Setting goals that actually feel exciting
It’s easier to maintain a goal when you’re not relying a number on a scale that you may never reach anyways.
🎶 It’s the most toxic time of year! 🎶
It’s the time when everyone starts setting goals to “better themselves.” New year, new you, and all of that. Because after spending a joyous time enjoying all of our favorite foods and traditions with the people we love, we must immediately feel guilty for our sins and repent to the god of January 1. We offer up sacrifices of “lose 10 pounds” or “fit in my college jeans” and try our very best to make these goals a reality, only to crash and burn weeks (maybe even days) after.
Because ultimately, dieting and restriction doesn’t work. It never has. Even science say so.
So what if this year, you decided to approach the new year a little differently?
It’s not like setting goals is a bad thing; I’ve always been a type A girl with my lists and goals for the year. But what if this year, instead of setting a goal focused on trying to change the body you’re in, what if your goal was centered around simply taking care of what you already have?
For example, instead of deciding to follow some kind of restrictive dieting plan with a goal to lose weight or inches or what have you, what if you set a goal to try a new type of exercise?
Not just the gym (we all know January is not the year to go to the gym, too many people), but what’s a different type of exercise you’ve always wanted to try? Boxing? Yoga? Pilates? Barre? Rock climbing? What if this was the year you actually did it? What if the challenge of simply trying it a couple times a week was enough?
In 2023, I set a (rather late) goal to start running again, and decided I wanted to work up to a 5-mile race by November. As the year carried on, I found that when I set a goal unrelated to body weight or shape, it was much more fun to keep up with. The satisfaction of being able to run longer distances, or holding complicated poses in yoga, was a lot more sustainable than the frustrating back-and-forth of relying on my weight for happiness.
Because here’s the thing; while my body has certainly changed this year from this new type of exercise, I find it amusing that my weight stayed exactly the same. But you know what? I don’t care anymore, because everything about being in my body feels different. I feel more confident, even proud to be in this body, and I look at it fondly instead of with disdain.
Plus, it’s important to note that your weight loss expectations may not be a reality. Even in my best efforts to lose weight, my body always buoyed back to where I’m at now. It’s like it can’t help itself; even at my healthiest, this is the weight and the shape I am made to be in. So why fight it and instead, embrace it and take care of it?
If this resonates at all with you this year, maybe 2024 is the year that you set a different type of goal where the outcomes is to simply feel better and feel proud of your body. Do the challenging thing without the expectation of losing weight, but to simply give yourself the opportunity to try.
Goals you can actually feel good about
Sure, this all sounds good in theory, but if you’ve spent every end of December thinking that this is the year I finally need to get my shit together, and you don’t know anything else…I got you. Instead of succumbing to an Instagram ad about having an iron gut and taking so many unnecessary supplements, or signing up for a pyramid-scheme 21-day fitness plan, maybe try one of these simpler (and way more joyful) goals instead:
Cook through an entire cookbook: Not just a “healthy” cookbook—literally anything. Maybe it’s a book that teaches how to make homemade pasta, or how to bake the perfect layered croissant. Whatever it is, slow down and try something new.
Learn a new craft: I’ve never been one that’s able to relax; I always have to be doing something. And yet, I know for my mental and physical health that I need to have moments where I just slow down. So besides reading (which I do… a lot), I also like to crochet. It’s a simple activity that keeps my hands busy and let’s my mind wander aimlessly.
Start a journal: It doesn’t have to be an extensive practice; just writing a line or two in the morning or evening could be a routine that encourages reflection, healing, and gratitude.
Try a new type of exercise: But seriously, is there a studio downtown you’ve been wanting to try out and haven’t had the courage to do it? This is the perfect chance (and they probably have a membership discount right now!) I joined a yoga studio a year and a half ago and it’s been a huge part of my joy every single week. I also think this year might be the one where I try boxing. I don’t know, something I’ve always wanted to try!
Eat more plants: You might be familiar with this phase from Michael Pollan’s book, but I write coming from a place of not restricting. A study from the American Gut Consortium found that if you eat 30 different kinds of plants in a week, it will improve the microbiota makeup of your gut, which is linked to all kinds of health conditions. What if you challenged yourself to try and eat that many different kind of plants in a week? It’s certainly a challenge, but kind of a fun one! It forces you to get creative in the kitchen.
My goal for 2024
This year, I’m really taking it easy with the goals that I’ve set for myself. I have a lot of travel and a lot of new challenges coming my way this year (more on this soon!), so I don’t want to bog myself down with having too many goals. I’ll be challenged enough, I think.
However, I do have one goal that I want to achieve which is cooking through my pantry. I have a lot of food in my pantry that needs to be eaten, and I want to challenge myself to actually cook through it this year.
So each week, I’ll start each week by taking out 5 items from my pantry and choosing meals to cook that will use up those ingredients. It will definitely force me to get creative. I’m thinking I may also document my journey here in the newsletter…what do you think?
I leave you with this: don’t fall for all the schemes online right now, or the little voices in your head telling you that you’re not enough. Instead, be proud of all that you’ve accomplished this year, and enter 2024 with a mindset of adventure and trying something new, of taking care of a body that you already love instead of some ideal that may be unattainable. You’ll find yourself in a happier place in the long run.