Photo by Danny Fulgencio
New Year’s resolutions are all but pointless. That’s according to this article in The New Yorker, released just in time to crush all our hopes and dreams for 2014. A decades-old study showed that half of all Americans made resolutions, but only 19 percent of them had kept their goals two years later.
A more recent study — which looked at things like gym enrollments and when the word “diet” was searched on Google — showed that these attitudes tend to spike around the first of each week and month, too (although it’s nothing compared to the first of the year). After so much senseless indulgence at the year’s end, it’s no wonder we try to start anew come Jan. 1, whether or not it sticks.
The Advocate always is writing about how to get the most of the neighborhood — whether it’s trying new things or appreciating the small pleasures. Here are a few tips for the new year. But, think small. There’s always a new day, week or month to start again.
1. Eat more green. Check out our picks for healthy, meatless dining in and around Preston Hollow. Or, just scale back the greasy, processed foods. Here are some other health-conscious choices for dining out.
2. Bring gourmet cooking home. Whole Foods on Forest hosts “Back to the Basics: Health Starts Here”, a two-part series about healthy recipes for the new year. The first event is at 6:15 p.m. Jan. 15 and focuses on making great salads, baked sweet potato fries, mushrooms as the “new meat of 2014” and how to make your own chocolate almond milk. Part Two of the series is Jan. 22, covering no-oil bruschetta, roasted rosemary cauliflower and eggplant pizzas.
3. Learn to eat well on the go. At the Preston-Royal Central Market, nutrition expert Tziyon Zadoka will share tips during a free seminar at 7 p.m. Jan. 8, discussing how to make healthy eating work into a hectic lifestyle.
Photo by Danny Fulgencio
4. Try a new sport. In the wake of “Hunger Games” madness, an archery center opens this month at Walnut Hill and Central. You may have to go slightly outside of the neighborhood for these other out-of-the-ordinary adventures.
5. Exercise with others. Join a club like Run On, which hosts social runs every Wednesday night at its Preston/Forest store. Look into the 2014 programs at venues like the Jewish Community Center, Town North YMCA and Cooper Aerobics Center. Or, just hit the trails, if you have easy access.
6. Take more vacations — without leaving our neighborhood. Rediscover what we love about Preston Hollow.
7. Be more literary. The Poetry Society of Texas meets monthly at the Preston Royal Library; the next meeting is Jan. 11. And just about every neighborhood group or house of worship has a book club.
8. Become a “regular.” There’s something special about being a part of group that meets at the same bar or restaurant day after day without fail. In June, we wrote about such folks, including the retired Braniff pilots of Kel’s Kitchen and the barflies at Celebration. A simple way to enrich the soul.
