The Rabid Grammarian

I figured since it's still January, I can write about resolutions. I personally don't buy into the New Year's Resolutions hype. For one, I think it's mostly driven by societal pressure. Two, the idea of resolutions often involves the inherent concept that you have something lacking or that you are currently not worthy of acceptance. Most resolutions are inherently selfish and yet they are wrought with the idea that your self is unworthy. Finally, how many people do you know make a resolution and have stuck with it by, say February? Let's face it, most Kardashian marriages outlast the average person's resolutions.

Why? I feel part of it is the peer pressure aspect. People are inherently resistant to goals forced on them by others. Second, most people just don't know how to create achievable goals. In the past 3 weeks I've seen a plethora of "I'm going to lose 50 pounds by May 1st" or other such resolutions. These are usually lofty, unattainable goals with no substance on how to achieve them. Is it possible to lose 50 pounds in 5 months? Sure. Especially if you are throwing health to the wind and want to gain back 75 pounds in the following months. Is it probable? No. "Go big or go home" has no place in your resolutions.

So, what do I suggest? First, I say to hell with New Year's resolutions. Don't buy into the pressure! If you want to make lasting changes in your life, really make it about you-draft your goals on your birthday. But if you are truly energized by the resolution frenzy and want to participate, may I suggest some guidelines on making resolutions you're more likely to keep?

First, you have to prepare yourself. Get a journal or notebook to record your goals and your progress. This will be a physical reminder for you. Resolutions often fail because they are just amorphous ideas, not concrete goals.
Third, If you must go big, choose your larger goals thoughtfully. An attainable goal is S.M.A.R.T-Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Most resolutions fail on one (or more) of these criteria.   Fourth, stick to two or three goals at most. A long list of things to do starts to feel like a laundry list that nags at you. Once you're consistently meeting those goals, add one more. Keep this going. Soon all those things you want to improve will be improving.
Finally, let me provide some examples of resolutions that are small, and yet have huge impact.  All of the below are resolutions or goals I have made for myself or my family and they were terribly easy to complete. They are small steps, not marathons, and all of them benefit my physical or emotional health in some way. None of them assume that I am broken or need to be fixed in some way. Notice also that most of the goals I've set in the past are goals I consider to have a ripple effect on society. A note on the word "consistently." "Consistently" is the key to many resolutions (like quitting soda drinking or starting an exercise routine.) It does not mean every day/night. That may set you up for failure, you miss one night and it makes it easy to skip another. Consistently means "more often than not." In fact, if you apply this "consistently" model to most of your resolutions (working out, making healthy choices, etc) you're more likely to succeed that if you pigeonhole yourself into needing to do something a set number of times per week. Time is fluid, you should go with the flow. Don't let dates bind you.
1. Resolve to floss your teeth consistently before bed. Flossing, in addition to being a basic element of oral health, also impacts overall health and improves your breath, so you're not that person everyone wants to take up a mint habit. It was a tough two weeks before my gums stopped bleeding every time, but I felt a noticeable difference in my mouth.
2. Resolve to buy Local, Organic produce. Farmer's market's are everywhere, and why should only the hippies have all the fun? This resolution will help your health and the planet. Find a Farmer's Market and buy your produce there, or you can join a CSA(Community Supported Agriculture.)  (Although some may have to first resolve to eat produce.) How do you find a Farmer's Market or CSA? There's an app for that! (all apps listed are on the iPhone or iPad, I didn't look up if they were for Android)

• Localharvest.org This website lets you search for Farmer's Markets and CSAs
• NRDC Eat Local App is an iPhone app that allows you to search for Farmer's Markets where ever you are in the USA. It's great for traveling folk.
• Fresh Food Finder
• California Farmer's Market Finder
• U.S. Farmer's Market Finder
• Farmer's Market Locator
• Harvest to Hand App (also for Android)

3. Resolve to go meatless more often. If you're already a vegetarian, resolve to go vegan a little more.  Diets higher in plant-based foods are scientifically proven to be healthier for you and the planet. When I took my first go as a vegetarian I was terrible at it. I was your cheese and pasta vegetarian. I don't think I ate enough vegetables to be considered a vegetarian. I just didn't eat meat. I eat more vegetables now that I eat meat than I did then. Going meatless shouldn't mean just omitting meat, it should include adding vegetables.

4. Resolve to always bring your cart to the cart corral. This may seem insignificant to you, but it's a little nicety. First, cart people don't have to wrangle your shit from all over the parking lot. This is especially true in cold weather. Second, no one will end up with a scratched or dented car because of you, which is karmically more favorable.

5. Donate to a good cause-with your wallet (or your time.) For example, if you listen to NPR or watch PBS ( I'm looking at you Downton Abbey & Sherlock fans), you should toss them a little money. You use the product, you should support them a little financially. Whether you send a monthly gift or send a larger cash infusion during a pledge drive, send them a little dough. If public media isn't your thing, donate to the American Humane Association, The Heifer Project, St. Jude Children's Hospital or any charity that you choose. It's good Karma. If you can't donate money, donate time. If you can't afford to donate money or time to a charity, donate to another good cause-yourself. Open a savings account and try to put a few dollars a week into it. I collect change in change jars. I once filled a coffee can with pennies and got $44.00 when I turned it in. Collect your change and put it in your savings account.

6. Donate to a good cause-with your closet/bookshelf/etc. Take one thing-your closet, your bookshelf, your pantry, and cleanse it. Donate any old or non-fitting clothes or unread books to charity. Donate non-perishable foods to the local food pantry. Cleansing your home will breathe in new life and you'll be donating to a worthy cause at the same time.

7. Resolve to swap one processed item with a less or non-processed item in your diet. Try to do one a month. Consistently swap your Nutrigrain bar for a piece of fruit. Do you love granola? Make your own. This could go for pasta sauce, bread, sweets or even butter (making your own butter is devilishly easy.) Sure, this is another one of those hippie things, but at the same time you will learn to make a new recipe from fresh ingredients. Learning things is great!

8. Resolve to read food labels. I'm in the camp that if it has a label, you probably shouldn't eat it (or too much of it.) Food items with labels come from a factory, they are products, they aren't really food. Food comes from nature. But sometimes convenience wins out and you need to take a shortcut. In general, packaged products are either stuff you could make yourself or shouldn't be eating, but that's my soapbox. Start reading your labels. Don't just focus on calories and fat, read the ingredients too.
Fewer ingredients is better. Even better than that: you can pronounce all the ingredients without a Chemistry degree.

9. Resolve to investigate what those ingredients are. See above as to why. If you come across something on a label you can't identify, which is more than likely in many processed products, write it down and look it up. If you're going to be wasting time on the Internet, you may want to use that time to learn something new.  The Food Babe Resources page has verified links to a wealth of food information. Some things to watch for: MSG, sugar and Genetically Modified (GMO) ingredients.
These are common other names for MSG. Products that contain these ingredients contain MSG.
Here is a list of names of sugar (this list does not list artificial sweeteners.) I once read a label that had 8 different types of sugars in it.
Here is a list of common GMO ingredients.  My family tries to avoid GMO ingredients and are supporters of labeling of GMO ingredients. We also avoid refined sugars and artificial sweeteners, artificial colors & flavors, "natural flavors" and preservatives. We're not perfect, but we do better than we did.

10. Resolve to find and shop at one local store. Shopping local businesses keeps money in your community and stimulates the economy. There are several local businesses that I frequent, especially for holiday and birthday gift giving.

11. Resolve to swap one conventional personal care product for a more natural product every month. This could be as simple as switching to a verified cruelty free brand. You could also swap regular laundry soap for an eco-friendly one, etc. Save the planet one product at a time. Kick it up a notch: learn to make your own laundry soap, shampoo, moisturizer or deodorant. I make my own laundry soap and it's way better than anything I've ever bought in the store. And one batch has lasted me 8 months so far, and I'm barely halfway through the jug.

12. Resolve to eat out at a local restaurant. Find a local restaurant that is not a chain and eat there. You may discover a rare gem. Try to do this once a month if you can afford it.

13. Resolve to learn to cook your favorite restaurant dish. Kick it up a notch: once you've made it a few times, try to make that meal meatless. For me, that meant learning to cook Pad Se Ew. Next I'm trying Thai Pineapple Shrimp Curry. I'm not saying I bust out the wok frequently on this, but I've made my own Pad Se Ew and it really was tasty. A nice side effect of learning to cook it was learning that my favorite Thai dish has a ton of added oil. Even home made, it's no health food. Now I know, and I eat it only occasionally. And since I make at home, I can choose quality ingredients to add.

14. Resolve to practice self-love. Not that type of self-love, but everyone should do that too, IMO. I mean positive affirmations. Resolve to, every morning and every evening, look in your mirror and say-out loud- "I accept myself, unconditionally, right now." Do this for a month. You'll feel silly at first. But keep at it. Trust me, this one works.

As I said, I didn't make "resolutions" this year per se, but I decided to make it a goal to consistently purchase more than 50% of my groceries from the produce section each trip to the market. I read labels, I buy organic, but I was also relying heavily on "convenience" foods b/c I decided it was too difficult to cook from scratch with a baby in tow. Now I try to find 5 recipes and make them from scratch. Most of them are plant based and all of them are from scratch. I realized that the baby likes to watch me cook and the recipes that I'm making are more nutrient dense, which is healthier for my family. And as time goes on, the baby will learn healthier attitudes about food.

So that's my incredibly loquacious semi-soapboxy rant about resolutions with a side dish of crunchy woman diet values.