RESOLUTION...SMESOLUTION

I find myself wondering why people throw so much effort into making resolutions at the dawn of a new year. Everyone wants to shed pounds, tone up, and get healthy…but why now? Yes, it is the beginning of a new year. Yes, “the holidays” are officially over. Yes, it is approximately 5 to 6 months before bathing suit season begins. But why make the decision to completely alter our unhealthy lifestyles from one day to the next? I personally feel that we put a tremendous amount of pressure on ourselves to become this person that we in many ways, do not even know. This of course does not always have something to do with health...people have all kinds of convictions…a desire to be thankful and appreciative, learning to serve and give back, becoming a person who listens intently, someone who focuses on purity…we all make adjustments, be them internal or external. I am writing about resolutions as they relate to body image because most can identify with this type of goal.

December 31st is the end of time marked by laziness and stuffing our faces with comfort foods. We seem to embrace our degenerated existence with an apathetic approach to health in general, at least for the time being. We tell ourselves that we deserve this “treat” because we are home with our family and friends…I mean after all, it is the season of joy and a time to make merry. Then, the new year rolls around. January 1st is characterized by working out, counting points, and the desire to make oftentimes radical changes…it seems our enthusiasm is boundless.
Herein we find the question…and perhaps the root of the problem: Are we really putting our best foot forward by setting our personal goals and expectations far above the place where we currently tread? Are we ever really resolving to do anything differently than we did in years past if we keep hoping for the same seemingly unattainable results? Are we ultimately responsible for falling short of our body-image goals because we have too much confidence and inadequate resources?

I have learned through experience that most people, me included, give up entirely on their resolution in a matter of weeks. The fact is that our plans for great success at the beginning of a new year are almost always thwarted by the unplanned highs and lows that we face on a day to day basis. We are so excited to begin a new journey…maybe this will be the year! But then it gets difficult to stay motivated. So many obstacles in our paths: getting out of our routine due to work, illness, long weekends, special occasions, our time of the month…and the list goes on and on. We can probably think of a million excuses to take a few days off at the gym and eat all we want for a night or two. These excuses become the poison that kills us! We all know how quickly that mindset can destroy all of the progress that we have made on our race to the “new me in the new year” finish line.

One week of gaining back a pound leads to another week of “fat days” and before you know it, you hate yourself all over again. You feel like you cannot possibly take pride in yourself if you can’t even get it together enough to stay motivated for a few months, never mind a lifetime. So, you stop watching your diet as closely…your trips to the gym become more infrequent. This cycle is perpetual.

So…what is the big deal? Why not make resolutions that you hope to keep? One argument may be that if you do not at least try to “do better” in 2010, you will fall further behind…that may be true, but in my experience that is unlikely. I am no expert… (I am being totally honest when I say I would really like to lose a good deal of weight by eating healthier foods and exercises regularly)…but, I think I have learned what does not work.

Someone like me will be unsuccessful if I set the bar ridiculously high just because it’s January. Instead, we should make better use our time in the new year. We should reflect on our successes and failures in order to decipher goals that will benefit us for a lifetime…goals that will stretch us and mold us into the women (and men) that we yearn to be. My hope is that we would all regularly evaluate our progress and reassess our goals throughout the year, rather than focusing all of our energy on one day of the year.

My resolution for 2010 is to rethink resolutions altogether…