Ah, resolutions. Love ’em or hate ’em, we can’t help ourselves but make them come New Year’s Day. Perhaps that’s because as we slowly come out of our sugar- and booze-filled comas, we notice that our pants feel a little tighter and our bodies feel a little weaker. Suddenly, we’re motivated to do something about it.
But before you pick up that diet book, you should know that 95 percent of dieters regain their weight eventually. Quite frankly, you don’t need a diet, but you may need to get back on track, whatever that means for you. Maybe it’s back to a time when you felt good or full of energy or happier.
The truth is, the fact that most of us feel like we need to find our “reset” buttons right about now is just another sign that our miraculous bodies know what’s best for us. When you feel “icky,” your body is asking you to bring back the vegetables and find your yoga gear. Listen to those calls and give yourself some time, like all of January, to find the healthy habits you temporarily shelved in the fall.
Instead of opening a joyless weight-loss book, open your calendar and start scheduling time to do the things that matter, like exercising, meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking. Try to make it as fun as possible and, even when it’s not fun, remind yourself of your newfound motivation to be good to your body. (No dieting required.)
Meantime, consider adopting one or all of these health resolutions that, unlike diets, will refresh your mindset and spiral up your energy and mood for your best year yet:
1. Go on a tech diet.
This is the only cleanse that gets my endorsement. Technology is a distraction that makes us more anxious and sad, and silently steals precious minutes of our days we could be spending on ourselves. Those white screens delay our natural sleep and wake cycles, messing with our much-needed shut-eye as well.
[See: 7 Ways Technology Can Torpedo Your Health.]
I’m limiting my screen time time to no more than 12 hours a day, seven days a week. I’m charging my phone in another room, even if that means going back to the old shrill of my alarm clock to wake up. What about you?
2. Manifest happiness.
It may sound like complete crazy talk to say you can create a better life just by willing it so, but let me try to rationalize the concept. Think about what truly brings you joy. Have any hobbies? These are the very things we tend to cross off our schedules for lack of time, and yet we wonder why life isn’t fun anymore.
If you want to enjoy 2017 more, create the happiness you want by spending time on the things that matter to you. Even if they have nothing to do with physical health, the benefits to your emotional well-being will influence your energy and desire to maintain personal health goals. Not to mention, happier people are healthier. Life is too short and too precious. Don’t miss out on it with endless tasks that don’t love you back.
3. Love more.
Speaking of love, we all need more of it, which is why it’s “my word” for 2017. In her book, Love 2.0, psychologist Barbara Fredrickson calls love the supreme emotion. She says it changes you from the inside out. It’s not just typical romantic love either, but “micro moments” of connection we can experience with anyone.
To bring more love into your life, keep your head up and phone away when you’re walking down the street. Smile and say “hello” to more people. Take lunch breaks again and have lengthy conversations. Fredrickson says that when we feel love and notice it in our lives, it can change our moods and even the function of our bodies, which boosts our immunity and helps us deal better with stress.
[See: 10 Ways to Break a Bad Mood.]
4. Take pleasure in eating.
I don’t know about you, but extreme food rules make me want to push back in the opposite direction and eat a box of gluten-, sugar- and fat-filled powdered donuts. But my body would say, “No! Why do you do this to me?”
Ironically, the answer to better eating is not eliminating foods or ingredients. The pleasure-seeking human brain lights up with excitement when we eat just like it does when we have sex because we need both of these things to survive as a species. Unfortunately, decades of diet culture has lead us to believe that if we’re enjoying food, we’re doing something wrong and risking losing control and overeating.
False alarm, folks. The problem isn’t any one food group or ingredient, but rather removing the pleasure of eating and avoiding the food. Only when you have permission to savor your bites of lasagna, chocolate cake or kale and quinoa salad do you actually feel full and satisfied and ready to put your fork down. Try it for 2017 and feel the freedom of never dieting again.
5. Seek contentment.
For everything you hear about stress being a problem in our society (it is), you might not realize that we bring even more of it on ourselves. Our drive for self-improvement can cultivate perfectionism in an instant. When nothing is ever good enough, we get stressed.
[See: 9 Tips to Tame Work Stress.]
How about you cut yourself a break in 2017 and start seeking satisfaction? You’re good enough as you are — even if you want to make changes. Start from a place of love for the being that exists and walk him or her in the direction you want to go in life, hand in hand. This time, notice the good things already happening every day in your life.
More from U.S. News
8 Resolutions Health Experts Want You to Make
How to Make Healthful Dietary Changes Last a Lifetime
5 Health Resolutions That Will Actually Make Your Life Better originally appeared on usnews.com
