It’s time to start making those dreaded New Year’s resolutions.

Starting my list, I realized there would be a theme to this year’s resolutions and that theme is to not let my pregnancy take over my body in a negative way.

I swore the day I found out about my pregnancy that I would stay healthy and continue my exercise routine no matter how I felt or which foods I craved. This lasted about three weeks. My healthy eating regimen, which included limitations on fried foods and sugar, came to a halt the moment the nausea and vomiting set in on a regular basis.

The first to go was the exercise. My daily jogging routine came to an abrupt stop. I figured I would take a few weeks off until I became accustomed to the nausea, which quickly turned into months.

Now I am completely out of shape, which means rolling off the couch or getting out of bed after my joints have hardened into what feels like a rusty ball of metal.

Then there is the trip from my car to the front door of my house, which includes two sets of about eight steps. By the time I reach the front door, I can no longer form complete sentences without gasping.

My New Year’s resolution is to start swimming, jogging and using the Stair Master. Or, maybe just to walk a mile per day without stopping every two minutes.

The nausea also wreaked havoc on my diet. For several months, the only thing that I could stomach was a large helping of french fries. I’m not sure if it was the grease or salt but each oil-soaked carton would subdue the sickness for at least 20 minutes. French fries became my No. 1 pregnancy staple and the main ingredient in my meals.

Now that the sickness has started to limit itself to actual “morning” sickness, I vow to eat healthy meals for at least two meals of the day. The sugar is also going to be shelved. I have never been big on sugary foods but lately I have been shoveling in the cookies, candy and pastries as if I owned stock in Sara Lee and Hershey.

I don’t need a dietitian or doctor to tell me my habits have become ridiculous. The way I have felt lately spells it out louder than any lecture my mom can give me on how difficult it is on the baby to treat my body like a garbage disposal for junk food.

Which leads to my No. 1 motivation for changing my ways. I am not doing this for me. I am doing this for someone who has no control over taking in the foods that are passing through the placenta. I wouldn’t smoke a cigarette or drink alcohol, so why would I keep passing along foods that have no nutritional value to my own child?

It sounds easy; however, everyone knows how difficult it is to kick-start a New Year’s resolution routine. So, I have come up with a phrase that not only is significant to the next few years of the life I am now responsible for, it is going to be crucial for my new Jack LaLanne lifestyle. The key is going to be “baby steps.”

“Baby steps” is not original, as I have seen it used by home organizer Web sites, financial planning Web sites and as self-help group slogans, so I won’t claim to have coined the phrase as my own.

My intention is to think of the phrase every time I successfully pass a drive-through, load my grocery cart with Ben and Jerry’s and then circle back to unload it before check-out, or complete an uninterrupted walk that lasts longer than 12 minutes.

I have tried the gung-ho approach before and each time it ends in defeat. I have tried goals of quitting caffeine cold turkey, cleaning my entire house in one weekend and deciding to cook every meal at home and eliminate eating out. It never works and then I feel like a failure. Maybe trying it a little bit at a time will be easier. Time will tell.

Baby steps ahoy!



Address correspondence to Rachel Kubicek, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, Mo. 64802.