4 Reasons Why I Resolve NOT to Resolve

IamMCM · December 2014

The New Year is less than a week away, and people with a case of the post-holiday guilts for indulging in all those tempting goodies, or those looking for a reason to finally take the fitness goal plunge are busily making New Years resolutions: "I resolve to sign up for the health club and go three days a week." "I resolve to cut out all snacks between meals." "I resolve to stop eating sugar." "I resolve to do a workout DVD 5 days a week." "I resolve to throw out all the snack food and buy no more in 2015."

Sure, it sounds logical. A new year, a new goal, and this year you're really going to stick to it, right? I was curious on how many actually do, and I found a Forbes article from last year that says 8 percent. Probably accurate and pretty dismal.

This year I resolve not to resolve, and here are the reasons why:

1) There's no reason to wait for healthier living. Why do I need to wait until a date on the calendar? I can make healthy choices today, and tomorrow, and whenever I wish without worrying about a number. Doing it on New Years Day is trendy, but living a healthy lifestyle isn't a trend. It's a smart, willful, conscious choice that's not tied into a date.

2) The New Year is a bad time for health goals. When you start your new lifestyle in January, you have a lot working against you. Most people were overwhelmed during the holidays and are having enough trouble getting back into the swing of things, let alone making major lifestyle changes. It's the dead of winter, which makes it hard to exercise in most parts of the country, and snow and sleet are convenient excuses for not driving to the health club. There's house cleaning to catch up on, neglected projects at work to deal with, and so many other things that interfere with New Years resolutions.

3) Millions of other people are doing the same thing as you. You'd think the camaraderie would be good, and it is in many ways. Unfortunately, it also gets in the way of success. The packed parking lot at the health club, full classes, and the impossibility of getting on a machine make it much easier to stop going. The fellow resolutioners you meet here and befriend drop away one by one, reducing your support circle and demotivating you. You see friends and family members abandoning their goals, and that leads right into number four...

4) It's socially acceptable to fail at New Years resolutions. It's pretty much become a stereotype. People laugh as they compare their ambitious goals and just how quickly they each tossed them by the wayside. That makes it easy to take one mistake, like scarfing down that container of ice cream or blowing off exercise for a week, and use it to say, "Darn it, I failed. Maybe next year." My health isn't a joke and I'm not going to treat it so lightly.

I've been there, done that, and know it doesn't work for me. Yes, some people do pull it off successfully. The New Year gives them that little nudge they need to say, "Okay, today I'm going to make a change," and 8 out of 100 will stick with that. I know I'm in the other 92, so for me January 1 will be just another day. I know I'll have ups and downs in my journey, but it won't be linked to a calendar page. It's all about my own choices/actions, no matter what the day.

mrsmuckster · December 2014

Well said

Sabine_Stroehm · December 2014

I don't make New Year's resolutions. That said, my longest holiday from work falls during New Years. In my experience (ymmv) new habits are easier for me to make and get settled into when I'm not working. I started my healthstyle on a January 2, 14 years ago this week. It wasn't a "New years" thing. I just wanted a good two weeks without the pressures of work to get settled into a routine.

mrsKOrtiz · December 2014

Greatly said!

Therealobi1 · December 2014

i guess it makes sense why people start in Jan, new year new start. You get all those dvd's endorsed by stars being sold and then the gyms have their special deals? did they say why the 8% succeeded? Maybe they had more realistic goals? Instead of an all or nothing attitude maybe they took baby steps that they could keep up with. I made new year resolutions and stuck to it as i had a goal in mind, my holiday, so i had no problems sticking to it. Maybe its not the date that is the issue, its the planning. You will still get people who fail no matter what date they start if not planned right or if they dont have the right attitude - i.e keep going no matter what happens.

IamMCM · December 2014

Therealobi, I'm certainly no expert, but I think you're onto something with the planning/goals. A resolution is a sort of goal, but it takes more than that. It sounds like you had goals beyond a generic resolution and kept your eyes on the prize. I know that goals help me tremendously, especially if I write them down and mark my progress (or even lack thereof) on a big calendar so I can quickly see how I'm doing, spot trends, etc.

I think more in depth stats would be fascinating. For example, of the 92 percent, how many went on it start again at some point, and how many of those ultimately succeeded? With smoking, it generally takes several tries to quit for good, so I wonder how fitness/health/weight loss stacks up.

Sabine, I think you're doing it the right way. You're choosing a perfect time that just so happens to coincide with the New Year.

Azexas · December 2014

Very well said

Therealobi1 · December 2014

IamMCM wrote: »

Therealobi, I'm certainly no expert, but I think you're onto something with the planning/goals. A resolution is a sort of goal, but it takes more than that. It sounds like you had goals beyond a generic resolution and kept your eyes on the prize. I know that goals help me tremendously, especially if I write them down and mark my progress (or even lack thereof) on a big calendar so I can quickly see how I'm doing, spot trends, etc.

I think more in depth stats would be fascinating. For example, of the 92 percent, how many went on it start again at some point, and how many of those ultimately succeeded? With smoking, it generally takes several tries to quit for good, so I wonder how fitness/health/weight loss stacks up.

Sabine, I think you're doing it the right way. You're choosing a perfect time that just so happens to coincide with the New Year.

Yes it would be good to know further stats. And what they did differently to make the succeed would be interesting.
To any new year resolutioner's out there lurking i would say dont be afraid of the stats. I say go for it but set up some mini goals for yourself. Give yourself plenty of time to achieve your goals. I had 10 months to lose weight for my holiday. Don't do anything drastic that you will get fed up of after awhile. no extreme dieting or extreme exercise routines required. Good luck.

47Jacqueline · December 2014

I never resolve. Resolutions, in my experience, are ideas that haven't been thought through.

What I do do, is, I make a list of objectives for the year. The difference is I have a schedule in place and a set of interim goals with dates. And I usually only have two that are major and run through the year. Any other are finite, like attend the Zumba Convention again in August.

IamMCM · December 2014

I think goals/objectives are very important over and above a broad resolution, at least for me. It helps me so much to have a step by step plan. At New Years, many people forget that part and just go with the broad idea, and I suspect that fuels some of the problems with following through successfully.

stephanieluvspb · December 2014

I don't make new years resolutions, instead I make 3 new years "mini" bucket list, things i have never done but would like to do in the coming year. Last year my bucket list was 1. snow ski 2. try sushi 3. ride a passenger train to another state. Not sure about this year yet

IamMCM · December 2014

Hopefully the sushi one turned you into a fan! Spicy tuna rolls...mmmmmm.

UnicornAmanda · December 2014

For years and years i made new years resolutions to lose weight. Every year. Last year i was 23 and 211 lbs at 5'2"... i made the same usual resolution. Barely got started with it and finally in february I decided to commit to my goal... im down 55 lbs 11 months later.

999tigger · December 2014

I tend not to make resolutions, but will make targets for this year.

1) There's no reason to wait for healthier living.

Id hardly be bothered about a delay of 3 days, many gyms arent open till NY anyway. I can understand why people start in the NY.

2) The New Year is a bad time for health goals.
Theres a lot of prep work to be done, plus 80% is diet for the average person anyway. Id consider time spen learning and understanding what needs to be done as time well spent. These arent weather dependent, just seems like a bunch of excuses.

3) Millions of other people are doing the same thing as you.
But still soem of them will stick with it and you could be one of them. You dont need them to follow your own targets. Compaining about the gym being busy just sounds like a lame excuse as 80% is diet and you cna just use your brain by exercising at home, moving more by taking a walk or using the gym at a different time like the morning or evening when the crowds have passed. It just sounds like an excuse.

4) It's socially acceptable to fail at New Years resolutions.

It probably is, but thats where doing a diet for the right reasons. When you commit yo a diet you arent doing it for society you are doing it for yourself. If you take it seriously and stick with it, then you wont be failing.

lawlifehanna · December 2014

My original plan was to start this as a new years thing, because I was simply too busy and tired to the point of burning out. I decided to first rest and regain my energy and then start in 2015. However, after just a few days of not stressing out about schedules and sleeping without the alarm clock, I found myself energized enough to start thinking about my health. Here I am, three full days to go before the new year, getting to the swing of things! Since I started before the new year, I won't be one of those 92% who fail, right

Oh, and I did sort of make a fitness-related resolution together with my boyfriend: whatever chocolate we had in the house on Christmas Day is the only chocolate allowed in the house until the end of spring semester, neither of us can purchase more.

lemurcat12 · December 2014

IamMCM wrote: »

I think goals/objectives are very important over and above a broad resolution, at least for me. It helps me so much to have a step by step plan. At New Years, many people forget that part and just go with the broad idea, and I suspect that fuels some of the problems with following through successfully.

I agree about goals/objectives, but for me New Years can be a perfect time. Part of it is that there's an added sense of "new start" that the new year brings (and that I do have a history of using the calendar to encourage me) and part of it is that I typically have some extra time around the holidays to put together my plan.

I don't think resolutions are all that, but I'm not at all down on using New Year's as an incentive. (I started this time in late January after reflecting for a few months about doing it and making a detailed multi-part plan--which is the kind of thing I like to do--and the reason for that timing wasn't the new year but the ending (finally) of a huge work project and me getting my life back in some sense as a result. However, I stopped drinking on January 2, 2010, and while that wasn't precisely a "resolution" the timing did not end up hurting at all.)

IamMCM · December 2014

I think a big part of the New Year is that people jump on the resolution bandwagon rather than really feeling committed to long-term change. I suspect the people who make here here to MFP have more of that commitment and therefore are likely to make up a higher proportion of the success stories. For most, it's just "do it because it's the thing to do," but they fail because they had no real commitment or plan for success.

It reminds me of the Ice Bucket Challenge. People did it because others were doing it. Sure, it raised a ton of money for ALS, but I doubt the vast majority of people became regular donors to ALS. They had a windfall, but now donations are back down to the usual level. Many probably still don't know much about it other than that it's Lou Gehrig disease. It was more about jumping on the bandwagon than actually getting behind the core cause.

I'd love to see a comparison of the overall stats vs. those where people take a concrete, long-lasting step like joining a site like MPF and sticking with it. It probably boosts that 8 percent number pretty nicely.

lthames0810 · December 2014

I suppose the new year is a natural time to take stock and reflect on things, but it seems even more natural to do that on your birthday. If only that were the tradition, we wouldn't have to avoid the gym in January.

I don't make new years resolutions, but randomly throughout the year I have times when I get to brooding on things in general. I consider whether I need to do something about my disatisfactions or let them be. This year it was the Thanksgiving weekend when I got my brooding fit.

I understand that goal setting is a habit of successful people. I suppose having a goal to work toward and measure progress against is motivating for some. I have disappointed myself too many times to bother. I tend to "resolve" to start a process rather than establish a goal. Over the long haul that process may result in achieving a desired effect, but whether it does or not, every day that I do it counts as a success.

tulips_and_tea · December 2014

IamMCM wrote: »

I think goals/objectives are very important over and above a broad resolution, at least for me. It helps me so much to have a step by step plan. At New Years, many people forget that part and just go with the broad idea, and I suspect that fuels some of the problems with following through successfully.

Yes, and I also agree with Therealobi1. As I always say, "A goal without a PLAN is just a wish." Resolutions and goals are important, but you also have to have the plan and tools to get there in the first place. Good thread. Thanks for sharing!

4 Reasons Why I Resolve NOT to Resolve

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