Wow! I can't believe that it's already New Years Eve!
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| Marrying Justin was definitely the highlight of 2016 for me :) |
This time last year, I couldn't even fathom the changes that would be coming my way in 2016 (especially marriage), but I think I've done a pretty good job with adjusting my sails to the upcoming year. While the New Year brings with it new hopes, new goals, and new expectations, I think that sometimes we use the New Year as an excuse to criticize ourselves and bully our appearances (it also doesn't help that dieting companies and gyms often amp up advertising around this time to remind us of our "inadequacies" so that we'll buy their products and become our "best" selves). For the past few years, I've tried to write a post on or around New Years Eve to talk about my goals for myself in the upcoming year; this year though, I want to try something different. This year, I want to challenge myself and all of you to be kinder to ourselves in making New Years resolutions than we were in years prior. Also, while it's okay to want to become healthier, making resolutions that involve weight loss are often a double-edged sword.
If you're at a weight that you're not comfortable with, that's okay! Your weight doesn't determine whether you're a success or a failure; your weight doesn't validate or invalidate your existence; and your weight definitely does not serve as a determinate for happiness or unhappiness. No matter what you weigh, you're still you--and who you are is beautiful and worth loving. We need to learn to love ourselves and be happy with ourselves without strings attached and before we consider losing weight. If you're only happy and comfortable once you fit into those jeans your wore in high school or if you weigh the same weight as you did at a previous point in your life, your happiness becomes narrowed and your expectations of yourself become toxic. Additionally, losing weight doesn't necessarily solve all your problems; sometimes, it creates problems instead (like the development of anorexia and bulimia in my case). Often, we're our harshest judges and as a result, make false or unsupported assumptions about ourselves based off of how we think others see us.
If you are considering making a goal to lose weight this year (which is totally fine--I'm not condemning losing weight, but instead the negative and harmful reasons that often pressure us to feel the need to lose weight in the first place), I would suggest that instead of dieting, consider making goals that involve self-acceptance and also take the time to question why you feel the need to lose weight in the first place. Why? Because this worked for me (also, most diets often result in eating disorders, fail after few weeks, cause unhealthy relationships with food, and result weight gain as well). Since overcoming my binge eating disorder four years ago (I still can't believe it's been that long--time really does heal you and complete recovery is always a reality), I've lost a significant amount of weight though countering my own negative thoughts about myself, assessing my sources of self-worth, developing a healthy relationship with food, and realizing that what I eat and what I weigh don't define me. Sure, it's not a quick way to lose weight (it's taken me about three years to get all of the disorder weight off), but it's healthier for you than any diet plan out there both mentally and physically.
The best diet is not to diet and the best way to make a New Years resolution is to build yourself up first, rather tearing yourself down.
I hope that 2017 is a great year for all of you and I'm excited to see where this new year takes us (one of my resolutions is to get back in the swing of posting regularly)!
Oh, and Happy New Year!
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