Themes are My New Resolutions

Happy New Year!!

This year I'm doing away with resolutions (who really keeps those past January anyway?!) and opting for themes instead. Yes, themes like movies and books have. Life imitating art. But not in a pretentious way. It's a less committed approach than resolutions but achieves a similar thing i.e. focusing your efforts on what is important to you at the moment.

My themes for 2011 are:

+Fun
+Fitness & health
+Yoga
+Drumming

These are my main dishes in the scrumptious feast that I hope this year will be.

I've recently discovered that the main thing is to focus on the main thing. It's the only way to get anything done. I've used that approach to do yoga EVERY DAY in December. Good huh? Especially for a laidback busy mother of two.

As a creature of impulse afflicted with a horribly low boredom threshold, I find my life is often so jam-packed full of dreams, schemes, projects and amusements that I don't achieve the goals I want to. I try a little of everything which is lots of fun but I end each year in much the same place - both physically and metaphorically speaking.

So, this year I will narrow my focuses (foci??) and aim to progress in my two main hobbies: yoga and djembe drumming. I will also make my choices this year based on enjoyment and stop doing things because I feel I 'ought' to. That's the 'Fun' theme.

I don't really need a reminder to make this year fun, but I often get myself in a tizz trying to do the right thing by everyone else and forget to prioritise things that make me smile, things that are fun for me (and we all know that a happy mummy makes a happy family!).

Don't worry, I won't use this as an excuse to slip into my old hedonistic, excessive ways. I won't shirk my true responsibilities. But I will be saying 'no' a lot more than usual...and 'yes' to things I might have been to afraid say yes to last year. Confused? All will be revealed in the fullness of time..

And so to the fitness and health theme. Hmm. Me and the rest of the world right? Lose weight, drop a dress size, run a marathon, get leaner, faster, eat less sugar, more veg. B-O-R-I-N-G.

I'm going to use my previous theme (fun) together with this theme and do positive, easy things I enjoy that also help me take baby steps towards being a fitter, stronger, more supple, healthier, happier mama.

My first mission is to improve my body image - without necessarily improving my body. I believe we can all feel better about ourselves right now - not put off self acceptance to that magical time when we are lighter and/or smaller.

To this end, I'll be trying out different (enjoyable) techniques to help me love myself more just the way I am. Squidgy mummy tummy and all. If you want to follow my adventures in self love (god that sounds sooo dodgy!) then you need to read my secret(ish) new blog. Email me at annacolette(at)gmail(dot)com with 'Body Image' in the subject line and I'll send you the URL.

My second mission is to add some green smoothies into my life. I'm aiming to have one a week in February and will gradually crank that up. The Green Smoothie is an easy and - hopefully - delicious way to get more fruit and veg, curb your sugar cravings and lose weight. Sound good? Here are some green smoothie recipes to get you started.

What do you want your themes to be for 2011?