Body Positive New Year’s Resolutions: A Mini Resource Guide
Depending on your personality and life commitments, the turning of the year may be a time for deep peace and reflection or a wild whirl of parties and celebrations. But as New Year’s Day approaches, many of us are becoming more aware of the day’s ever-present accompaniment:
Resolutions.
New Year’s resolutions are by their very nature intended to improve us.
(After all, you don’t hear many people saying “My New Year’s resolution is to keep being my awesome self. Yup.”)
Resolutions can be used to uplift us, to challenge us, and to set and achieve goals. But unfortunately, they can also be used to beat ourselves and each other up, to fill us with shame, and — by unscrupulous people and companies — to manipulate us into buying more stuff to try to fill that achievement gap.
The classic New Year’s resolution is, of course, weight loss, in the form of gym memberships and new (or repeated) diets. But we know that intentional weight loss– whether you call it a diet, a lifestyle change, keto, clean eating, yoga for weight loss, Whole30, or anything else — doesn’t work in the long term.
So if weight loss doesn’t work in the long term, what are we supposed to replace it with? What about our friends and family who are all excited to get back to the gym or start on that lifestyle change that’s really going to work this time? How are we supposed to navigate all this while still being able to participate in the fun of New Year’s resolutions in a body-positive way?
From ditching diets to replacing unachievable goals, here’s your mini guide to a positive new year and to setting resolutions that are healthy both mentally and physically.
Quick Support: Body Positive New Year’s Quotes
“Instead of focusing on what you feel you need to fix or something you hate about yourself, how about making a resolution to do something that helps you love yourself? Maybe something fun, like go dance once a week or take a drawing class or learn to knit or play the piano or learn to code so you can make your own badass app. Something — anything — that helps you realize that focusing on what makes you feel joy is way more fulfilling than resolving to torture and starve your body because you hate it.” » Lindsey Averill
“New Year’s resolutions are bullshit. Why not choose goals that are not only more attainable, but also more beneficial? Commit to being honest and kind to everyone — including yourself — every day, not just the first few weeks of January. Promise yourself more belly laughs [next year]. More pleasure. More love. Your weight is not your worth.” » Substantia Jones
“If you want to make a resolution, resolve to find peace with your body exactly as it is.” » Pia Schiavo-Campo
“Remember this: You’re absolutely perfect and valuable just the way you are (yes, I’m serious) and making goals from a place of knowing your self-worth is a surefire way to ensure next year is a year to remember and love.” » Jes Baker
“This year, instead of focusing on being less, let’s focus on being more. Resolve to have more gratitude for everything your body does for you.
Take up more space in the world. Speak up more about things that are important to you. Do more joyful movement. Eat more delicious food that nourishes you.
This year, instead of trying for to create a ‘new you,’ resolve to take the old you out for a spin. I think you’ll find that she’s pretty spectacular.” » Ragen Chastain
“My yearly reminder: There is no resolution that, if kept, will make me more worthy to be loved.” » Nadia Bolz-Weber
Deeper Resources
Rewriting Your Body Image Story. What if you could change your life without changing your body this New Year? Experts Jennifer Rollin and Colleen Reichmann have created a training to help you find freedom from body image issues. Learn more about this course at The Eating Disorder Center »
10 Reasons Not to Focus on Weight in the New Year. “Every year, as January approaches, the siren song of the dieting and cosmetic fitness industries are at their loudest. People working to heal their relationship with food and body can feel tempted by all of these hope-filled commercials that say, “it can be different this time.” Few of us are immune. So we thought we’d share 10 reasons NOT to focus on your weight this year.” Read more from Be Nourished »
New Year’s Revolutions. “A major step in my own body positive journey was relinquishing the control that New Year’s Resolutions had over me. They were often filled with shame – promising to make changes to “better myself,” specifically my body, in some way that felt forced upon me by society instead of some way I personally wanted to grow.” Read more from Amy Pence-Brown »
Reassess Your Values in the New Year to Make Peace with Food. ” Finding different approaches to health, that are in line with your values, can help you get off the vicious cycle of diets that fail, and on to the path of recovery from chronic dieting and/or disordered eating.” Read more from Erica Leon »
Banning soda, sugary cereal or ice cream for your kids may not be the best strategy. “As a new year begins, I hear many of the typical restrictive resolutions: I will give up gluten, cut sugar, never drink again. Does restriction actually work? The answer is no.” Read more from the Washington Post »
Hi there! I'm Lindley. I create artwork that celebrates the unique beauty of bodies that fall outside conventional "beauty" standards at Body Liberation Photography. I'm also the creator of Body Liberation Stock and the Body Love Shop, a curated central resource for body-friendly artwork and products. Find all my work here at bodyliberationphotos.com.
