Pre-Ramble: It’s the New Year, time for fresh starts,  self-examination and the ubiquitous “New Year’s resolution.” I  just have to weigh in on this…

According to wikipedia, my favorite factoid resource, a “resolution” is a commitment or pledge that an individual makes to an undertaking, often to curb some kind of unwanted behavior. A resolution remains in play until it is accomplished or abandoned. 

It will come as no surprise that the top New Year’s resolution for 2009 (and every year) is to “lose weight.”  This week’s People Magazine cover story (in a special double-wide issue) is “Half Their Size: How They Lost 437 lbs!”  And, what discussion of weight control would be complete without a nod to Oprah Winfrey whose public battle with weight is legendary. The January issue of “O” Magazine  features our beloved, now 200 pound star, as she chronicles her lamentable journey from fit to fat. I admire Oprah for many reasons, but I question the logic of her role as a model of fitness and weight loss - if a fabulously wealthy, high-profile gal with a personal chef and trainer can’t make a go of it, what hope do we have up here in the fly-over zone with a dog-eared volume of Cooking Light and a membership at the local Y? It should come as no surprise that just 12 percent of  resolutions set at the New Year are actually realized. 

Here’s the skinny:  It’s not about weight. The basic dynamics of nutrition and exercise can be learned in 10 minutes; it’s anxiety, denial, expectations, motivation and warm sourdough bread with butter that are less easily conquered. Issues with weight - gaining it or losing it - can function as a distraction from things that are out of whack somewhere else in your life. For some, mucking around with diet regimens and dreaming about the way things will be “when I lose the weight,” is far easier than facing the more difficult aspects of life, like finding a more satisfying job or getting out of a bad relationship. 

When you’re looking down the barrel of a loaded Coney dog, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that life is lived in the moment - the only place where you actually have an opportunity to face challenges and make things happen. Sure, nobody wants to go through life hauling around extra pounds, but ultimately it’s not about whether you’re fat or skinny, it’s about what you are doing with your life. If you’re excited about the real things going on - exploring new hobbies, going to interesting places, visiting with fun people - you won’t even have time to think about Entenmann’s.

Try this on for size:  Instead of making a New Year’s resolution, now’s the time to amp it up and go for the full-blown New Year’s “revolution.”  From the Latin “revolutio” meaning “a turn around,” a revolution is a fundamental change in power or structure that takes place in a relatively short period of time. What better way to characterize the kind of paradigm shift that can bring real and meaningful change to your life? Think of all the valuable resources that are consumed in the cumbersome process of food management; what else could you have been doing with all that time and energy? And even if you’re thin… Great… So what?  What kind of a life is it, if all you’ve done is ration french fries and run yourself ragged at the gym? 

Seriously. Just because the human body needs to eat a few times per day to keep healthy doesn’t mean that you have to make food and eating a 24 hour exercise. Unless you’re a chef or a cow, (a ruminant animal that consumes over 100 pounds of feed and a bathtub full of water each day), you can make your daily interface with food the necessary, albeit pleasurable, but secondary part of your life that it is intended to be. 

The Take-Away: Revolutionize your thinking!  There’s a reason those Nike athletes are so ripped – back away from that pasta bar and scope out new things to go/be/do! Get off that same old psychological  treadmill and switch your focus from weight to living. By reframing your thinking, you can bring a new focus and energy to the real underlying personal challenges you want to lick and roll out a super-size pack of awesome new goals for ’09!

Trackback URI | Comments RSS