January 9, 2025

Is Your New Year’s Resolution to “Lose Weight?” Here is a Better Alternative

By Rebecca Appleman, RD

We’re here in the new year, and many people are creating goals for the year so that they can feel better about themselves and what they plan to accomplish. For people who create these “New Year’s Resolutions”  they often do so with the goal of feeling better about their bodies.

One of the most common New Year’s Resolutions is to “lose weight.”  Goals for weight loss are consistently in the top 5 of all resolutions made year after year.  As nutritionists, when clients express resolutions for weight loss, our ears are perked.

This is primarily because, on its own, body weight is not a measure of health, and this is also because when people try to make a flight into health by losing weight, it is typically through methods that are often bad for the body as well as  unsustainable.

The Problems with Weight Loss as a Resolution

As nutritionists, we believe in health at every size, also referred to as HAES.  We do not believe that anyone should focus exclusively on losing weight, but rather eating balanced meals and taking care of themselves and their bodies in a wholistic fashion.

But let’s assume weight loss is your objective – it’s also something that you have to do in a very specific way to ensure that you’re not only meeting your body’s needs, but also actually meeting your goal:

• Set Point Weight – Your body has a set point weight, which is a weight range that your body tries to maintain and a weight it will defend. If you engage in excessive caloric restriction or any number of fad diets, you might lose weight in the short term but your body will adjust your metabolism to help you return to your set point weight (often slowing your metabolic rate) and might actually raise your set point weight so that you gain more weight when you go back to regular eating. Read more about set point weight, here.
• Lifestyle Changes After Caloric Restriction – When you reduce your calories or overly exercise without providing adequate nutrition to your body, you may experience muscle loss, reduced energy (potentially leading to a more sedentary lifestyle) and you may become more stressed (and increase your stress hormone production, which actually can lead to weight gain). All of these are going to harm your ability to meet the weight management goal you’ve set for yourself.
• Mental Health Struggles – If you were asked “do you want to hurt your mental health as part of your New Year’s Resolution,” your answer would be “no.” But those who focus exclusively on weight loss as a goal are also at higher risk for developing an intense preoccupation with food and weight, increased anxiety around food and potentially developing disordered eating or a full blown eating disorder.

There are many ways to feel more fit, feel more healthy, and to be happier with your body. But it doesn’t come from weight loss as a resolution. It comes from creating a better relationship with food, understanding food and your bodies needs more accurately, and working with a nutritionist that can help guide your dietary choices for better quality meals.

What Should Your Resolution Be?

If you’re focused on your health this year, and you’re looking for a New Year’s Resolution that is safer and better for you, then consider having a “Better Relationship With Food.” This means that you spend this year understanding more about nutrition, learning how to eat more balanced meals, determining what your body needs, and achieving your weight management goals in ways that are sustainable and contribute to your longevity.

If you’d like help and support in achieving these goals, reach out to Appleman Nutrition, today. We’re a team of registered dietitian nutritionists whose role it is to help you choose the strongest meals, understand your body’s needs, and much more – all of which can achieve your goals in a way that is tailored to you.