Okay, I’ll admit it right now: I like New Year’s resolutions. As we near the end of December and the holidays reach a fever pitch and then abruptly end, I find myself pensive about how I want the next year to unfold. Like many, I spend a lot of the downtime between Christmas and New Year’s Day reflecting on the past year and what I loved and hated about it. I like to think of ways to reinvent the parts of my life that need improvement.

2006 was a good year and one of my busiest in recent memory. Between publishing another book, A Passion for Parties, building and moving into a new home in Aspen, and pouring a great deal of time and energy into this website, I scarcely had time to think about fitness. When I had the choice between working and exercising, I chose work. This is an area where I will strive to find balance in 2007.

Although I am active by nature —for starters, I walk everywhere— I have never loved exercise. Fortunately, I love sports. Skiing, horseback riding, hiking, and playing tennis (badly) are among my favorite activities. And this year, I vow to do more of all of them. Simple ways I plan to be more active include daily walks with my beloved dogs and trying to stick to a regiment of stretching regularly.

Pilates and yoga are two other activities I plan to do more regularly this year. Last winter, Simon would drag me to pilates after a day of skiing. I would groan at the idea of doing more exercise; at this point I just wanted to collapse on the couch and rest my weary, mogul-beaten legs. But after a session with our wonderful instructor Catherine Cusseguet, I was shocked at how energized I felt. The stretching and core work proved to be just what the body needed after a day on the slopes.

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Top: As much as Simon and I love to downhill ski, skinning up the mountain is a superior workout for building strength and cardiovascular endurance. It also gives me a huge appreciation for our skiing forefathers and how much stamina they must have had before rope tows, chairlifts and gondolas.
Bottom: I enjoy the mental and physical work of riding horses. Here we are enjoying an autumn near the Maroon Bells. Tuning into the animal and building trust are key elements to the whole experience.