"New Year, New Me" Pressures to Lose Weight & What To Do Instead
The holiday season has come to a close. Christmas trees are thrown out, stockings are put away, and New Year’s resolutions are in the air. Every year in January, thousands claim weight loss as their resolution for the new year and set out in the pursuit of changing their body shape and size.
In fact, it’s this time of year where diet culture does some of its most damaging work. If you’re in disordered eating recovery and/or working on mending your relationship with food, this time of year can be especially stressful and challenging. All the talk of weight loss and dieting can be tempting. Old habits and ways of coping can resurface because you’re unhappy with your body, your life, or sometimes a combination of both.
Is it okay to want weight loss in the new year?
As registered dietitians and eating disorder specialists who help people to improve their relationship with both food and body, we believe in body autonomy. More specifically, we believe that you have the right to choose what you do with your body. We also don’t believe in taking away the very things that have helped you to survive. And, we also know and educate on the harms of weight cycling, dieting and disordered eating on your physical and mental health.
It’s difficult for many to fight the desire to lose weight, especially at the beginning of the year. Between Ozempic and similar medications, new diets, discounted gym memberships and meal plans, it seems like all you hear about are people’s weight loss goals. Not joining in might lead to self-judgment and thoughts that you are “lazy” or “unmotivated”. Sometimes the urge is so strong that you might find yourself regressing in your healing process from an eating disorder or disordered eating.
The aftermath of holiday seasons can also contribute to a desire to lose weight as well. Holidays often involve holiday foods (foods that are conventionally considered ‘bad’ or ‘unhealthy’ by diet and wellness culture), and you might feel that you’ve “over-indulged” or eaten more than you would’ve liked. Negative feelings about weight-gain or foods consumed during the holidays may lead you to view the New Year as the “ultimate reset”. Coping with weight gain or perceived weight gain can be challenging and intensify the desire to lose weight.
Your desire to lose weight is normal, natural, and to be expected considering the culture you live in.
If you find yourself wanting weight loss this January, it’s important to remind yourself why you’re wanting to stop weight cycling and dieting, and connect to your “why” of why you want to heal your relationship to food and break free of diet and wellness culture . Diet culture tells you that being thin is the key to health, success, love, and a life worth living. Amidst all the resolution hype and glorification, diet and wellness culture fails to tell you that many people lose weight and are still unhappy.
Is weight loss what you’re actually looking for in the New Year?
You might think that weight loss is what you’re searching for, when in reality, the desire to lose weight is often a window that allows you to see the things you’re wanting and desiring in your life.For example, someone might think that they want to fit into a smaller pair of jeans they used to wear, but they actually yearn for the way people treated them when they wore the smaller jeans. Another person might think they want to diet to bring order to their life, when in reality, they’re craving a more structured, organized routine. Another person might want to lose weight to feel more confident, when really they are searching for love and want to be in a relationship.
If you’re thinking that weight loss will be the solution you’re looking for, try asking yourself these questions:
“Am I happy with my social life? How about my love life?
“Am I lonely? Do I feel like I have enough friends”
“Do I feel comfortable and confident in my own skin?”
“Do I leave work feeling productive, satisfied, and fulfilled?”
“Do I crave more structure or routine in my life?”
“How do I think it will be different this time?”
“When will my body be good enough?”
“Do I currently feel out-of-control?”
“Do I spend enough time outside throughout my day?”
“Am I just used to the pursuit of weight loss?”
“Do I associate the pursuit of weight loss with productivity? Success?”
“Do I enjoy the foods that I normally eat, or am I eating what I think I should be eating?”
“What do I think weight loss will add to my life that I don’t currently have?”
“How will this pursuit of weight loss be different from past attempts to lose weight or diet?”
“Am I tired of the way I am treated because of my body?”
Check-in with yourself after answering these questions to evaluate what other things you desire and want in the New Year. Is it more love? More time with your kids? More confidence? More structure/routine? etc. Be compassionate and kind to yourself and you explore how you’re really doing in life.
What other resolutions can I make instead of weight loss in the New Year?
If you want to start the New Year with resolutions that are rooted in something besides weight loss, whether you’re in eating disorder or disordered eating recovery or the questions above sparked curiosities for you, consider these alternative resolutions instead:
Saving up to buy clothes that you feel confident and comfortable in
Spend more time with friends or family throughout the week
Unfollow anyone that doesn’t feel supportive on social media
Get outside at least 1x per day
Join a new club or attend a social event
Buy a habit tracker (great for those with ADHD!)
Get a new journal or an old one you stopped writing it and start using it
Find a dating coach and get new photos taken for your dating profile
Plan out your day or week the night before for more structure
Practice mindfulness through breathing exercises or meditation
Use daily or weekly gratitude check-ins
Schedule time for your own self care
Sign up for a new class (french class? knitting? pottery?)
It’s important to find a resolution that serves you and doesn’t add unnecessary stress to your life. It’s possible to set New Year’s resolutions or intentions that don’t involve weight loss or dieting.
What if you don’t want a New Years resolution at all?
It’s perfectly normal and okay to not want a resolution at all. You absolutely don’t have to have a resolution to have a year worth living.
If January is a hard month to start things (as it is for many!), you don’t have to have a resolution. You’re not any less motivated, worthy, or successful than those that do have a resolution(s). It’s okay to simply be! You, as your current self, are more than enough.
Have compassion for all the hard work you’ve done to repair your relationship with your body and food. You don’t have to fall into diet culture’s weight loss resolution trap this year. It’s okay to desire weight loss, and losing weight likely isn’t going to bring you what you’re missing or hoping for. Remind yourself of what pursuing weight loss normally leads to: a rabbit-hole of yo-yo dieting, poor self-esteem, and a negative relationship with food.
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Do you want to be health and well in the New Year but don’t know how to do it without pursuing weight loss or dieting?
Bravespace Nutrition’s dietitians are here to help! Our caring, nonjudgmental dietitians know how difficult this time of year can be and are here to help you succeed in your recovery journey. We’re equipped with the tools and knowledge to help you fight back against diet culture this holiday season! To get started today, schedule a free 15-minute discovery phone call!