It's a new year, which means everyone is making resolutions about how to make this year the best one yet. The most popular resolution each year is to lose weight, and this is often not one that many people can stick to. Many set unattainable goals for themselves that they will never be able to achieve and end up with no progress, feeling much worse about themselves than when they started. For that reason, I think instead of being so focused on the numbers on a scale this year, we should focus on just feeling better about ourselves. The way to do this is through body positivity and working on how you feel on the inside, and not just the outside.

Though it is still fully possible to buckle down and start on a weight loss journey, often it's not as simple as just deciding to lose weight. A major part of it has to do with deciding to get healthy for the right reasons and being smart about what you're doing. Nearly all of my resolutions for the past 5 plus years have had some variation of hoping to lose weight in the upcoming year, but with no set plan to implement this. For that reason I always end up stressed if I don't see results, which is often counter productive to my progress. It wasn't until this past year when I stopped worrying so much about numbers and more about how I felt and just enjoying life that I actually saw results. It was also important to me that I began to accept that my body isn't necessarily like everyone else and understand that the process of losing weight loss won't be the same either.

So for anyone looking to resolve to lose weight in the upcoming year, it's important to take things slow and make sure you are happy mentally and emotionally before you try to improve yourself physically. When you are working out and eating well with an ultimate goal of just feeling better, you will actually enjoy and maintain it throughout the year, not just for a week or month following the first of the year.