A New Year Without a Resolution???

The tradition of making New Year’s resolutions has been around for thousands of years, dating back to the era of the Babylonians, according to history.com. In fact, resolutions began with religious roots when the crops were planted and a new king reigned. Promises were made to the gods to pay off debts and return anything that was borrowed. In today's world, the New Year’s resolution has become a mostly secular celebration focusing mostly on oneself. It is studied that only 8% of people fulfill their resolutions. I'm not a fan of those odds! So, why do we set ourselves up for failure?

Today’s resolutions are mostly health focused. After a few months of celebrations, diet culture messaging tells us that we need to “get back on track”.  A few years back, I began by putting health as my number one priority. While I thought that was progress, it was actually dieting and restricting in hiding. I didn’t realize that dieting was actually harming me and perpetuating the cycle of shame and binge eating. Diets and diet culture messaging is broken, not me, and not you. You may have already heard me talk about it but in case you haven’t, check out one of my recent blogs where I talk about how to heal your relationship with food.

You might be wondering, “If I let go of dieting, what do I do instead?” Intuitive Eating lays the foundation for healing your relationship with food. While it can be challenging, it is so worth the effort. It can be overwhelming to completely change the way you relate to and think about food. Start slow and be gracious and compassionate with yourself. This is not another diet and cannot be done perfectly. Know that it will take time, persistence, and a bit of faith but the payoff is FREEDOM. You will never have to have a diet or weight loss Resolution again.

New Year’s can still be a great time for self-reflection. I personally enjoy the ceremony of reviewing the year past and seeing what I’d like to be different going forward. A few years ago, I changed from setting resolutions to intentions. The idea being that it’s all a journey, not a destination. This feels like a focusing in, rather than a should or something I need to push. It is an evaluation of my priorities and a look at how I can better live my priorities. I personally like to focus on intentions that benefit my whole life, rather than trying to control and manage my body. 

Last year my intentions were:

1. Continue building trust with myself
   
2. More fun/adventure/play/travel
   
3. Building a sustainable business
   

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I loved them so much I am keeping them this year. And adding, finishing my book and getting it published in 2022! I’d love to hear what your 2022 intentions are, comment below.