New Year's resolutions--no more!

Beginning in third grade and continuing into my mid-thirties, every New Year began with a resolution to lose weight. The fact that every diet I'd ever tried eventually led to failure, with the lost weight always returning, did not register on my "this is ridiculous" radar screen. Each year I would lose those hated pounds and each year, as predictable as the sunrise, I would regain the weight and then some.

About eight years prior to Andrea's death I experienced a wake-up call. I remember kneeling in our bathroom, cleaning up from my most recent breast-cancer-chemo-induced yuckiness and as I stood how I steadied myself by leaning on the shelf of our large oak-framed mirror. Absent-mindedly I peered at the reflected wisps of baby fine hair which stubbornly remained on my otherwise peach-fuzzed bald head. As I noted the defined cheekbones protruding from my very pale and very thin face an unexpected thought popped into my head, "You are finally at the weight you've always yearned to be...you're gonna look great in your coffin!" This thought shook my body more violently than the results of my nausea. Holding my aching belly, I stepped gingerly into our bedroom and sat down hard on the cushioned bench at the foot of our bed. In a flash I knew that my years of dieting were over. I would not waste one more valuable moment searching for the illusive diet that would finally work, or in reading labels and tallying calories consumed, or in reducing fat in recipes to the point of unpalatability. Enough!

Whatever minor or grave damage that may have already been done to our daughters' psyches via the modeling of body-hatred and dieting behaviors could not be undone--at the time, though, I had no idea that these actions could in any way be problematic for me or my children. I did not read the issue of Radiance Magazine in the Spring of 1991, the exact timing of my epiphany, where it was reported that:

I

            In 1990 Congress investigated hazards and misrepresentations of the diet industry.  C. Wayne Calloway, M.D. practices endocrinology in Washington, DC and has held prominent positions with the Mayo Clinic, university medical centers, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health.  He testified, "The great mythology is that the diet works and that you have failed.  Most likely, the act of dieting itself leads to the compulsion to eat. Bingeing is a normal consequence of starving."  (p. 15)

I had none of this knowledge then but I certainly do now.

Because of all I've learned in the past ten years I no longer make New Year's Resolutions. Each day is a day of resolutions...with an attempt to put into practice the wisdom gained from the previous day lived (or the previous moment--tomorrow or next year are not guaranteed to any of us).

So the start of a New Year, although important to recognize and to mark, no longer fills me with the longings or regrets encouraged by my previous New Year's Resolutions. If we make resolutions at the New Year it seems important that we examine the effects those promises are having not only on us but on those around us as well.

Blessings until next time (in 2010!!),

Doris

P.S.  To learn how you can help to "Rid the World of Fad Diets & Gimmicks" during Healthy Weight Week (Jan 17-23, 2010) please click here.

Comments

[ReyesJacklyn]

People in all countries take the http://www.lowest-rate-loans.com in different banks, just because that's comfortable and fast.

[western australia flowers]

New Year's resolutions--no more! - Very good article,interesting as well.Enjoyed reading alot.