Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I try not to save all my goal-setting for January 1,as I like to have mini-goals throughout the year, but it is a nice oppurtunity for a fresh start and a chance to recommit to being your best self ever, something I have been striving to do each year, a goal which never seems to be attained. So many of us are so terrible at sticking to our resolutionwas, yet we continue to make them. I was inspired to look at resolutions a bit differently today by a sermon at church this morning in which Pastor Brian reminded us our goals in life should be God-focused and the rest of our lives would fall into place according to His plan. One of his three main points was to let God be God, something I would definitely like to work on, considering I am quite the control freak and worry wart. There are a lot of times where I know I would be much happier if I would just relax know God is in control. Better him than me, I say! Like Pastor Brian said this morning, suddenly all those other goals we hoped to accomplish this year don't sound so hard. So I guess my resolution is to try to always remember that God is in control.

My new year is off to a great start. Like I said, I do like using January first as a time to recommit to being my best self ever and as a fitness fanatic, I decided I'd start the new year off my giving Jillian Michaels Making the Cut Workout plan a shot. I'm only doing the fitness portion of the program, not the diet portion, as I am still nursing and don't need to be dieting but rather focusing on eating a balanced diet. Today, after driving to the gym and finding it closed (doesn't seem like the best way to encourage people to stick to their new years fitnes resolutions, but what do I know?)I came home to complete the workout in the comfort of my own home. I had to make a couple of modifications--substituting a resistance band for a cable machine (worked great over the door for tricep pressdowns) and doing my MuTu exercises in lieu of the bicycle crunches (not cleared to do them yet til my diastasis recti is healed). It was a great workout that really got my heart rate up and my muscles burning. I'm anxious to see how day 2 goes. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Other than my workout and church, the day was a pretty lazy day, but that's what Sundays are for, right? I watched some football with my family; go Dolphins, way to end the season with a win! I ate some chicken wings---it's all about balance, right? Gotta splurge a little bit! And we ate a traditional New Years Day meal which included pork chops, homemade chunky applesauce, black-eyed peas, and a side of saurkraut. Delish! I was especially pleased with the pork chops which I often have a hard time cooking to my desired moistness. They turned out great after I seared them for about 3 minutes on each side and then poured in a cup of white wine. I let the wine reduce by about half, added a touch of better than bullion and turned the heat down a bit while they finished cooking. The result was a very moist and tasty pork chop. Score! It was a hit with the husband as well. Gotta remember to take pictures before inhaling my dinner.