As i was driving, i was wondering why i’ve seen more diet talk popping up as of late. Then - duh! - it hit me: the new year is approaching, and one of the most popular resolutions is “lose weight”. Oh sure, the amount varies, and reason behind it varies as well - but “lose weight” is still the base of it.
I wonder what kind of world we might live in, if instead of “lose weight”, people would instead make a new year’s resolution to “learn more about myself and the people in my life”. Instead of planning to shed pounds, how about working on shedding self-hatred/loathing/dislike/discomfort, or shedding the notion that the way a person looks is really one of the least important qualities about them?
I wonder if that’s asking too much.
December 27, 2007 at 6:42 pm
That’s what I was thinking. You have all these celebrations with all this food and you also have nearly constant ads for diet products and gyms talking about ‘getting in shape for new years’ and it’s hard to maintain perspective.
Plus if others have families like mine, they also spend a lot of time around diet and weight loss talk.
December 27, 2007 at 6:43 pm
You echoed my sentiments exactly. I’m actually working on two New Year’s stories for the newspaper I write for. One is a twist on the classic New Year’s resolution to lose weight: I’m featuring really odd and eclectic forms of exercise like belly dancing and kundalini yoga and placing the emphasis on health, not weight loss. And in the second piece, I’m spotlighting area organizations and people who do work in the community to better the quality of lives for others.
December 29, 2007 at 5:03 pm
[...] over at Babble recently posted her thoughts on the subject. It’s almost as if she peeked inside my brain and summed up what was percolating [...]
December 29, 2007 at 5:09 pm
[...] over at Babble recently posted her thoughts on the subject. It’s almost as if she peeked inside my brain and summed up what was percolating [...]
December 30, 2007 at 6:34 am
Yeah, the world certainly would be a better place if people made more productiver resolutions. Aside from, “I’m going to get back on that diet merry-go-round this year.” It’s a good point to have for the fat-acceptance movement. How would our world benifit if people could stop worrying about their weight, and start doing things with their lives.
December 30, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Instead of planning to shed pounds, how about working on shedding self-hatred/loathing/dislike/discomfort, or shedding the notion that the way a person looks is really one of the least important qualities about them?
That’s what I’m working on this year! Instead of thinking, “I will never be good enough,” for example I will think, “I am doing the best that I can, and it’s great.” It’s not much, but it’s a start.
December 31, 2007 at 8:50 am
I don’t like “diet” resolutions, but I think “healthy lifestyle” resolutions are good. Like instead of a number of pounds to lose, resolving to get more active or eat healthier. My goal is to do more yoga and bellydance and eat healthier. And take my vitamins.