Dear New Year's Resolutions

Dear New Year’s Resolutions,

It was fun while it lasted.

Sincerely,

January 2^nd

Let’s try that again …

Dear New Year’s Resolutions,

As we emerge from yet another year plagued by a global pandemic, one can only hope for the new year to roll around minus the onslaught of diet ads. New year, new you? Why do I need to be new? Maybe this year, I will resolve to be the best version of me + not need to be replaced or ‘new’.

New Year’s Resolutions, you and I are old friends. Let’s chat. Here is how it usually goes. I set unrealistic self-expectations and you say goodbye to me after a few days. Perhaps you stick around for a few weeks just to humor me. Old friend, not this year. This year, I am breaking up with your unattainable goals. Half of the American population (!) resolves to ‘lose weight’. Diet culture tells us that this is the ultimate goal as we ring in the new year. What diet culture doesn’t tell us is that this goal fails all goal-setting rules ever used to achieve success.

So, New Year’s Resolution, my old friend, it is time for us to start setting SMART goals. (S)pecific, (M)easurable, (A)ttainable, (R)elevent, (T)ime-Based. The word is out, now someone with the goal of ‘lose weight’ will change that to the SMART goal of perhaps meal prepping on Sundays, getting 10,000 steps per day, packing lunch on weekdays instead of eating out, or drinking 6 glasses of water every day. You and your diet culture buddy got nothin’ on me and my SMART goals.

We are fighting back.

Some of us will surprisingly have a non weight-loss goal this year. We might actually change our perspective on food, set athletic goals, prioritize sleep or gratitude, learn how to cook yummy plant-based meals 😉.

I understand your position, if meeting self-improvement goals were easy, we wouldn’t need resolutions, we would just change on demand. The reason we keep crawling back to you year after year is that we believe our lives will be better if the transformation we are dreaming of requires a grueling amount of self-sacrifice. Not this year, old friend. This year, we are smarter than that. We are surviving a global pandemic, we are stronger, more connected, and more educated. Our resolutions will match our true goals, will not be so inflated that they are impossible to achieve. Above all, we will recognize harmful diet-culture rhetoric when we see it and replace it with uplifting + empowering messaging.

See you next December with my ‘measurable’ goal checked off on my to-do list

+ a smile on my face.

Sincerely,

A Food Blogger Inspiring + Living A Healthy Life (oh and a whole gang of followers looking to eat healthy food that still tastes good + escape your grip 🤣) Happy New Year!