By Mary Pannabecker Steiner
A friend recently challenged everyone to admit what percentage of their 2011 resolutions they'd managed to meet. Problem was, I couldn't even remember what I might have resolved, so I had to backtrack through my blogs until I found my answer. I didn't make any. Well, technically, I didn't make any although there was a short list of resolutions I'd have made if I were a resolution maker. Oddly, I actually fulfilled a few of those non-resolutions.

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An article in the Dec. 27, 2011 Wall Street Journal suggested that we're more likely to stick to our resolutions if we outsource them. No, not to Mexico. To a friend or relative. One woman and her son began doing this 10 years ago when he was 12. Apparently, they've had some success.

Here's the problem. If I ask my husband to make my resolutions for me, I'm pretty sure they'll be things I don't want to do, like cut back on running, sleep in more often, quit worrying. You get the picture. On the other hand, if I were to make his resolutions, they'd probably be greeted with about as much enthusiasm. So I guess we'll skip the outsourcing this year.

If you think about it, the best resolutions to make are ones that you're pretty sure you can stick to. This is probably cheating, but hey, who cares? For example, resolve to eat more dark chocolate. This works especially well if you already love dark chocolate. It contains flavonoids, which act as antioxidants, which protect the body from aging caused by free radicals - the stuff that causes damage that leads to heart disease. Dark chocolate contains something like eight times the number of antioxidants in strawberries. So...just in case you want to stock up now, I recommend Poco Dolce bittersweet chocolate bars with sea salt.

But as I said last year, I don't make resolutions. But if I did, here's what I would resolve:

1.) Keep a running journal to track how many miles I put in over 12 months. In more than 35 years of running, I've never done this. Truthfully, I'm not at all good at journaling, so this will be a tough one.

2.) Eat more dark chocolate. Hey, it sounds good to me.

3.) Write real letters. On paper. With a pen. And mail them. Just doing my part to support the U.S. Postal Service even as it threatens to yet again close another regional center.

Okay, that's it. I'm stopping with three. I already know I'm going to get a good start on the mileage tracking since my New Year's Eve plan is to join more than 300 other runners at the

11th annual Midnight Special 5K in Whitehouse. All I have to do is figure out how far I have left to run at midnight and I'll have my first mileage to record.

If I celebrate with some dark chocolate at the finish line, I'll already have two resolutions already underway and it'll only be 10 minutes into 2012. Good thing I didn't resolve to get to bed earlier, because I'll have blown that idea right away.