Happy New Year!

Wow, here we are a full week into 2014!  Some people out there have already abandoned their New Years Resolutions and I'm still creating mine.  I don't normally make resolutions because like many, I might have forgotten about them by now.  This year I decided to be more productive and set some goals for myself instead. SMART goals as a matter of fact.  SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.  By adding these elements to goal setting you can go from "I'm going to get healthy" to "I'm going to increase my physical activity over the next two months to 150 minutes per week by starting with two 30 min sessions per week and adding another 30 min session every two weeks".  It's specific because you're addressing an area of your health (physical activity), measurable because you're setting a certain number of 30 min sessions per week, attainable because you have determined that most days of the week you have time for 30 min of activity, relevant because adding exercise has real health benefits and time-bound because you intend to reach your goal at the end of two months (eight weeks).  By putting the plan in writing and revisiting it often, you will remember to schedule your 30 min during the week and be on top of when you need to start adding that extra session.  You can then make similar goals related to diet to address that part of "getting healthy" as well as stress management etc.  Rather than lump everything into one vague statement about getting healthy, you actually end up with a plan of action.

I always have all these ideas of things I want to do and accomplish and rarely make headway because I don't give my ideas the time and attention they need to develop.  So this is my plan of attack to get things done and I'll let you know how it all pans out!  Have goals of your own? Give it a try!

One of my goals is to provide more easy, tasty, whole food recipes on this blog to encourage people to cook at home and with real ingredients~Wow did I slack in December!  It was a very busy month (as usual) but I do have some things on deck to share so stay tuned!

For those of you on Facebook, please check out and "like" my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/WhosGotTheThyme . I often share recipe links, pictures, tidbits and interesting articles that I come across.

Have a Happy Healthy New Year Everyone!!!  (That's our Christmas tree that the kids set up in the back yard and decorated with sprinklers and pool toys!)