Saturday, January 23, 2010

Checkin' In

Well, it looks like we totally blew the New Year's resolution related to updating this thing with substantive posts. The problem is, we really haven't done anything substantive to post. January has been relatively uneventful for us. John ventured to Scottsdale last weekend to play golf with his dad, and my mom came up to help me paint the extra bedroom -- it is now a much less obnoxious neutral. Whew!

Back to the resolutions. John is really doing well on the gym part; me, not so much. BUT, I will be getting better and even have plans to hit a class tomorrow morning. The resolution we've been best at holding up is cooking at home. We've eaten at home most nights this month, including weekends. I'm even more serious about this commitment now that I watched Food, Inc. This movie was incredibly eye-opening. I am shocked at the low standards the government sets for our food. It is clear that the government supports big business more than setting healthy standards for its people. So, corn is now considered poison in the Beck household! I've been an avid Whole Foods shopper for awhile, but I'm even more committed to shopping there now, since it's one of the only grocers committed to selling free-range grass-fed beef, cage-free poultry, and other responsible food items. While Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) is a bit more pricey than the regular grocer, our health and wellness is entirely worth it!
Does that count as a substantive post?

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Big Resolutions

We've decided to start the new decade afresh with some great resolutions that we hope will become permanent life changes.

1. Eating at home. We eat out far too much. While we usually try to make healthy choices at restaurants, nothing from a restaurant kitchen is as healthy as what you can make at home. There are lots of hidden fats and other mystery grossness in restaurant food, not to mention that its SO much more expensive to eat out. So, we are resolving to limit our dinners out to once per week.

2. Exercise. We have been really great at exercising this year. John is religious about his gym routine and even took up running (I'm thrilled about that). I am reluctantly going on a running break but hope to get back into it later this year. In the meantime, I'm going to really focus on yoga and some other types of exercise that are easier on my body. I will really miss running, but I can live vicariously through John -- hopefully he will compete in some races this spring and summer and I can cheer him on at the finish.

3. Balance. I really need to work on a good work-life balance. Last year I let work completely take over my life at the expense of friendships and other things I like to enjoy. While I seriously doubt that I will have less work this year, I definitely think there are better ways of budgeting my time. For one, I am going to try to get to work earlier so I can get an early start on the craziness -- the earlier I get in, the earlier I can leave at the end of the day. Not only will my mental health benefit from this, but John and I will be able to spend more quality time together (hopefully without the incessant buzzing of my Blackberry).

4. Blogging. We will be blogging about more interesting things this year. While I'm sure our moms think that what we do on the weekends and the latest cat hat we purchased is titillating, I really don't think the other readers so much care. So, we are going to blog more about goings on here in Chicago, maybe some politics here and there, and put up more pictures. We will just have to see where this takes us.

Well, wish us luck on these goals. While they may sound simple, it's always easy to let busy schedules get the best of us, causing us to abandon our resolutions. Happy New Year friends and family!