Are your resolutions properly motivated?

Here we are again, a new year. A significant amount of people make resolutions, something to strive for. The new year, despite being the first holiday of the year, tends to feel like an end to two months of celebrations. This year may have been different for many, yet I am sure that one thing it still had in common with past years is the celebratory food. Generally, our gatherings and holidays revolve around delicious dishes we make, whether they are from our family, traditions, or are something new we came across on Pinterest. All this food and feasting can cause a little extra weight gain. By the time we get to New Year's Day, we are just hoping our clothes are going to fit the same, thus causing one of the most popular resolutions: to lose weight, exercise more, and generally be healthier. Have you been to the grocery store lately? The aisles are filled with vitamins, exercise equipment and cookbooks. When I went last, I saw vitamins in four different locations outside of the actual vitamin aisle. When we commit, whether long-term or short-term at the beginning of the year for these new health goals, I just want you to think about what your true influencers are. I also want you to think about your health first, not what you think your health is or what someone told you it is. Health and weight are not the same thing. A very small person can be incredibly unhealthy, and a larger person can be incredibly healthy. The two are not always connected, despite what our Facebook friends selling the new diet/exercise trend tell us. This year, a goal of my own is to introduce more intuitive eating into my life. Intuitive eating is an idea that we are eating for our body and listening to what it needs and wants. Forget the diets. Almost any diet can be successful if you have the self-discipline to follow it. But once you have achieved your goal, what happens? Typically, you will gain weight if you stop following that meal plan to a T. This is not a sustainable weight loss. Intuitive eating is honoring when you are hungry and not depriving yourself; making peace with food and removing guilt from things that we eat; feeling your fullness and stopping when you don't need to eat anymore; honoring your body by not shaming it for looking a certain way; knowing that your value is not determined by your pant size; and being aware of your health by eating the things you want and that taste good while making sure you're also giving your body the nutrients it needs to keep going. These things are easier said than done — it is difficult to rewire your brain. But once we can let go of driving ourselves mad trying to sweat and depriving ourselves just to achieve what we think will make us happy for a short time, we can focus our attention on things that truly matter. If last year taught me anything, it is that life is not long enough and there are more important things I can do with my time than worry about the numbers on the scale or the tags on my clothes. Rickle is program assistant at OSU Extension-Hancock County.