Here are our six tips for a healthy 2014:

1.       Eat nutritiously

Sure it’s easier said than done, but start with small changes you can make that will help you develop nutritious habits. What you eat—and drink—and what you don’t eat and drink can definitely make a difference to your health. Eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day and less saturated fat can help improve your health and may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. Eat a balanced diet and watch your portion sizes.

Depending on your personality, you may wish to master one tip before moving to the next or you may prefer to do an “all or nothing” approach. Check out our healthy eating tips here.

 2.       Get moving

Keep in mind that any activity that gets your body moving and heart pumping is exercise. Cleaning your house, parking your car farther away and walking to your destination as well as taking the stairs instead of the elevator all add up.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise every week. If you haven’t been getting regular exercise, you should work up to these recommendations.

Here are some suggestions to help you prioritize exercise:

• Find a partner (a human or a dog) to help keep you motivated and accountable.
• Make it a family affair; suggest a nightly walk before curling up on the couch.
• Try something new. Mix up your exercise routine to prevent boredom and work different muscle groups.
• Don’t forget strength training. The CDC recommends you perform muscle-strengthening activities two or more days a week in addition to aerobic exercise. As we age, strength training plays an important role in preventing Osteoporosis.
• Remember that exercise is important throughout every stage of life – even during pregnancy. Check out this post for tips on exercising when you are pregnant.

3.       Practice prevention

Prevention is an integral part of good care at every stage of life. Routine doctors’ appointments can help detect signs of illness when they are most treatable.

Learn what health screenings you should have through each age and stage of your life.

4.       Invest in your mental health

Remember that your mental health is as important as your physical health. Take steps to manage stress, know the signs and symptoms of postpartum disorders, practice deep breathing, mindfulness and self-compassion.

Know when it is time to consult a professional and learn more about psychological counseling at Virginia Women’s Center.

5.       If you smoke – QUIT

Check out these tips and consult with your health care provider about effective ways to quit smoking. Help lines, counseling, medications and other forms of support are available to help you quit. Health concerns associated with smoking include cancer, lung disease, early menopause, infertility and pregnancy complications. Smoking triples the risk of dying from heart disease among those who are middle-aged.

6.       Make room for sleep

As a society, we are quick to “burn the candle on both ends” and give up sleep in order to complete our to-do lists. This strategy will come at a cost if we routinely deprive ourselves of sleep, as it plays a very important role in maintaining healthy, productive and safe lives.

Learn tips for practicing good sleep hygiene and for getting more sleep when you are pregnant.

We wish you a year of health and joy!

I have long thought that mini-vans were more prone to more mess than smaller vehicles.  It is like up-sizing your purse – the more stuff that fits in, the more you are likely to tote.

However, since our family is currently assessing whether or not it is worth resuscitating our past-its-prime mini-van, I have been temporarily driving a sedan.  Recently I found myself thinking that the problem was that this car is just too small to stow everything, so it is a complete disaster.

Hmmmm, wait a minute.

I recognize that I can’t have it both ways – the minivan is too big, the sedan is too small. Yep, so the real problem is the passengers.  And, after reflection, perhaps the driver should take some ownership, too. So, at the risk of airing “dirty laundry”, our cars – no matter the size – have a high “yuck factor”.

The primary rule of organization, whether you are organizing your home, your office or your car, is not to let the junk get in the car in the first place.  Why is this so challenging?

As I inventory the contents of my vehicle, there are school projects, highly sought after treasures junk freebies from festivals, work papers, brochures from museum exhibits and the list goes on and on.

Further complicating matters, there is a contraindication of important stuff that is supposed to be in your vehicle and having these essentials near yucky stuff.  You can read more about sticky situations and my lollipop principle here.  And the more stuff you have in the car, yucky or otherwise, the greater probability of important stuff getting messed up by yucky stuff.

So now what?

Let’s be clear: I don’t profess to have the answers.  Although my Car Organization Board on Pinterest (you can follow me here) demonstrates that there are many good suggestions out there for organizing your car, I need to stop pinning and start doing.

Here are 4 things I commit to remember as the New Year unfolds:

1. Thoroughly clean out cars and detail.
2. Install a storage system for toys and trash (see my Pinterest Car Organization board for suggestions that might work for you).
3. Develop a habit of taking everything with us as we exit.
4. Figure out rules and post in a prominent place in the car.

I have observed clean vehicles with children’s car seats in them.

It is possible. 

If you are one of those parents, please share your secret.  And if you are not, please leave a comment listing the most disgusting artifact you have excavated from your vehicle.

If tween twin parenting has taught me anything in 2013, it’s the need for judicious flexibility.

So as a new year’s resolution neophyte, coming up with—and sticking to—fourteen goals for the new year sounds too daunting. Dipping a toe in, here are my four easily mantra-ed maternal mandates:

This year, I will…

Hangar my helicopter.
Protection is one thing; preventing mistakes that provide valuable life lessons is something else entirely. Resolving to stand by and hug as needed.

Document my darlings.
Baby books focus on the early milestones—doubt the achievements and worthwhile moments end at age twelve.

Encourage expression and learn to listen.
They may say a lot of things that are hard to hear, but they need to communicate openly…and to know that they’ll be heard.

Savor.
The dust can gather. The sheets can go unchanged a little longer. We can watch another 30 minutes of Spongebob Squarepants. We can laugh longer at the dinner table; the dishes can wait. We can color a little longer and skate a little longer and play ping pong a little longer and stretch on the floor and pet the dog a little longer.  Next year, when we reflect on the year gone by, those are the times we’ll want to remember.

I Resolve to Not Try to Be Superwoman But To Instead Wear The Shirt and Claim Superpowers

I love the idea of New Year’s resolutions.  From my list last year, which I shared publicly on my blog, I was most successful with the things I wanted to NOT do, like NOT gardening and NOT cutting my hair!  In 2013, work was a big theme for us in our house.  I had a new job that really forced me to stretch my balancing skills.  So this year, to ease that balancing act, I want my resolutions to focus on work.  Here they are.  What do you think?

1. Don’t dwell on work after hours (and vice verse).  Let’s face it.  It’s not always possible to leave work at work and home at home.  At our house, the challenge is how to not let doing or thinking about work intrude on our precious family, home  and sleep time.  Figure out one thing you can do to avoid dwelling at work (or home) while at home (or at work) because doing it too much could get you in trouble on either front!
2. Buy yourself a nice work bag!  You work hard for that money, girl!  No more red Target shopping bags to carry your laptop to and from work.  Splurge and get one that you love and will last!
3. Take a walk at work every day.   I am fortunate to work in downtown RVA where I can walk around the capitol building very easily.  I plan to take at least 15 minutes every day to take a walk, no matter what!
4. Do a “balance check” every Friday asking myself, “Is anything off kilter?  How can we get the balance back?”  I plan to schedule this check-in with myself (and put it on my calendar!) or else I would think about it constantly.
5. Decide to be happy at work.  I actually am currently happy at work and I don’t want a change, but since these are resolutions for the whole year ahead, I need to keep this on my list as a gentle reminder.  To this end, things I will do are keep my work space clean, and surround myself with things that make me happy like drawings by the kids!
6. Appreciate and find the strengths in your co-workers.  After all, they are first and foremost fellow human beings!  They may have quirks, work styles you don’t admire, or make your work harder instead of easier.  Find a way to move past those things or live with them.  Love them anyway.
7. Use the leave you’ve earned!  Take a vacation!  Enough said.
8. Take your kids to work! Where I work, kids are not allowed, but I can bring them in on a day I am off.  They are curious about what I do and would love to ride the elevator and see the city from high up in my office building.  I want the place I spend almost every day to seem real to them.
9. Visit the kids at school. Go have lunch with them and continue to volunteer in their classroom every few weeks.  It makes us all feel better and more connected.
10. As frequently as you can, have a day date with your hubby.  While the kids are in school or daycare, let’s go on a staycation somewhere that the kids would hate.  Last year we went to Montpelier and loved it!

What are YOUR resolutions (or anti-resolutions) this year?

By Alex Iwashyna, blogger at Late Enough

Well, it’s that time of year again. When we all make promises, resolutions, intentions and plans like we’ll be different people in January 2012. And we might be. Until we catch up with ourselves in February.

Here’s what my January self will be doing until December Alex shows up.

1. Dress my age, which is 33. This means I have to wear skinny jeans and heels instead of a mumu and slippers. Maybe I can pretend to be 75.

2. Take more time for myself. After looking over my schedule, midnight to 1 a.m. works perfectly.

3. Get more sleep. If I do #2, I’ll need to sleep in until 9:30 in the morning. Sorry Scott. And kids. And work. And school.

4. See my friends more. I wonder if they’re available at 1 a.m.?

5. Have a clean house. Related: Buy a new house.

6. Get in shape. I already have a gym membership from August. I last saw the inside of that gym in September, BUT FREEZING COLD JANUARY WILL BE DIFFERENT.

7. Spend an entire weekend writing. I’ll just fire my family Friday night and rehire them on Sunday.

8. Stop taking things like Facebook, Twitter and people so personally. (I hope everyone else’s New Year’s resolution is to be nicer to me.)

9. Be a better listener instead of assuming which way the conversation is going. Of course, I’m usually right but I’m going to try to listen anyway even while you go on and on and on about the subject trying to get out of what I want you to do even though you clearly should do it because you must have forgotten about the time that I helped you last week or that time next week when you are gone three nights in a row so how am I supposed to not think that I should have tonight and wait, what? Oh, you’re okay with my plans even though I have to leave right now? And you've been trying to say that for the last 10 minutes?

10. Be on time to every appointment by turning the clocks to Daylight Savings Time on New Year’s Day. This is the one resolution I can keep until March 11th!

See you next year – a little larger, a little less fashionable and completely exhausted.

Happy New Year!