Chic Goals

I've had many lovely emails from readers both during and after my 30 Chic Days of November, and I love reading all of them. In these emails you detail how you are making your life more chic and which parts were your favourites. Ani from California went one step further and made her own list of Chic Goals.

I commend Ani on her candidness. My favourite thing about a good blog is when the writer is honest yet edited. I really enjoyed Ani's list and thought you might too. I would love to hear your list, even if it doesn't reach an impressive 22 items long. Well done Ani!

Enjoy.

Ani's Guide to a Chic Life

1. Live all parts of my life with passion and be productive.

2. Eat less sugar and processed foods.

3. Eat less meat and dairy (I'm not going vegan or anything...but I believe everything needs to be eaten in moderation, and these foods are harder to digest.) And, I have given up those lunch meat things. I don't particularly like the look of them, and they have so much sodium and have been linked to increased risk of heart disease.

4. No bingeing (I've actually been good about this...I eat more slowly and if I feel like I'm having a crazy craving I just breathe deeply or do a couple yoga poses, and realize I don't really need chocolate or whatever...it's just stress.) or mindless eating.

5. Enjoy healthy foods and cook more.

6. Have active lifestyle and enjoy the outdoors-both of these things are instant mood lifters.

7. Be both athletic (not crazy athletic) and graceful.

8. Meditate

9. Journal

10. Be more calm

11. Practice piano

12. Practice Spanish

13. Listen to more classical music or other soothing music (I love Michael Buble, Paolo Nutini, or Carla Bruni after a long day). Or, some holiday music in the spirit of the season! ;)

14. More reading

15. Have gumption-I was inspired by Kate Winslet in the film The Holiday...she's one of my favorite actresses as well. Another scene I love in this movie involves Kate's character exploring Cameron Diaz's house (their characters trade houses for Christmas in the film) When Kate comes across the gym, she kind of laughs and closes the door, almost as if she is thinking...nope, not going to spend anytime in there! Although this is part of the script, it's this reaction which makes me adore Kate. She does watch what she eats and exercise, of course, but she's not obsessed about weight or being thin. She constantly speaks out against airbrushing and emphasis on being thin. And, she's one of the few celebrities without a personal chef and/or trainer. ;)

16. Go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier.

17. Sitting less, moving more. Even if you do formally exercise, sitting for long periods of time is just not healthy. My Grandmother is very European, so her approach to fitness and nutrition is more common sense than my crazy American ways. Her tip is to get up and walk around and stretch after every hour or so of sitting. I'm always really bad about doing this...but when I do follow her advice, it's actually easier when I take a break after I finish studying a chapter or section rather than keeping track of the time.

18. Practicing awareness, being present.

19. Be more consistent with skin care regimen.

20. Volunteer time, contribute to society.

21. Stay informed.

22. Watch less TV (I halved the number of shows I watch a week, and I no longer watch any other TV than those scheduled times) and spend less time on computer.

Other ones I have...I've been influenced by other books and quotes:Enjoy food. Enjoy life. Enjoy moving, being free, being/feeling alive.

Don't punish yourself with workouts/masochistic routines. Dance, run, skip, play, laugh!

Also, don't punish yourself with nasty food or overeating.

And, lastly, I love this quote by the chic Audrey Hepburn. "You have to be as relaxed as possible about food and fitness and the rest of it, or you'll be a slave to your beauty habits...you may have great skin, but you'll be a robot."

by Ani, from California