DID SOMEONE SAY, “NEW YEAR, NEW ME?”

Year in and year out we are bombarded with the phrase “It’s a new year, so it will be a new me”. Where people feel the urgent need to reinvent themselves, trying to brush off old nasty habits whilst attempting to partake in new and improved healthier habits. It goes from;

“I am going to join the gym” to “I’m cutting out sugar and luxuries” to “I am not going to eat takeout anymore”. Sound all too familiar I would say (rolls eyes) …

As a registered dietitian, I have heard a lot about my client’s new year’s resolutions, some succeed in their pursuit while others don’t. If that technique works well for you, well a BIG thumbs up to you! But, if it has resulted in the return of the same bad habits except that now you feel worse about them, I have great news for you.

I don’t usually recommend making resolutions. For many others and myself, they don’t work. Ever heard of the term, resolutions? Mmmmm, strange you might be thinking…?

Allow me to break it down for you. Instead of trying to be like the hare who teased the tortoise about being the faster runner but eventually ended up losing the race. Try this approach:

Meet yourself where you are, the way you are, right now in this very moment. Where there is no start or end date. No specific health goal at the outset. Rather focus on your relationship with food, the experience of eating, and being mindful of your hunger cues and responses which eventually leads to a sustainable healthier lifestyle.?

Remember that this is a lifelong process with many backs and forths, however, here are a few tips to challenge your way of thinking:

• Unresolution #1: Enjoy your food?

Enjoy your food- savour it. Suspend judgment. Instead of running an inner commentary about how you are an irredeemably terrible person with the dietary habits of a bridge troll and the willpower of a beanstalk giant, pay attention to whatever you are eating. Ask yourself the important questions: Is this nourishing? How do I usually feel after this meal? Will this allow me to satisfy my hunger? Is there a healthier alternative? There are no wrong responses. Once you’ve answered these questions using what you notice about those responses to make better food choices.?

• Unresolution #2: Be curious

Try something new once a week. Again, who cares what it is? What we are looking for is variety and a broadening of horizons. Search for healthy easy fun recipes on Pinterest, YouTube or TikTok the possibilities are endless. The key here is not to bite off more than you can chew because occasionally, it’s going to result in minor disaster. You’ll burn the new recipe. You’ll hate the new side. So what? Either way, it will be interesting, and over time, if you keep coming back to new things, your diet will widen. It will get easier to include things that are good for you.

?

Unresolution #3: Let go

Do you want to know what I want you to let go of entirely? Perfectionism. Perfectionism is an awful tyrant, and it lies. It undermines your best efforts and makes you believe that your gradual improvements are failures. Stop weighing yourself, instead use a clothing item to measure your fat loss. Focus on how you distribute various food groups on your plate (healthy plate model) instead of minimizing the size of your portion. Start with just 10 minutes of exercise three times per week and increase it by 5 minutes weekly.

When you quiet your judging mind, when you let go of fairy-tale perfection, you leave room for improvement in the real world, here and now.

I will end off by saying this if you want to feed a problem, keep thinking about it. If you want to starve a problem, take action. Most of the harm starts in your mind, with you and your thoughts. Most of the solutions start with a decision, courage, and action.?