2014: Start off With a Healthy Perspective

So here it is, the New Year’s blog.

While passing by a large bookstore in my shopping center over the past two weeks, I noticed that each and every one of the dozen or so books in the display window featured titles encouraging the reader to shed pounds, diet and be skinnier. Because that’s a surefire way to happiness, right? It made me sad. And a little disgusted with our society. Why is it that not a single book could have been a display of anything inspirational or encouraging? Is this truly what holiday shoppers are looking for? These are the gifts we should gift our loved ones? The entire theme of the display window was simply - You’re too fat America; and this is the only thing that should be on your mind.

I have been a registered dietitian for over a decade, and within the last few years have really found my passion – Wellness. Wellness of mind, body and spirit. How do we achieve wellness? We take care of ourselves and those around us. We make decisions we can be proud of. We act with confidence. We try to make a difference for the better. We inspire. We learn. We teach. What we don’t do is focus on flaws. We don’t constantly remind ourselves that we need to be thinner. That we need to deprive ourselves of joy and food and nourishment for the body and the soul. For the life of me I can no longer understand why, why, WHY our world is so anti-building people up and pro tearing people down. I don’t understand it. I am a Wellness dietitian because I do not believe in dieting. I do not believe in focusing on the one thing that torments many people throughout their lives – dieting to be thin. At the end of our lives will we wish that we had stuck to stricter diets and deprived ourselves of living fully, just to lose a few more pounds?

I have it on good authority that no other culture in the world focuses nearly as much on thinness and dieting as we Americans. We as a nation have been dieting for decades. And for decades we’ve been getting larger and sicker. I’m not the first to suggest that, in fact, dieting is the problem. Why do we put so much stock into faulty ideals? Why must our bookstore windows and shelves be plastered with this diet and that diet and diet your way to a happier life? The magazines are even worse. If you subscribe to any popular magazine, or even pick one up to pass the time at the doctor’s office, or in line at the grocery store, the magazines will tell you that you are too fat! And you are unhappy. And the only way to achieve happiness is to diet. You need a flat belly. You need to lose 2 sizes in 2 weeks. You need to stop eating these 5 shocking foods that even nutritionists won’t eat! Want to know what diet mistakes you’re making? Just flip the cover because heaven forbid you make these diet mistakes or eat the wrong foods. What a bunch of crap.

Could you make healthier choices? That’s for you to determine. Are you happy? Again, for you to decide. Would you be willing to shift your focus to find out? Focus on what you should be doing rather than what you shouldn’t. Focus on what makes you feel whole and alive. Step outside of society’s superficial box to consider what gives your life quality and meaning. If it lacks these things, go out and find them. But you won’t find them in a diet. You won’t find them in anything negative. Positive things come from positive actions. Inspire and be inspired. Learn something. Teach something. Live a life you can be proud of. And if you need to make changes, then make changes. Realistic changes. Positive changes. Changes that leave you saying, “yeah, that was a good idea.”

In the end, your opinion is the only one that matters. In the end, you answer only to yourself. Make each day count. Make each decision a good one. And if you make a poor one every once in a while, learn from it. Grow from it. Who you are now is a result of each and every decision you have made up until this point. What do you decide? What will 2014 bring for you? What will you bring to it? This is your year. This is my year. Own it. And at the end of the day, no matter what kind of day it was, remember this – life is too short to drink bad wine.

Cheers and Happy New Year,

Your Tipsy Dietitian