We all know how common it is for people (especially in the US) to set a new year's resolution to lose weight, and I can imagine that there are a lot of people who have joined this sub around New Year's to do just that. If you've ever attempted to start buckling down and losing weight in the new year, you and I both know all too well the feeling of excitement and motivation as you get up at 6am in the dark the first week of January to go to the gym, and then quickly losing steam...until you're about 2-3 weeks in and you're back on the couch with chips in hand.
First, I just want to say that I'm over halfway to my goal weight now, and I'll be honest, I started this journey last summer in mid-June. I can say with certainty that this is an especially difficult time of year to start losing weight compared to the summer. When I was at my highest weight, I was able to go on long summer walks after work and not have to worry about it getting dark the second I stepped outside. It was very easy to lose weight and burn extra calories when I had 3+ hours after work to get tons of steps in. Now, I can still go on walks and runs outside during the week, but I have to bundle up and face the misery of walking in the dark, or make sure I wake up early enough before work to get it done and still face brutal cold and winds at 7am. I still obviously work out at the gym, but I can so relate to coming home after work and it already being dark out and just wanting to climb into my warm bed and watch Netflix. Not to mention, seasonal depression is such a common thing and it's so hard to find the internal motivation when everything is so dark and cold and bleh.
I also think with resolutions, it's common to go all in and be quite unrealistic about goals. I've seen so many social media posts and ads about being "your best self ever!" in 2025. But it's definitely hard feeling like you're becoming your so-called "best self" when it's a couple weeks in and you hardly notice any changes. You're also coming off the holidays where you've likely gained a bit of weight from all the food and celebration, so it can be pretty demotivating to go into your weight loss journey seeing a number on the scale that may be higher than you're used to.
I'm writing all this to say, seriously, give yourself grace. Give yourself time. It will, and does, get easier. I'm not saying hold off on weight loss until it gets warmer or whatever, keep going now. But I also want to stress that you're not alone in struggling with motivation and sticking to your goals. If losing weight was smooth and easy, then we would all look like supermodels. But it's freaking hard as hell and it being 20 degrees out and getting dark at 4:30pm doesn't help for sure! You will see changes, physically, mentally, fitness-wise, diet-wise, etc. This week last year I couldn't run a mile and just this past weekend I ran a 10K in under an hour. If I can do it, then there's absolutely nothing stopping you. Good luck and you got this!
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/u/thelilbel
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