In December, houses all around the world are filled with a more-than-average amount of food. Whether families are preparing for upcoming feasts or receiving holiday cookies as presents, food fills the refrigerators and cupboards for about a month straight. Then, all of a sudden, on January 1st, the cookies have become carrots and the leftover meat has become a low calorie soup.
With all of the food in our homes leading up to New Years, it is inevitable that people indulge, excessively. This increase in consumption, mixed with the lack of exercise caused by the cold and rainy weather, has given the New Year’s resolution it’s fame.
Gaining weight during the Holiday Season is as natural as the growth of a newborn child. Nobody is trying to diet in the weeks leading up to New Years; most people just accept the fact that they are going to add on a couple extra pounds. How does one avoid the delicious snacks and feasts of the December holidays? It is simple: you can’t.
Don’t think calorie repentance doesn’t exist. Starting January 1st, with New Year’s resolutions in full motion, people try to make up their month or two of awful eating habits. They start going to the gym, on runs, and whatever else they could do to feel better about their health. The real question is: how long do New Year’s resolutions last before people start going back to their normal ways?
They call it New Year’s resolution for a reason; it comes with the new year and lasts a very short amount of time. If these promises for a better lifestyle were expected to last all year, they would call it an All Year’s resolution. The purpose of a New Year’s resolution is to get into a healthy habit that lasts all year, but they hardly ever last.
This problem of impermanence comes with a person’s habits going into the New Year. If the person is used to exercising all year round, they are not going to make a health-related New Year’s resolution, they are just going to continue their normal lifestyle. If someone makes a New Year’s resolution, they are obviously trying to start something they are not used to. If they are not used to it, they probably won’t stick with it, making New Year’s resolutions pointless.
So, long story short, eating unhealthily and excessively during the months leading up to New Years is about as common as abandoning your New Year’s resolution one month into the New Year. If this is you, don’t feel guilty or unaccomplished. Feel normal.