2015: The Year You Reshape Your Well-Being (not necessarily your waistline)

Happy New Year! I hope 2015 is off to a good start for you. Do you have resolutions or intentions for the year ahead? I do. But I have to admit, this time of year can sometimes be a bit triggering for me. Triggering in the way that I find myself frustrated and angry by all the diet propaganda that inevitably follows most marketing and cultural messages regarding New Year Resolutions. But then, I had a personal Epiphany…

An epiphany is like an “A-HA” that shifts the way you think about something. 

This year I decided to do things differently, to think differently. Me getting angry at a $60+ billion giant, well-oiled marketing machine and allowing myself to be triggered, just drains my energy and does not serve me or anyone. Instead, to quote Gabby Bernstein, “I choose love, instead of fear.” I can’t force anyone to see things my way, just as much as the diet industry can’t force me to return to a lifestyle of deprivation, obsessive exercise and self-criticism.

My intention this year is to refrain from reacting to that messaging.  To just take a deep breath, do my work the way I feel moved to serve and let the actions of others not set me off course.  Put the focus where it’s important: my health and well-being and what I believe is my ultimate purpose in life (i.e.: this) 😉

I ran a campaign last month on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #MyEpiphany. The intent was to help folks find a more positive alternative to setting and achieving those 2015 wellness-related resolutions (if inclined to set them).  Here are some interesting discoveries (some my own and some from followers/ friends/ colleagues):

• Deciding to retire from Judo because my need to win revolved more around my weight and less around my sports achievement
• When I realized my beliefs around food, weight and exercise were harming, not helping my well-being
• Discovering that only I know what’s best for my health and well-being. I just need to be willing to listen
• When I decided resolutions to diet/lose X # of lbs were an ineffective use of my time and energy
• Throwing out my scale!
• Another #MyEpiphany for me was discovering intuitive eating as a more body-positive and self-loving approach to mealtimes
• #MyEpiphany was realizing food preoccupation, weight control, and over exercising are usually symptoms of something else…
• Exercising isn’t only good for my physical well being but essential to my mental and emotional well being
• When I decided resolutions to diet/lose X # of lbs were an ineffective use of my time and energy
• When I discovered #HealthAtEverySize, a non-diet and truly holistic approach to mine and my clients well-being.

• Health is subjective.
• Did you know the long-term success of diets is only 5%?!? Hmmmm…
• There are umpteenth reasons to exercise that do not involve the perceived need to reshape the body.
• What could you be doing differently? Have it come from a place of self-acceptance, care and love.
• Make it about the overall benefits you seek – improved energy, more mobility, less pain/stress – not the numbers on the scale.
• Setting goals: I focus on behaviours I need/want to change to create MY best health

Let’s continue the conversation in the comments below.  I’d like to know…

What’s your Epiphany around your health and wellness? How might you do things differently this year? How are you going to reshape your well-being without the diet?