Weight loss or diet resolutions are arguably made more often than any other New Year’s resolution.
It’s a perfect time to both remove any excess weight gained during the holiday season as well as any extra pounds gained throughout the rest of the year and previous years.
Diets are the number one resolution made and they’re the number one resolution broken too.
Resolutions to lose weight are often dead, but not forgotten, by the middle of January. That wouldn’t be a bad thing but the problem is that the diet is over but the guilt and self-flagellation for failing never stops.
Guilt and negative thoughts about your body, your weight, and your failure (again) to get fit by losing weight are self-defeating. They take away motivation because they reinforce everything that makes you think you’ll never get fit. They spill over into more aspects of your life than most of us are aware.
That’s why I think nobody should resolve to lose weight or go on a diet in 2017. It’s a negative, vague and proven to end with disappointing results.
I am offering positive resolutions that will make you feel good, fit, and strong both physically and mentally. Although this sounds cliché, they could change your life.
In 2017 I resolve to
1. Love my food
- Eat only food that tastes good
- Eat more foods that are naturally nutrient dense with low energy content
- Eat more fresh and unprocessed foods
- Eat mindfully – eat slowly seated at the table, take time to enjoy each bite, chew thoroughly
- Enjoy occasional treats free from guilt and in balance and moderation – food choices do not reflect character or moral integrity
- Stop whenever you’re full irrespective of how much is left on the plate
2. Sit less
- Stand up and move for 5 minutes after a straight hour of sitting whenever possible (it’s possible more often than you think)
- Stand instead of sitting whenever possible (it’s possible more often than you think)
- Walk instead of standing whenever possible (it’s possible more often than you think)
3. Enjoy active play everyday for 30 minutes or longer
- Do something that makes large muscle groups move in a repetitive way. Dance, run around with kids and/or dogs, roller skate, ski, swim, paddle a kayak, row a boat, just pick an activity or many activities and take time to enjoy one every day.
4. (the most important one of all) Treat myself as though I was a treasured friend and the most important person in my life
- Listen to the words I use when I talk to myself.
- Replace all negative messages with words of encouragement
- Be my own coach. Give myself small goals and specific instructions to enable myself to reach my full abilities
5. Expect to make mistakes and keep going
- I’ll correct my mistake and keep moving towards my goal. (What do I do when you are going somewhere and I make a wrong turn? Do I correct the mistake to get to my destination or just go home?)