop spending so much money on dinners out. I should stop making cracks about my co-workers behind their backs, no matter how funny they are.
I am one of those perverse people who does not like to be told what to do, not even by myself. So once I list off all those “should do’s,” I start plotting how to get out of doing them, like I’m trying to pull one over on myself.
So this year, I’m going to set some goals instead of making resolutions. And I won’t beat myself up if I don’t meet a goal, because these are things I want to do, not things I should do.
Here are my goals for 2007 (to start):
- Cook at home six nights per week because I love cooking and want to try out many new things this year
- Increase the number of steps I take each day, with the ultimate goal being 10,000 steps at least one day in the week
- Do yoga at least four times a week, to reap the stress release benefits
- Save 10 percent
- Continue improving my work environment for myself so I don’t have another burnout
Best Recipe of the Week
The Spinach and Egg Soup from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything is a deceptively simple recipe, but the results are fabulous and unexpected. Luscious ribbons of spinach intertwine with fluffy tendrils of egg in a chicken broth, resulting in a soup that seems luxurious and filling but is also light and healthy. I served it with broiled polenta (store-bought, because who wants to stir cornmeal all night?) topped with Parmesan for an Italian-style winter treat.
