Ep 140 - What to do instead of a New Year's Resolution

<p>Hello and welcome to How to love your body, welcome to our first episode of 2021! Today we are talking about new year’s resolutions why we keep doing them even when they don’t work and what we can do instead!</p> <p>1. We’re sold the idea of a fresh start when the calendar turns to January, we think things will be different this time, the things in our life we don’t like will shift and we will be new people! (Also being told that weight loss is life changing doesn’t help)</p> <p>The first step here is just realizing this isn't true. The best way to do this is to look at your own evidence. How have the new year’s of your past been? Were they profound shifts that gave you a new life every year? Probably not. … And there isn’t something you haven't figured out yet that will make it different. It’s just that a change in the calendar year doesn't actually have an effect on anything at all. If you want to make changes in an area of your life, just do it when you want to do it. No need to wait for new years. This just leads to the whole “Ill start again on Monday effect”, especially when it comes to dieting, new years is the ultimate Monday. This leads people to having a last supper for ALL of december with the promise of a fresh new start on Jan 1 ! This all or nothing thinking is not helpful. Step 1 in getting out of the new years resolution rut is to stop giving January so much significance!</p> <p>2. The New Year seems like a good time to get motivated and dive into something that gives us purpose and feelings of success. This is a HUGE driver of why people continue dieting long after it feels good and we trudge through even with all of the negative side effects.</p> <p>With a lot of people we work with . they share that not dieting just feels complacent, it’s boring, it’s stagnant, it can feel like giving up or letting yourself go. We are used to drama and so called accomplishments when it comes to what we eat and what we weigh. This can be addicting even when its negatively affecting you..</p> <p>The