The upcoming New Year got me thinking about goals for 2014:

• write book
• travel to three different countries
• run another half marathon—and actually train for it this time
• learn more computer programmIng skills

Working out regularly is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions people make—E made a pact last year to up his workout game, and in 2013 he became a CrossFit devotee. So this morning, I wanted to make him something healthy, particularly after a week of eating Christmas cookies, drinking wine with our families and devouring my amazing rack of ribs last night for Sunday dinner, of which there was not a speck of barbecued meat left over for sandwiches the day after.

I have been eating banana and peanut butter roll ups for breakfast the past few days, because they’re easy and warm and a great post-workout snack (I try and eat after I do yoga or run when I can). For texture, I wanted to add something I hadn’t used before: chia seeds. The tiny, black seeds have gotten a lot of ink about their healthy properties, but at $13 a bag, I didn’t think they were that beneficial.

But my friend Joan, a certified pilates and kettlebells instructor-slash-lawyer, schooled me on their hydrating capabilities. “Chia seeds have been the secret go-to food of ancient Mayan tribes and other “ultra marathoning” tribes for centuries,” she told me via text message, sounding like the back of the Bob’s Red Mill package. “They essentially turn you into a camel.”

“If they help you stay hydrated, then chia seeds are good for marathon training… and for the day after New Year’s to help hangovers?” I replied.

“Yes, one could say.”

All the more reason to spend that $13.

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