I know the loving my body part is weird

This year I created a short list of New Year's Resolutions. I have to admit that even though the phrase aligns exactly with what the goal is it felt weird to see it written as "Loving my body" instead of what we typically do in our society "lose weight" "go to the gym" "start a diet" or all the myriad of other ways we try to shape our physical image.

My friend Rachel Rainbolt, author of Sage Parenting, and I were discussing health and wellness and she sent me an article which I've since lost, but it talked about thinking of your body as being powerful. That's a good way to go after what you want instead of having the dread of going to the gym.

My chiropracter Dr. Joe Merlo at Good Vibrations Chiropractic has been teaching me about awareness and made a really clear message about taking care of our health because we only get one body in this lifetime.

And Anthony Robbins had a great video message that I couldn't even articulate the message if I had to, but you know everything that comes from him gets you to think of things in a new way and it wasn't about motivation but it did just that for me. A post from his Facebook page this past Monday rounds it out pretty well "By changing your focus, you instantly change the quality of your life. Remember: We get what we focus on. What you focus determines how you'll feel!"

I've been focusing on the things I want, instead of the things I don't want and the shift has been making an impact. For example, I tried to eliminate caffeine in 2012 on 3 seperate occassions. This year my focus is to drink more water, and thus by shifting my focus to increasing my intake of water that is the picture that comes up in my mind instead of building a strong visual and repeating message around caffeine. Besides, it wasn't really caffeine that was the problem. It was the abundance of calories in those sugary drinks I grab at Starbucks that just happen to be caffeinated. All those extra calories are adding up! I am not burning them off with a nursling any longer and I don't have kids to carry any more and haven't replaced those calorie expenditures with any other activity. It is all becoming more clear to me why it didn't work in 2012. So, I shifted my goal setting to the bigger picture, loving my body. That will outline the different things I can do to actually LOVE my body. Just as when I tell my kids, "It is because I love you and am doing a good job taking care of you that I give you so many fruits and veggies."

What's going to keep you on the path for acheiving your 2013 New Year's Resolutions?