It’s February, so we’re really into 2012. Another year has come and gone, and so quickly I might add. I will say I was pretty happy overall with 2011. I introduced some great lifestyle changes in food and health to my family and I have gotten my autistic son into sports (baseball and gymnastics).
But alas, there are still more things I want to do for my family and myself in 2012. Does this mean I’ve made New Years Resolutions? Heck no. I never make them mostly because I don’t stick with them. They are a waste of time for me.
This year, I’ve taken a different approach. After reading an article about a husband and wife who made a bet to see who could lose the most weight, I had a conversation with my husband. For our start to the New Year, we decided to see who could get the healthiest in six months. This doesn’t just include who could lose the most weight to get us both out of the obese rating, but also who can get their fat percentage down and build muscle tone.
We decided that the winner gets anything they want. My husband wants a new leather jacket but I haven’t decided yet. But the loser also has to do something! My husband has decided that if I lose, I have to get a tattoo. I decided that if my husband loses he has to take ballroom dance lessons with me.
Six months may seem like a small amount of time, but it really isn’t. It takes three weeks to build a habit and this goes well past three weeks. Having six months means we can find a groove with our bodies and minds. We can figure out what works and what doesn’t.
This bet is about setting realistic goals. I’m personally shooting for a two-pound a week weight loss after speaking to my doctor and doing at least four days of exercise. Of course, I’ll be cutting certain foods, but also finding new ways to eat the healthy ones.
My 33rd birthday was a few weeks ago, and my husband gave me a vegetarian cookbook and a 15-minute exercise book for busy moms (and a few other gifts too). Some people might see this as insulting, but I see it as completely supportive and one of the best gifts he has given me. He thought of this and understands what we are trying to do. We are even thinking of going to a dietician together to make sure we are on the right page. While it is a competition, it is also to make the two of us healthier so we are both encouraging each other — even if we get a piece of chocolate cake at dinner and then pretend to be too full to eat it, wink wink.
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