So how are the New Year’s resolutions going? You made at least one, right?
First of all, a big congratulations to us all for getting through New Year’s Eve unscathed. I don’t know when it happened but NYE became a young person’s game. Us old timers (i.e over 25’s) nod and mutter sagely about inflated entry prices and crowds. And this we invented to New Year House Party. Your first 31st December dinner party really should be ticked off the list as a rite of passage. With double maturity points if you are the one hosting.
New Year has turned into hard work. Firstly there was the question of where to be at midnight. And trying to escape it has become virtually impossible as even an early night becomes a tough call due to the inevitable 12AM fireworks acting as a cruel taunt that someone somewhere might just be having more fun elsewhere.
The pressure of a new year does not end there. I remember a few years ago doing a temp job in early January at the call centre of a very well known chain of slimming clubs – they need extra staff as it is there busiest period, thanks to New Year resolutioners.
But of course, 2015 will be a whole different kettle of healthily grilled fish (and hold the dressing – I’m on a diet). Every single one of us who takes out a new gym subscription in the coming days will still be hitting the treadmill this time in 2016.
Like hell.
Personally I never get why we all opt from early November onward that once we can start a new diary, then that will be D Day to lose weight / exercise more / quit smoking / drink less. You say new year = new start, I say procrastination.
True though that the week between 25th December and 1st January has seen eating and drinking the cupboards crammed with the mammoth Christmas food shop clear become a tradition. And I know I am as guilty of gluttony over the holidays as anyone else. I weighed myself last week and that I didn’t burst into tears, I count as my first real achievement of 2015.
But when sat at home, buried alive under a pile of Ferrero Rocher wrappers and empty wine bottles, the diet and fitness industry are far more visible that at any other time to guilt trip us all into attempting self improvement and feed into body anxieties. So the pressure is on.
Naysayers will say that the vast majority of New Year’s resolution are in tatters by mid January. So this year I’m taking a different approach. And please forgive me if I sound some like god awful self help book. But like the majority of the world it seems, I’ll be cutting down the crap starting from now on. A necessary evil as my stomach is bearing the signs of the collateral damage of a mince pie or three too many. I also know that at some point I am going to fall off the wagon and reach for the chocolate. But this year, here’s what I humbly suggest – a part of this whole New Year’s resolution shizzle should be taking a step back, understanding why we break them and getting back into it.
Because what the slick, big money slimming clubs and discounted gym membership emails fail to mention is it’s not easy. In fact, it’s bloody hard work.
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Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you'd like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.