No More Weight Loss Resolutions- Try This Instead

I know it’s tempting to want to “start over” with New Year’s approaching..especially for people in bodies they may not feel as much love for as they wish they did. In spite of the fact that other “resolutions” have come and gone.. and the only ones better off are the billion dollar diet industry.

Can I make a little suggestion please? Whether for New Year resolutions or Monday mornings or any other time the urge to start over.. takes over.

Think about adding versus taking away.

If you are going to pledge something, you want to add, not subtract. Typically resolutions focus on stopping something, “quitting” a longstanding habit, usually in too big a leap. It’s too grand a gesture that one typically hasn’t adequately prepared for. Deprivation has never been a particularly appealing strategy, and when not adhered to can leave you demoralized.. further reinforcing a negative belief about yourself that started all of the resolution-ing to begin with. NOTE: There are ways to change and shift behaviors.. of course. But there is usually support and a plan involved for those who succeed.

However, adding is a very different dynamic. It can still be challenging but without the deprivation piece the odds of succeeding weigh (ahem) more heavily in your favor.

One of the things that has been increasingly problematic for me personally has been starting my day with social media.. I don’t like that it’s become my morning routine.. on principle but also it’s energetically not a particularly nourishing way for me to begin the day. I feel like I am really going against everything I have believed in for so long.. to start the day with beautiful daily practices.. which I did for years and years.. I am not sure exactly when this changed but I’ve reached the point where I truly want to return to what is more congruent for me.

This will not be about “going off Facebook” for me. I am not focusing on taking something away.. I will go on Facebook at some point during the day (seriously). But what I really want to do to start my day is a sort of new craving..I want to do sun salutations and then listen to a beautiful guided meditation I just found. I even have a brand new beautiful pink yoga mat from my sons to replace my grimier one.

I have meditated on and off for years.. in various formats. Mantras, silent, mala beads, etc. Right now I am ditching all judgment, all advice.. all everything other than what I want and what feels really good to me and using this new guided meditation that is just right for me. Plus sun salutations that have been giving me a new feeling of embodiment.

I want all of this. I don’t want to be online first thing. I want to go back to things that feel really good to me and that reconnect me to a sense of myself that lines up with what I believe in and what I teach and what I know creates a platform for the best possible day. It’s not quite January first but I have begun.

Are you planning to change something for the coming new year? Is it something that is calling to you in a way that you know will feel good or is it more deprivational? Think about this and see if you can tweak whatever it is so that you feel filled up and good about whatever it is that you choose for yourself. It’s the only way change really comes in.. ever. With love and compassion and from an intuitive place of knowing what is a match to you and when.

My personal invitation to you- Let me help you sort things out a bit. When you’re not happy with your body, or feeling overwhelmed with patterns of eating that color the way you see yourself, it can be hard to know which actions will best serve you because you come from fear (and sometimes self-hate.. painful but true). A consult can help you get a little clarity and feedback and point you in the right direction even if you choose not to work with me.. Email me at Lisa at Intuitivebody dot com.. and let’s talk.

Wishing you much love and every blessing now and in the coming year.

xox