5 Reasons I’m Not Resolving to Lose Weight This Year

Here's why losing weight won't be one of my New Year's Resolutions:

1.  I pay too much attention to the scale.

Whenever I resolve to lose weight, I find myself focusing a lot on my scale.  I have read that you shouldn’t weigh yourself more than maybe once a week, but I find myself stepping on the scale several times a day when I’m trying to lose weight.

Here’s what happens: I choose to have a salad instead of a cheeseburger and I feel great about making that healthy choice. So, when I get home from lunch my brain starts whispering to me that surely my awesome healthy choice at lunch has yielded some results. Then, I get on the scale.

I don’t know why I do this to myself when I know the results won’t be immediate, but I can’t stop myself. I become obsessed with the scale! This leads to lots of unnecessary frustration and stress. Losing weight when you are stressed is pretty much impossible for me.

2. I’m more concerned with calories than making healthy choices.

When I jump on the bandwagon with all the other people who have decided to lose weight this year, I start counting calories. Then, I start panicking about all the calories I’m eating. I still want to eat the cupcakes and chocolate so I tell myself that if I skip lunch I will have enough calories left in my “daily bank of calories” to have that cupcake after dinner.

That’s okay to do once in a while I guess, but if you make it a habit you can totally mess up your metabolism.  It’s much healthier to eat smaller portions or make better food choices and I know that. But if I’m being honest, that’s not what I actually do when I start trying to “lose weight.”

3. I often feel deprived or just plain hungry.

Because I’m skipping meals or choosing to eat the 100 calorie pack of cookies (which contains 4 doll sized cookies) instead of the 100 calorie chicken and vegetables… I end up walking around wondering how many people can hear my stomach growling.

When I do go a week without the cheeseburger or the chocolate, I start feeling like I would do anything for a bite of chocolate. If I could stop with one bite it would probably be okay. I don’t stop with one bite though. In fact, I usually stop after 1 bag of chocolates. That’s a lot of calories.

4. It tends to have a bad effect on my self-esteem.

When I start focusing on my weight, I start to have a negative image of myself. I start seeing all my flaws in the mirror. Truth is, when I’m not trying to lose weight, I’m too busy living my life to spend lots of time looking in the mirror.  It’s when I start trying to lose weight that I find myself frowning at my image in the mirror as I focus on every bulge, stretch mark, and imperfectly placed curve.

When I start trying to lose weight, I usually end up hating my body and that’s always bad.

5. It makes me feel guilty all year long.

I feel guilty all the time when I’m working to lose weight.  I feel guilty if I miss a day at the gym. I feel guilty if I sneak a piece of chocolate. I feel guilty when I put salad dressing on my salad. I feel guilty when I still can’t fit into my skinny jeans.

I feel guilty even after I give up on losing the weight, usually about the time bikini season hits and I realize I still look awful in swimwear. I start to feel guilty that I didn’t stick it out. It’s a never-ending cycle really.

So, if I’m not making a resolution to lose weight, what am I resolving to do? I haven’t quite decided yet. Maybe I’ll just resolve to make more healthy choices than I did this year. Maybe I’ll resolve to be happy with the way my body looks right now. Maybe I’ll resolve to feel sexy no matter what my size is. What will your resolution be?

Written by: Sara Parise