THE THING ABOUT NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

It's December 30th 2023, and we're just coming out of an extended season of indulgences that, for most of us, began a little before Halloween, and will finally end at New Year's day with our New Year's resolutions. We're fat and happy from all of the traditionally decadent meals and festivities we have enjoyed throughout autumn and into the beginning of winter. As the

Christmas carol goes, "It's the most wonderful time of the year," and we've said yes to all of the delicious richness of the season. How blessed we have all been! But all good things must come to an end, and the buzz of the holidays will soon be wearing off. We'll be deflating our air-inflated lawn decorations and pulling the ornaments and lights from our Christmas trees, carefully tucking everything back into our closets and storage sheds, until next year. The holidays have been a blast! But now it's time to "Get back on track," Right? So the New Year's resolution is a timely invention. But I dare ask, will it actually be effective?

Losing weight is by far the most common of banal New Year's resolutions. We can see how all of the weight loss and exercise advertisements are really ramped up on our boob tubes (that's our TV, for anybody who hasn't heard this pretty accurate expression) right now. The diet industry really makes a killing from us at this time of the year! So, while exercise is always a really great habit to make- is starting one of the hundreds of "Diets" out there really a good idea? I mean aren't we being totally set up to fail? Considering that most diets are going to leave us feeling deprived and wavering, testing our resolve within about six weeks- just in time for Valentine's Day! Then we struggle to get back on track, only to be confronted with the indulgences of St. Patrick's day! And then Easter. And so, on the celebrations go through the year, culminating again in the "Holiday season." If you think about it, just about every holiday is centered around unhealthy indulgences. Is this how it all started? I don't think so! Just for starters, our ancestors didn't even have access to so much junky food as we do now-a-days. We don't even have to toil in the kitchen if we don't want to. We no longer have to go out to kill and dismember that poor beast for our traditional meals. We can now pay someone else to put in the effort that actually made the traditional meal so special. And sadly, many of us get the bulk of our exercise, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, fighting for and wrapping all of the discounted crap we snagged at the Black Friday sales! I'm pretty positive that this wasn't "Tradition" even 30 years ago!

So, dare I ask, if we've already been making incremental changes in our holidays, why don't we just change our traditions toward healthier celebrations altogether? How about we put the effort back into our celebratory meals? How about we leave that poor dead beast off of our holiday spread altogether? What if we swapped healthy, plant based ingredients with all of that processed food- like crap we have been indulging in? This comes as a slap in the face for some people, I know. But why? Haven't we all been slowly modifying traditions anyway? Our "Traditions" have slowly shifted, and are no longer accurately representing what they once were. And our clothing sizes and our health have changed with them as well- and not for the better!

So, what if our New year's resolutions were to update our holidays? What if we just changed our mindsets around how we celebrate? If we can change our mindsets we can change our traditions. And this has the potential to change our lifestyles to those that don't need to diet after the holidays. We can celebrate and indulge just as much in healthy, plant based feasts, that taste amazing, without damaging our health. And we can spend quality time in our kitchens, cooperating with our children and grandchildren, preparing our sacred meals and passing on the recipes of our new, healthy, traditions. Talk about rejoicing! Isn't this what our holidays are actually all about?

So, the thing about New Year's resolutions is- make one that really counts! Who's with me? Who's ready to ditch all of the post Christmas "Diet" BS and adopt a sustainable, health promoting, plant based lifestyle, that will leave you even healthier after all of the indulgent holidays? I'm pretty excited to start my New Year's "Traditions!" I hope you are too? And, as always, if you don't know where to start and you need some help, I've got your back! Just give me a call or shoot me a text, and we'll get you started! Happy New Year my friends! Let's make 2024 the healthiest year yet!