I consider myself an agnostic in the New Year’s resolution realm. It seems foolish to make them in the sense that why structure around a date on the calendar committing to what we already know we should be doing?  On the other hand, it seems even more foolish to avoid using any momentum one can to help one do what one should…  So were I to make New Year’s resolutions what would they be?

First is to drink more water.  A couple of years ago I bought my first Camelbak water bottle. Eventually I figured out that I needed one at work and one at home since I spend lots of time in both places. Then I figured out that I should really be drinking three bottles of water per day so I bought a third one figuring that if I started the day with three full ones I might have a chance. I haven’t yet focused on this enough to be successful but I guess it’s good to have the tools in place. A colleague of mine who lost about 50 pounds and looks great told me she drinks a half ounce of water for each pound of body weight per day. I can see how that would be helpful in keeping one’s appetite under control and feeling hydrated. If I have to focus on filling a bottle at any time during the day when I have better things to think about–and that would be always–I am more likely to fail so the game plan is to have three full bottles at the start of each day and have drunk them by the end of the day.

Second quasi-resolution is to use my Rumble Roller daily.  I’ve used it about 10 to 15 minutes for the last two days and I already feel better. When I don’t do some sort of flexibility work my body quickly becomes stressed and crunchy feeling. I know that certain aches and pains are secondary symptoms of muscle tightness and that rolling will fix ’em. I know that as I roll more I can reduce pressure points and that rolling itself will feel better. If I want to go for the gold standard on this one it will be rolling my illiotibial band. Right now it’s so painful when I do that that I come close to seeing stars. I am sure my body would benefit considerably from that area of my body being less irritated. A couple of useful resources for how to foam roll are Jeff Alexander’s instructions for scaled myofascial release on you tube using a wall for things that would be too painful to do on the floor. (Sheesh that sounds bad.) Another helpful video was a longer and more thorough introduction to using a Rumble Roller by Coach Charles Staley.

Third would be actually taking the dietary supplements I aim to take. I measure them all out into little boxes each day for AM and PM. Just got

Drink .5 oz/lb bodyweight /day

to remember to get them down the hatch. The things I do try to take were inspired by recommendations of the “You Docs” Mehmet Oz and Jeffrey Roizen in their book You: The Owners Manual.

That’s probably enough for this year. I don’t feel like I have to resolve to exercise because I feel pretty motivated to do that.