Happy New Year!

I totally suck at being a blogger, BUT!!! it is now 2011, and 2011 will be a great year. One of my New Years resolutions is to blog more frequently. I think a lot of my problem is that with the upcoming wedding, I just have TOO MUCH to blog about, and I'm just not sure where to start. Well! I solemnly vow to blog tomorrow...ish. Ok, how about sometime this week (...that's reassuring).


While I'm on the topic of New Years resolutions, here are my other ones:
- Reduce the amount of processed foods I eat (aka, cook from scratch a lot more and avoid that darn microwave)
- Practice yoga 4-6x a week. I think I'll up this to 5-6x in February. Gotta look perfect for my wedding!
- Keep the apartment cleaner. This one is a complete failure so far... Lazy, lazy me.


I also had some other personal health goals for the past few months with which I'm having various levels of success:

- No more caffeine! I'm probably doing the best on this one. I do have a cup of green tea about every other day or less, and I still often have decaf coffee. So, I'm getting a little bit of caffeine, but I've cut back SUBSTANTIALLY. I highly recommend giving up caffeine. I can tell a huge difference in my daily... umm... sleepiness? I sleep less overall (which is a good thing because I often sleep 10+ hours), and I feel much more awake throughout the day.

- Don't have sugar or agave nectar. They're just not natural. The sweetness is too concentrated. I've resorted to brown rice syrup and maple syrup (YUM) for my sweeteners, though I really rarely have sweets at all. If I make myself a cup of (decaf) coffee, I'll add about a teaspoon of maple syrup. It's still not the best sweetener for you, but I love that maple flavor. Plus, it has at least a little nutritional value (it contains a decent percentage of calcium, iron, and a few others). If you do decide to try some maple syrup go for Grade B. Grade B is boiled at a lower temperature, and therefore retains more of its nutritional value.

- Reduce soy intake. I'm terrible at this one. My huge weakness is still soy lattes (and, of course, Starbucks' soymilk is sweetened with what I can only assume is sugar *sigh*). I don't know what it is about lattes... they're just happiness in a cup to me. I can't find any definitive sources on soy, but it has enough supposed good and bad health effects that I've personally concluded it's probably fine to have in moderation. This is, of course, assuming it's non-GMO (aka not genetically modified).


Alrighty then, I'll be back later this week! Hmm which topic to choose then... (Oh, and I apologize for the lack of pretty pictures)