No….We Don’t Need a New Version of You Because it is January!
This time of year can be some of the most vulnerable times for someone who struggles with their relationship with food and/or body. Why? Because we are INUNDATED with the “new year, new me,” mentality. Ugh. It’s everywhere. If you take a moment to notice, it’s likely that your TikTok/instagram, FYP, or any commercial on TV at the start of the new year pitches the idea that these companies know exactly what you need and how you need to do it in order to be a better version of you. You know the ads we are talking about…
“It’s the PERFECT time of year to work towards the PERFECT body.”
“Let’s start the year off with clean eating!”
“Finallllly lose those 20 pounds with xyz product!”
“It’s the time of year for long-lasting change.”
Blech. It’s gross. This time of year comes with pressure to set goals and change ourselves in one way or another. Society inundates us with diet culture, healthism and fatphobia. This marketing communicates that there is something fundamentally wrong with you and you need to change it by setting goals that are focused on appearance and being, ‘healthy.’ Sometimes you may not even know that diet culture is ringing in the new year with you! It is all soooo sneaky and has been so normalized at this point. Do you know what is even worse? There is this weird and unfortunate pressure to share those goals with each other, track your progress, and find, “accountability.” You know what that accountability is when diet culture is in the driver’s seat? - everyone silently judging themselves against one another. That just has a negative thought spiral written all over it.
These thoughts spirals lead to negative self-esteem and body image narratives such as…
Smaller is better - which can lead to reinforced negative harmful behavior.
Smaller bodies are always healthier bodies.
Stigma toward any body that isn't the thin ideal, creating more stigma
Feelings of failure when you do not meet the goals.
You may be reading this thinking, “Well yeah. That makes sense. Why do I want to do it so badly then? I always get let down anyway, but it feels so attractive.” Yep. You and most other humans are thinking the same exact thing. Isn’t it wild that people joke about how and when they will finally ‘give in’ on their resolution?
Why are we even doing it then?
Want to know what we think the answer to that is?
Acceptance and community.
It’s Okay to Want to Be Accepted
When we think about the fundamental desire to change ourselves - in any way - there is likely some deeper rooted reason that is making you feel this way. Something feels, ‘wrong’ and you want to change it. It makes sense to think you want to change something if it feels like it is not working. This makes you VERY human. Is the feeling that something is ‘wrong’ rooted in diet culture, body oppression, or anti-fat bias though? If you answer yes to any of those, that does not make you a bad person. It is the result of diet culture messages we receive everyday. Every. Single. Day. The desire to want to feel better and more comfortable in your body and your surroundings also makes you a human who is just trying to survive in this world. Unfortunately, Diet culture has manipulated the flip of the calendar to profit off of that very humanness.
It. Does. Not. Have. To. Be. That. Way. !!!
You CAN challenge diet culture and heal your relationship with food and restore your relationship with your body. I promise. That’s the very reason Renshaw Nutrition exists.
Everyone has a story that contributes to who you are. What if we said, “Tell us your story that has influenced your relationship with your body and food.” You might already be thinking about the comments or experiences that led to you wanting to change something about your body or food. We are the first to say that it is totally appropriate to want something different and feel safe, calm and content. We just suggest that it really is not really about the food or your body. We challenge you to consider the root of what you want to change.
Consider some questions to help you explore this:
What do you actually want as a result of a ‘new you’?
How would changing whatever you want to change, affect your value as a human?
Do you want to live in a space where acceptance is conditional? What does authentic acceptance mean to you?
*deep breath*
Those are pretty deep questions, and maybe you havent thought about it before? That’s okay too. These could be such valuable things to consider with a trusted support person or in a session with your dietitian/therapist. We hope to increase awareness of the deeper reason behind your desire to change yourself. When we can uncover what you are trying to accomplish with the ‘new year, new me’ goals, we can support authentic living that likely has nothing to do with the size of your body.
Goals that Have Nothing to Do With Your Size
Let’s consider some recovery-focused and holistic resolutions for this time of year that have nothing to do with the size of your body. Eating disorders thrive on making things black-and-white, and trackable. New year goals are often focused on a specific behavior for a specific amount of time. Let’s be honest, can you even think of a time where you set a behavior-focused goal and completed it fully? Probably not. Eventually black and white goals lead to disappointment and frustration.
Set a goal for books you want to read this year
Volunteer at a local charity to pet and love on fur babies
Join a support group (if you need it)
Call a family member or friend more often
Join a supper or book club
Establish a new, regular self-care routine (Psssst - we have a whole blog***** on this and even an amazon storefront of all of our favorite self-care things!)
Start a new hobby (painting/water coloring, baking, gardening)
Finally unsubscribe from all those junk emails - this is always one of mine!
None of these goals can be tracked with an app on your phone or quantified as “good” or “bad.” These goals have more to do with your value. We always say that if we take a look at where you spend your time, this is often going to reveal your true values. So let’s consider that.
We want to leave you with speaking some truth over you:
Is “gaining” actually bad? If your relationship to gravity has changed this year, have you also equally considered everything else that you gained over the previous year? New relationships, self-respect, knowledge, experiences, etc.
Just because the calendar says January does not mean that who you were when the calendar said December needs to be changed.
A smaller version is not a better version of you…it will likely lead to a hungrier and more irritable version of you.
Improving or caring about your health does not always “look” the way the media says it should. It’s possible to care about these things without being obsessed with them!
Wanna know the bottom-line here? There are sooooo many other more fun and fulfilling things you could be doing than changing the size and/or shape of your body. Let’s commit to doing those instead. Deal? Deal.