January is a time for resolutions. I think that a new year can be a fun way to assess where you are, where you’ve been, and where you’d like to go. With resolutions come, specifically, diet goals.

January dieting or weight loss goals make me itchy. Why? I come from a non-dieting approach, both personally and professionally. I believe that diets don’t work. Dieting only leads to unhappiness, self-hate, and sometimes even more unwanted weight gain.

Lots of diets have ended by now. You may still have that gym membership and have lots of diet books that are lying unread in your home. That’s okay. You haven’t failed because you “failed” at your diet. If anything, that diet has failed you. If you’re like me, the thought of another diet makes you anxious and frustrated.

Maybe it’s time for a new, much more loving approach to your body and life. The only way to find peace with food and your body is to (gasp!) actually make peace with food and your body. What would life look like for you if food and your weight had a rational place in your life? What would life look like if you didn’t go from diet to diet? Perhaps it’s time to give it a try.

When I was thinking up this blog entry, my partner said “yes, exactly. Now that February is here, people can start working on who they want to be and not what society expects of them.” I love this. Here’s to moving toward what you know is right for your life.