Statistically, 80% of New Years Resolutions fail, usually by the end of February.
What a bleak number, right?
Sure, statistics lie or can be misleading. We talk often on r/LoseIt about the fail rate of diets, which is based on flawed and dated studies mixed with the fact that people often fail several times on the path to success. Weight loss isn't always a linear process.
But haven't we all been part of that 80% at some point in our lives?
I pulled the 80% stat from Forbes and Psychology Today (credits below).
Psychology Today:
Most resolutions, however, will fail. A study by researchers at Scranton University found that only 19 percent of individuals keep their resolutions. Most are abandoned by mid-January.
Paraphrasing Amy Morin's article in Psychology Today, New Years resolutions fail because people arbitrarily chose January 1 as the day they will make monumental change.
Change is a process beginning with recognizing a need or problem, taking the steps, and then maintaining the change. However, many are pressured by society and expectation to make certain resolutions. Maybe January is a bad month to commit to the change.
If now isn't the time to make all the big steps, allow yourself to prepare for the change and start in a few days or a few months. Maybe winter is too bleak and challenging to start a big program. It's okay to make small changes before committing to something larger.
Forbes mini-listicle three reasons why boil down to you have to become someone different than you are right now to truly change, but in order to do that, you have to address the root of the problem and maintain your changed behavior, which is difficult and uncomfortable.
There's a reason you are who you are at this moment. It's easier to fall back into comfortable behavior instead of making massive changes to who you are as a person.
I am paraphrasing both articles heavily, so if you are interested, please check them out.
I've been thinking about this article entitled "The Way We Make Fitness Resolutions Is All Wrong"(credited below) a lot this week. It's a fun, quick read, if you want to check it out for yourself. I'm quoting chunks of it that I thought were particularly impactful to me.
But this isn’t because people don’t try hard enough—it actually might be the opposite. “My concern is people are going too hard, too fast in January,” says McAllister. “They’re going to burn out and injure themselves, which we’ve seen before in February — and then those same people don’t come back.”
“Fitness is something to be folded into one’s life,” says Sevana Draayer, the co-founder and CEO of Ratio Cycling in Los Angeles, not something that overtakes it.
“We’ve all been through an insanely stressful year. We have to give ourselves and our bodies some grace,” says McAllister. “With resolutions, it tends to be pretty black-and-white, like either I’m doing workouts six times a week or I’m not. We have to get into the gray area now. We live in the gray area.”
The gray area—a party of gradients—can be so many things! It’s the difference between vowing to workout for an hour, when you could be basking in the low-commitment glow of a breezy half-hour. Instead of going from zero workouts a week to seven, you could pick a number closer to two. A softer goal, such as move more, is way less intimidating than a yelled command of like: STRENUOUSLY WORK OUT FOR AN HOUR EVERY DAY AT 5 AM. And some fun tailoring like, move however you want, is way less impossible than RUN, WHICH YOU HATE DOING. Sometimes, you must just enjoy yourself. Exercise can be whatever. You don’t have to go all in. You can go a little in! A little can be a lot!
Small steps are so important. Be kind to yourself. You don't have to be perfect to make a change in your life.
If you feel like you are about to give up on your New Years Resolution to lose weight or get fit (whatever your words are), just make one small change this week. Commit to going for a walk once a day or eating fewer desserts this week or drinking one less can of soda. Where ever you are at in the process of getting healthier. We're not here to judge you, promise! Got to start somewhere.
Also, if you made a resolution because it what you thought you should do, but it's not something you enjoy or find value in, reconsider. If you hate running, try zumba. If Keto isn't working for you, try to focus on CICO with foods you love.
Link to Article: The Way We Make Fitness Resolutions Is All Wrong by Maggie Lange (The Cut)
Link to Forbes Article: The Top 3 Reasons New Year’s Resolutions Fail And How Yours Can Succeed by Kathy Caprino (Forbes)
Link to Psychology Today Article: This Is Why Most New Year Resolutions Fail by Amy Morin (Psychology Today)
