Getting Started in 2014 - Moving Past the Gluttony (iPod Nano Review @StaplesCanada)

Ah, January. Time for reflections, wishes, & resolutions. While it's cliche and utterly predictable to be jumping onto the bandwagon with renewed commitments to fitness and eating well, I will be the first to produce my ticket for the "New Year, New You!" train!

The holidays are ending, and this is just some of what people left at our house since New Year's Eve.

These squares are SO. GOOD. I have eaten way too many of them. And there's still a plateful left.

I don't know if you've ever had these mint chocolates from Rheo Thompson Candies in Stratford, but they're the (2nd) most amazing chocolates I've ever eaten (the 1st being Salted Caramel Chocolates from Purdy's Chocolate). And our dear friends gave a whole box of them to us as a gift. I've eaten 4 of them in the past 24 hours.
Since the middle of November when I started posting Christmas Baking recipes on the blog, I've been eating far too many sweets. Once upon a time not so many months ago, I was proud of my ever-slimming waist and flattening stomach. I was eating limited amounts of sugar and, more importantly, limited amounts of processed wheat products. When I do those two things, I don't have to wait months to see the impact that it makes on my body. Similarly, when I don't do these two things, it doesn't take long to notice the effect of my eating habits on my waistline, my thighs, my arms, and any other place on the body that's good at jiggling.
Besides the complete lack of willpower with my nutrition, I've also been shirking my physical activities for WAY too long. I know that it's important. It just feels less important at 7:30 when the kids are finally in bed and the dishes are in the dishwasher & the toys have been put away.
Enter: January 1st. The proverbial clean slate. Arriving so close on the heels of the month of gluttony that we call The Holidays, it really is the perfect time to reset the compass & move to bigger & better things.
Right before Christmas, I received an iPod Nano from Staples to take a look at & review. I didn't look over the specs very carefully before it arrived in the mail, and I have to admit that at first, I was slightly disappointed. I live with an iPhone in my pocket and a tablet on the table. I'm used to electronic devices within my reach being able to make calls, take photos or videos, surf the web, & update my social media statuses.  This pretty little thing is unable to do any of those (what I now consider 'basic') tasks. Huh. So, it's another device to carry around that lets me do a few of the really basic things that my iPhone already does, but none of the more fun, interesting things? Hmm. Not looking so good for our hero.

And then. I discovered that this little device has an FM radio. This is HUGE for me. Why, in this day & age of digital radio programs & various apps, is it a big deal? Because I'm a radio addict. Specifically, I'm a CBC Radio 1 addict. If I don't get my Jian Ghomeshi fix during the course of a day I get a little twitchy. I stay at home with my kids (and often, someone else's kids) and my frail grasp on sanity some days is the adult interaction (yes, I do talk back to Jian's guests, frequently) that comes through my radio. But. Do you know how often radio apps freeze up or bork my phone? Often enough that I've stopped using them. Loading the kids into the stroller & baby carrier & for a walk around our neighbourhood just became a lot more mentally stimulating, because I can take my radio with me. (I know this is not a new thing. I had a yellow Sony Walkman just like the rest of you in the 90's - but I don't think that I've carried a radio around in my pocket since then. Score one for the pretty little device.

I've also realized that I spend altogether too much time looking at a screen during the course of my day. I need to do less of it. But when I listen to music on my phone while I'm cleaning or exercising,  I'm seeing & hearing all of my email, FB, Twitter, & Instagram notifications come trickling in...and then I have to look at them. There's something to be said for a device that allows the pleasure of listening to my playlist without interruption. I'm not good at disciplining myself that way. I can access my playlists & listen to audiobooks while I workout and not once get drawn into the bottomless pit of my screen. 2-0 for the Nano.

And then, of course, there's Nike+ and a pedometre in the Nano. I haven't used either of them yet, but I also haven't been out to the gym yet. Or out for a walk yet. (It's -20 and there's a snowfall warning. Can you blame me?) I look forward to seeing how these preform, especially when we get closer to the spring and I'll start doing the stairs up & down the escarpment again.
All in all, I have to say that I used to think that a Nano was a great device for a kid who was in the walkman stage of life - but as a mom who's trying to get active, this is actually one device that I'd rather not part with, anymore!

My bag is packed up, I'm ready to go. I'm joining Karen from That Mom Blog & some girls for a sort of informal Biggest Loser (I hesitate to use the word 'competition') thing this month. I'm going to hit the gym on my own, I'm going to try my best to take part in Marya's 30 day Fitness Challenge, I'm going to finally get out that yoga mat & DVD that have been in the cupboard for 2 years now and give that a go - There is NO SHAME in jumping on the bandwagon, people. Sure, the YMCA 'regulars' will bitch & moan a little because they have to wait for their turn at the machines, but come on - this is your health & your body on the line. Get up and get moving. Find what you need (like the Nano, for me!) to make it less boring or insufferable, and do something. And if you find that, come Feb 12th, all of your good intentions came to naught? Don't wait until January 1st 2015 to get started again. Hop right back up onto that bandwagon on Feb 13th - I'll give you a hand up.