Repeat Resolution

Repeat Resolution by Katie Ford

Many studies state that approximately 80% of New Year's Resolutions Fail before February. As someone who has set the same resolution for the past 4+ years, on my behalf I can confirm that statement. Every year seems to be the same. A repeated cycle of setting goals for the next 12 months, until it's time to repeat the steps. Reflecting on the past year, I remember setting this goal as something I wanted to accomplish in such a small time. I gave myself a start and an end date. I recently turned 18 in December and it was a wake up call. The feeling of becoming an adult dawned on me and it made me realize that I’m getting old. Still young but aging, which meant time was flying by, wasted time. Time where I’m not living at my happiest or enjoying life to its fullest.

The repeated resolution that I set every year is to lose weight. To become healthy. To become the better version of myself. I am morbidly obese, which means that I’m limited to things such as riding a rollercoaster, standing up and walking for long periods of time, and even working. My weight is a strain on my life and this year I will make the change. 2021 is my year of health. Even though I already bombed January, I am still proud of the fact that I was able to work 5 hours a day on my feet, which qualified as exercise. In December while planning my 2021 New Year's Resolutions, I took note of what I did wrong in the previous years, which was setting excessively large goals that I see aren't achievable in the time I gave myself. I wanted to lose 300 lbs in a year, which is absolutely crazy. I would put myself on super strict, almost un-humane diets that led to binge eating. I would fail my goals by the second week of January.

The way I planned my goals this year was to start small and achieve more. For example, I purchased a large 75oz water bottle so I could start drinking more water. I didn’t immediately stop drinking juice. I limited my options to a 0 sugar diet drink and my big bottle of water. Another small change I plan to make is to leave the house 3 days a week. Whether I’m going on a walk, to the grocery store, I will leave the house 3 days a week. For me, small steps are more achievable when it comes to setting goals because such drastic changes aren’t good for me.

So far 2021 has been good to me. I have started trying out different diet plans to see which fit my lifestyle best and I think I have come to a conclusion. I say that a 1700cal a day diet, eating simple easy meals, and snacking on fruits, healthy crackers, and vegetables with dips, will allow me to start having a healthy diet. If I continue drinking my water and leaving my home frequently, I will start living the healthy lifestyle I have always dreamed of living. A life without my dream body, but at the moment I could care less about being skinny. I just want to be happy and healthy. Those two components will lead me to lose weight. Overall, I hope I can continue to strive for my health goals and to fight for what I want. It will be hard but I know that I hold the power to overcome my unhealthy lifestyle. I have my family and god by my side. Will I succeed or will my goal just be another repeat resolution?