I don’t really make new year’s resolutions. Well, not anymore. Sure, it used to be the standard ‘lose weight,’ ‘read more,’ ‘volunteer more.’ But there’s too much pressure in living up to these promises that I’m sure to fail by the end of the month. And as hyper self-critical as I can be–which is a resolution all by itself–I resolve to not make any this year.

But it is a time for new beginnings. So today, I was motivated to do 1/2 hour on the elliptical while watching Friends which is now on Netflix–yay! And I followed it with a matcha green tea smoothie made in my Ninja (Sorry R, couldn’t stomach the $500 price tag on the Vitamix).

On another note, I heard this thing on NPR last year on the key to setting realistic goals and resolutions: start with something simple and attainable like “I will exercise for 5 minutes today.” That’s it. Don’t get ambitious. Start with something so amazingly modest, you’ll kick yourself for not meeting the goal. That way, if you do more than 5 minutes, you’ll applaud yourself and if you just do 5 minutes then you will have met your goal. The idea, of course, is to incrementally increase your goal to 10 minutes, 15, 20, etc. My goal today was to make it through one episode of Friends, which without commercials is 23 minutes. I did that plus another 7. Day 1 of New Year, New You was a hit! Don’t worry, I won’t keep calling it that. Just today.

Super Easy Matcha Green Tea Smoothie

1 T matcha green tea powder, TJ’s version is fine
1 banana
2 T Greek Yogurt
1 c ice
1/2 c almond milk, soy or regular will do

Blend and enjoy!