New Year's Resolutions: the Intuitive Eating, Non-Diet Versions
Happy New Year!… but also bring on the New Year's resolutions. Are you hoping to meet your health goals all year? According to a survey by Forbes Health, 1 in 10 people still participate in their resolutions after 1 month, and about 1% lasted a full year. My initial reaction after viewing this study was shock, but the more I thought about the trends on social media, the competitive nature humans hold, the pressure to meet high goals rather than small ones, and the big push to focus on numbers with health and fitness-related goals I recognized why these statistics make sense. It’s common for unrealistic food, body, and movement standards to be pushed on individuals that many times don’t successfully support them in achieving overall health.
So what are some better ways to stick with your resolution and make it a sustainable change? In this blog I’ve devised some non-diet, recovery-minded supportive resolutions to consider this New Year that can help in creating this long-term change rather than a short burst.
Set yourself up for success
Start by creating your 2025 goals individualized to you and ditch unrealistic standards. This means recognize your life, the time you have daily, weekly, and even monthly, and consider how one or each resolution can improve your routine rather than deplete your energy. Resolutions for one person’s life may not be the best fit for you– and that’s okay.
Consider the SMART acronym when creating resolutions: make them specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. For example, “I will move my body in a way that feels good to me for 30 minutes, 2 days per week” is a great way to go from no routine with movement to starting small and adjusting as the routine fits itself within your life. Another example “I will incorporate one new fruit or vegetable into my meal rotation each month” encourages incorporating a plant source into meals and snacks without the pressure of how often or how much, and could lend towards making this new plant source more enjoyable and likely find itself on your grocery list every week.
Avoid goals revolving around dieting and food, aka restricting
It’s common to see New Year’s resolutions that encourage improving health to involve specific numbers. Focusing on the number on the scale or calories takes away from tuning into your body about what is feeling good to you both physically and mentally. Take the above example: if you create a goal around movement with the intention of weight loss, but the weight loss doesn’t occur, what’s keeping you tied to continuing the resolution? Instead, try exploring how movement makes you feel, such as an increase in strength, stamina and improved mobility, or improvements in mental health. Try noticing the increase in weights you're lifting, or how long you can hold a yoga pose compared to when you first started, or how your pace increases and feeling less out of breath with a cardio movement. (Also notice how I said compared to YOU versus someone else’s start and end point.) More than likely starting small with movement and nutrition related goals will overtime allow you to see some shifts in your overall well being and reduce the chance of derailing your progress by specific values.
Prioritize the basic measures of health
Practice self care by meeting your needs in each basic measure of health:
Nutrition
Hydration
Stress management through healthy coping skills, such as journaling, crafting, or listening to music
Good quality sleep– aim for 6+ to 8 hours of sleep per night
Movement that makes your body feel good
Seek support from professionals
In eating disorders/disordered eating recovery specifically, know your triggers and identify coping skills/tools to manage them
Set boundaries with yourself and others
Make time for play and socialization
Embrace the 10 Intuitive eating principles
Intuitive Eating can play a key role in developing sustainable goals in your health journey as it encourages body attunement to meet one’s individual physical, mental, and emotional needs rather than having to rely on external sources. For more details on each principle take a look at my blog Intuitive Eating: The 10 Principles I Practice and Preach as a Dietitian.
Reject the Diet Mentality
Honor your Hunger
Make Peace with Food
Feel Your Fullness
Find the Satisfaction Factor
Challenge the food Police
Cope with Emotions with Kindness (rather than food)
Respect Your Body
Movement– Feel the Difference
Honor Your Health– Gentle Nutrition
Involve your support system in your goals
Go one step further with your resolution(s) and involve your support. This could include one of or all of the following:
Set a resolution that you can tackle with another person in your life
Join a group that helps you meet your New Year’s goal(s), such as a walking club for increasing cardio health, a meal support or menu planning group to help with meeting a meal plan, picking a new recipe once a month to increase your cooking skills, or being intentional with writing a grocery list and setting a grocery shopping routine
Share your resolution with your family to set the boundary that this is something you want to prioritize for the year so you have the space and time to meet this
Involve professionals in your resolution(s) as your support team, especially in eating disorder recovery
Still wanting more support with sticking to your New Year’s resolutions this year? Reach out to us at Enhance Nutrition to learn more about how we can help you create a long lasting, beneficial change.
Resources:
https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-year-resolutions-survey-2024/