Survey says ... According to the annual New Year resolutions poll on YouGov Dec. 6 and 7, the top two resolutions for 2019 are: exercise more and eat healthier. These are the top two in any given year. Maybe it’s the excess of sweet and savory foods consumed between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. Maybe it’s because a new yeat equals a new start for most of us ... and maybe it’s because we overate more than just a tad, but it was grand while we were doing it! Now c’mon ... you know it was.

Okay. So, we’re going to be ready to get it together to greet the summer with fewer pounds and more body strength. Where to go? Fortunately for us we have a  YMCA that is aces! Pilates, yoga, cycling, swimming, Zumba, tennis, racquet ball, aerobics (floor and water) and so much more. And the program “Lose It With the Y!” No, not that kind of “losing it” although it’s what I thought of first. :-) Registration has begun for the eight weeks of healthy fun. Orientation is on Jan. 3 at 6 p.m. in the Coastal Club room to choose a coach, a team and then get ready to work during one hour training sessions. Weekly weigh-ins (just like Weight Watcher’s) keep your eye on the weight loss goals as you build muscle rather than lose it. For more info including pricing, contact Abby Jones at ajones@brymca.org

Several years ago I started working out at the Y - must be 10-12 years or so - just two days a week using the equipment. I started on Dec. 31 and by the end of March I had lost 21 pounds, tightened and strengthened my entire body! This is what I will most likely do this year. I paid the day pass fee ($5 back then - I think) and worked out for one hour. I ate a lot of homemade soups, veg, salads, fruit, chicken and fish. No red meat,  bread, pasta, sugar ... we all know the drill; know what we shouldn’t eat.

Crow Point Yoga over on 24 West St. in the Harbor has a dedicated following and newbies are always welcome.  Yoga - the fundamentals, beginner, restorative, hot vinyasa, tai chi, yoga for the over 60 set, yin yoga.  And  Feldenkrias is super for the joints - knees, backs, necks ...  I’’ve got yoga videos at home. No VHS player. And where the CDs are is anyone’s guess! The last time I took a yoga class was in Connecticut after my first daughter, Kassia, was born. There was a yoga program offered using the babes (6-9 months old) as part of the workout. Some poses were based on yoga ones but tweaked. For instance, one I remember was we moms would lie on our backs, raise our knees to our chests and then place our kid on top of our bent legs to raise them up, hold for however long, then lower. Raise. Lower. It was helpful and provided great bonding time for moms and babes and following the “class” we all sat around and visited drinking herb tea or water and munching on veg and fruits while the babies sat around grabbing at each other - or they were just reachimg out because they were tipping over. Yoga calls to me particularly because it is mindfulness. It helps us to remain limber and strengthen our limbs.

Tai Chi has always intrigued me. The meditative element (as there is in yoga), the flowing movements ... this I need to do in 2019, too. Maybe start with Crow Point’s five class pass. LOL ... I just had an image of me attempting a pose that became a take off on “I’m A Little Teapot” ... hmmm... Hey when you’re overweight these things can happen! The important thing to remember is to laugh.

And I can’t write about getting healthy without talking about the demon weed ... tobacco (you thought I was going to say something else, didn’t ya?). Tobacco has been the addiction of my lifetime. I’m smoking. I’m not smoking. I’ve quit more times than anyone I know ... sometimes for up to one year, and other times for one day - and all timeframes in between. It remains the habit I wish I’d never started. It is the hardest thing some of us will ever do (with regard to our health, anyway): quit smoking.

Well, I have decided to do that. I have been smoke-free for nine days (as of Christmas Eve). I always enjoyed smoking, but over the past three years I have really tried to quit. It’s on my mind a lot of the time. The devil on my left shoulder will say, Yea, but your grandfather smoked from the time he was 8 (yes, you are reading that correctly) to sometime in his 60s - and he lived to be 95. Angel on the right shoulder replies (I’ve listened to this conversation a lot): Yes, but back in the early 1900s tobacco was more a pure product without all of the chemical additives to make smoking less harsh and more addictive. Devil rolls his eyes and says, She really wants one. She’s stressed out. She needs to calm down. Feel that cigarette between her fingers ... watch the dancing flame make contact ... and ahhh... the exhale ... Angel (really getting perturbed now): She doesn’t need a cigarette - she needs to go for a walk ... think about, and talk to the trees ... talk to the crows and ravens ... breathe deeply in and out a few times.  There is serenity to be found in nature.

Yes there is. Serenity. Peace. Gotta have it. How about you?