Episode #8 – Do You Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions?

Do you make New Year's resolutions? Do they work for you? And if they don't, why do you think that is? We'll talk about that and much, much more today on bending the spoon. But before we get to that, I'd like to remind you that if you like recipes, go to Bonicelli cooking club.com and sign up for my email list and check out all of the options for participating in the club. And if you like what you hear today, hop over to pod chaser.com and leave bending the spoon. A positive review also for the video version of this podcast. Subscribe to Bonicelli Cooking Club on YouTube. Now let's talk about New Year's resolutions. What exactly is a resolution? Well, there are many uses of the word all relating to resolving, being resolute, firmness, or determination, a decision or declaration. But for the purpose of a New Year's resolution, the meaning to me is like a promise to yourself. Often the whole new year, new you thing is the driving force. At least 60% of resolutions are health related. I'm going to lose weight or I'm going to exercise more. I'm going to quit smoking. That's an example, by the way. I don't smoke. Getting organized is another common resolution. Marie Condo, your whole house. Finally, figure out file storage on your computer. I personally don't make resolutions per se, but I do set goals. Probably in the end. It's the same thing, goal setting and resolutions, but for me, my annual goal setting is a huge deal and quite a process. I'm still working on that process for 2023, and we are 10 days into January already, so my goal setting is way beyond a single declar. I like it because it's hopeful, it's cathartic. I always take a good hard look at the past first, and once I decide on my goals, I plan the steps I need to take to achieve them. That's the part that takes me so long. I have no problem deciding what I want. How to get there is more challenging. According to Forbes, approximately 80% of New Year's resolutions fail, and studies show that people tend to make the same resolutions year after year. That means that there's a gap between what people want and what people do. Their actions are not in line with their intentions. They know what they want to achieve, but they aren't taking the steps. They probably haven't defined them. If you Google why New Year's resolutions fail, you get long lists and short lists, and I'm sure most of which it's truth in some cases, but I think the biggest problem with a resolution is you're drawing a line. It implies that you're flipping a switch on some aspect of your life that may have possibly taken years to get to, or at least you've been participating in for a. people don't gain weight overnight, and those files on your desktop might be very old. Date back all the way to 2004. So we'll talk about why resolutions fail and what helps them succeed after our featured ingredient. Here's a fun fact. Bananas are radioactive, but you'd have to eat about 10 million of them in one sitting in order for it to actually do anything. Technically classified as a berry. Bananas are low in calories. They have no fat. They're very high in potassium. They're a great source of fiber, vitamin C and vitamin b6. If your bananas get too ripe or they're not gonna use them, throw them in the freezer in a Ziploc bag. They'll make great banana bread. Slow down the ripening of your bananas to keep them around for a little longer. Wrap the stem end in a little Saran wrap or. If you wanna ripen green bananas, put them in a paper bag with an apple or a tomato. How do you peel a banana? Well, always from the bottom, not the top. If you do the top, it'll get mushy as you try and crack it open, just pinch it and peel it down in section, just like. I've seen a lot of versions of this quote. Here's the one I just found. This is a Bill Gates quote, and Bill, if you're listening, and I got this wrong, so sorry. Most people overestimate what they can do in a day and underestimate what they can do in a year. This could be one reason we ditch our New Year's goals early on. We're not in it for the long haul. Maybe we aren't participating in a process because we still need to define one. Also, we have to be realistic about the time. And we should have an achievable one. We have a program in the Cooking Club that's my online cooking school and community links in the show notes. The program is called The Mindful Mediterranean. It's a course with live sessions, basically a Mediterranean diet. How-to course the live sessions are going on right now. When this is being recorded, in January of 2023, the program has a workbook and the first section of that workbook is about assessing your situation and setting goals. I tell people to be really specific because the people that are most successful in the program know what they want from it. Sometimes it's simple and overall like I've always wanted to eat within Mediterranean diet guidelines, but I just don't know how or have the tools they're there because the program tells 'em how and has the tools. Other times, people are in the program because they are really having serious health issues. The workbook gives them a place to write down where they're at, where they wanna be, and track their progress week by week or even day by. how and what they track is their decision. Some people track their weight, but I never did, even though I was losing weight when I was testing and writing the program, I tracked what I ate and didn't step on a scale until I felt like I was where I wanted to be. Other people use lab tests from their doctors to track their progress, which is fine. I think some version of tracking and accountability is really, really, Here's another quote for you. Millionaires check their goals every day. Billionaires check their goals twice a day. Could it be that some people don't achieve their goals or keep their resolutions because they forget they even have them? You can ponder that while you listen to the tip of the week. The tip of the week is a great one. If you're trying to eat more healthfully or lose weight, substitute half of a non-starchy vegetable rice or. With a non-starchy vegetable. Another great example, spiralized zucchini, and mix it with your favorite pasta. And don't forget about spaghetti squash. It's so good for you and so much like spaghetti. Here's another idea for your rice fry, cauliflower rice or broccoli rice, which is just chopped up cauliflower or chopped up broccoli. So this doesn't work for everything. There are some times when you're gonna wanna just keep your pasta recipe the way it's supposed to. But try it. It's a wonderful tip, and that is our tip of the. You are listening to Bending the Spoon, the podcast dedicated to making you a better cook. I'm Chef Laura Bonelli and I want to remind you that if you like recipes, go to bonelli cooking club.com and sign up for my email list and check out all of the options of participating in the club. And if you like what you hear today, hop over to pod chaser.com and leave bending the spoon of positive. Also for the video version of this podcast, subscribe to Bonicelli Cooking Club on YouTube. Now, back to our episode. One of the things I believe we all walked away with from the pandemic is that people really do need other people. Even people that claim they don't like other people realize this, and I've certainly noticed that the people that participate in the Mindful Mediterranean Group sessions are. Not always, but usually more successful than people that go alone. Why? Comradery and accountability. Yes, both are super important. In this case, there is not a competitive element to it like there may be if you were in, say, a runner in a running group, but in our group it's about support and a place to show up and let others. That you are working on your goals. People have good days and less good days, great weeks and less successful weeks, but because of the group, it all keeps going forward. So like all processes, it doesn't have to be perfect as long as you keep moving towards the goal and stick to your plan. So having a successful resolution may mean that you have to have a buddy or be more public about it than you want to be because it adds account. It involves others in your process and other people may have ideas that will help you towards your finishing line faster and better. And if you have health goals in mind for this year, I have a top tool to help you. Here is our top tool. It's a spiralizer. I've had this for over 10 years. It was under $30. They still are under $30, so it's durable and I use it at least once. Here's a little demo of how this thing works. Is it any wonder that children love doing this? And make sure that you cut your little noodles off after, oh, I don't know, 10 inches or so, because you don't want them to get too long. These cute little mushrooms at the end, which you can roast and eat too. Children love them. Pour more information about spiralizers. Go to my bendable. The link is in the show notes and that is our top tool fertilizer. I set quite a few goals for last year, and one of them I set was to start this podcast. It took me 10 months to get it together. I started late, spent two months trying to come up with the name, got behind scrambled to catch up, and we launched in late October. I have two goals for the podcast for 2023. The first is to really increase its production value, and the second is to grow the number of listeners and on YouTube subscribers. There you are. You're my buddy now and a part of my accountability team. I hope you make all of your resolutions happen. Reach all of your goals. Have a happy New year, and listen to our next episode, which is called Superfoods. Thank you so very much for listening to this episode of Bending the Spoon. If you like this episode or if you think someone else would find it useful, please leave a review on pod chaser.com, and if you have any questions for me, find me on Instagram or YouTube or go to Bonicelli cooking club.com and leave me a message. Thank you, and go and make some magic in your kitchen.