Happy Belated New Year!

So everyone's doing a new year post and I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon. I don't have a lot to say about new year's resolutions because, well, I resolved to quit doing resolutions. So far I've stuck to that. Besides the fact that the vast majority of resolutions are fat hating with losing weight being the number one resolution for 2012 (also notice that only 8% of people achieve their resolution goal. How many do you want to bet achieve weight loss?).  Heck, a third of goals don't make it past January.

But after decades of vowing to lose weight every year and trying to hate myself thin, and after watching everyone around me fail at the same goal, new year's resolutions have left a bad taste in my mouth. That may have been the diet food though. So if losing weight is at the top of you  list, please, for the love of all that's good in the world, throw it the fuck out. Seriously, write it down on a piece of paper, throw it away, burn it, tear it to pieces, scratch it out and feed it to your pet goat. Do anything but make that resolution. You know the science says that 95% of weight loss attempts fail anyway.

My secret? Don't make any resolution at all. If you want to get healthier, do it, and do it in a fun creative way. If you want to stop smoking, do it and do it with an arsenal of support around you because you're gonna need it. If you wan to get out of debt, get better organized, get out walking more, spend more time with your family... just do it. You don't need a resolution. All that does is puts pressure on yourself and makes you feel guilty when you take too long, don't do it, mess up, or otherwise fail in attaining that goal. There's almost no way not to fail.

Instead take it every day at a time. Go on a walk on days you feel like it. Organize one room at a time or, hell, one desk or corner at a time. Make it into a success, a positive, something you accomplished. But whatever you do, don't make it a resolution.

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome 2012!

costume from last night's masquerade ball 

Happy New Year! Wow, is it 2012 already? 2011 was a special year to me; it was my first full year of body acceptance and fat activism. My first exposure to fat acceptance was in October of 2010 so most of my year was spent hating my body with horribly destructive habits. In 2011 I got to go through it all- making new friends, having to move, parties, holidays.. all being fat and happy the entire time. Wow, how completely liberating! 2011 was a good year for me.

No, I don't have a new year's resolution and I don't plant to. Most resolutions fail (I wonder how much of this failure is because one of the top resolutions is weight loss which, itself, fails 95% of the time?) and most are focused on our flaws and what we need to change about ourselves. More so, though, it sets you up for disappointment if you can't go through with it. I feel confident that I can change and progress and do some awesome things in the coming year without making promises to myself or anyone else . This year, I'm going to try to just be. I get the whole 'new beginnings' metaphor, but really.. any time can be a time for new beginnings and any time can be a time for progress and change.

If you're going to make a resolution, make it to love, respect, and appreciate your body more from now on. And that's a goal that's good all year round. This is a time for diet scams and false weight loss promises- so counter it with some of your own fat activism