I’m not normally one to make resolutions; I’ve always found it much more useful to set myself goals as I think of them, rather than waiting for the start of another year to get going. However this year, as January hit, I realised I had a few things I wanted to work on, and so I guess they can be labelled as New Years Resolutions. I thought I’d pop them on the blog, as writing things down always seems to make them much more achievable. Like how I will inevitably miss something if I make a mental to-do list rather than a written one, I’m much more likely to miss a target if it’s not written down somewhere.
A lot of people enjoy more generalised resolutions; ‘to be happier’, ‘to make more time for family’, ‘to practice self-care’. On the contrary, years of being taught that targets must have a time-scale, be measurable and be specific, has led me to set targets that do just that.
Lose 10 Pounds – And Keep it Off
Without declaring my weight to the whole world on the internet, I will say that dropping this amount will get me to my goal weight. I’ve been a couple of pounds off before, and then a week later, moved to London. Surrounded by endless pubs, bars and restaurants, and not wanting to say no to any opportunities to meet new people at such locations, I quickly put it all back on again. Having lost it all before, and it not being a huge amount, I’m confident I can lose it again. With the motivation of summer in sight, I’m aiming to hit this goal by June, and maintain my goal weight for the rest of the year (well, maybe not through December, Christmas only comes once a year after all!)
Have one Vegetarian Day per Week
More and more, the benefits of a vegetarian diet, to both ourselves and the environment, are being shared. It’s also clear that a small change can make a big difference, so I’m hoping to reduce my meat consumption in 2019, through eating veggie one day a week. I’m not going to restrict myself to a specific day, as I want to be able to work it around my plans, and I will be more likely to succeed this way. I don’t plan on eating meat alternatives on these days; I want to try and stick to fruit and veg, thereby also making this my super healthy day of the week.
Read 10 Books
Reading is something that I’ve loved ever-since I was a child. Since starting university it’s something that I lost my love for. After spending all day reading through journals and articles, the last thing I wanted to do at the end of the day was more reading. Every summer I get through two or three books when I’m on holiday, but I want to try and make reading part of my evening routine again. The stress of work often stops me getting to sleep at night, and I’m hoping that getting lost in a book for half an hour before going to bed will help me get to sleep quicker. That and I really ought to get more use out of my kindle…
One Blog Post a Month
This isn’t a lot, so really shouldn’t be hard to achieve. I’ve been very much absent on the blog for the past couple of years but every time I put together a post, I forget how much I enjoy the entire process; taking the photos, editing them, and putting together the text. Over the winter months, when there is less going on socially, I hope to make blogging part of my schedule again.

And that’s it from me! As I said at the start, I’ll be setting myself further goals throughout the year, but this is what I’m working towards right now.
Let me know in the comments if you’ve set any resolutions, and I would love for anyone to leave links to any posts that might help keep me motivated to achieve my goals!
Em x