Now that we are 25 days into the new year and creeping up on February, it’s time to do a self-assessment on your ability to keep up your current New Year’s resolution (if you haven’t already abandoned it).
Two of the most popular, yet hardest resolutions to maintain tend to go hand in hand: eating well and working out. I think both of these goals are something that everyone should strive to incorporate as a part of their lifestyle, but the way that many of us choose to do this can be a little extreme.
Everyone seems to have their own take on dieting. There’s the constant calorie counters, the fat-free fanatics, the carb conscious consumer and the protein proponent.
On top of that, I’ve seen some of my friends take up diets where they only eat certain foods on certain days of the week or diet all week and take a “cheat day” where they binge on all the prohibited foods that they shunned for the first six days of the week.
To me, these diets seem unsustainable. As a college student, how is it possible to keep up with all the rules these diets require while still meeting your dietary needs? If you fumble one day and make poor choices, will you lose your motivation and give up on the diet completely.
If you’re struggling with an extreme (or even moderate) diet as a part of your New Year’s resolution, don’t worry. There are other options. You can get back on track by setting a smaller goal for yourself, like eating vegetables at every meal or cutting out your soda habit.
If you rely on a dining plan, skip the pizza line and opt for something from the Healthy on the Hilltop station. They do a good job with making healthy food pretty tasty.
The most important thing is that you can make minor changes that you will be able to keep up and improve on for years instead of abandoning after a few months.
But maybe your resolution was to tackle the gym instead of the kitchen. From my experience here, most students either work out or they don’t. There is no in between. I fall into the category of students that can’t even remember the last time they wore tennis shoes, much less made the hike to gym.
I don’t have anything against people who make going to the gym their priority and schedule the time in their day to make it happen; in fact, I envy them for their commitment to fitness.
The thing about the gym that I have a hard time understanding is gym culture. It seems like many people who frequent the gyms drop hundreds of dollars on shoes, fancy work out clothes or gym memberships as a part of their resolutions, but somehow still abandon their resolve later in the year.
This mentality gives off the vibe that the only kind of legitimate exercise comes from a workout in the gym. But what about the other forms of exercise through intramural teams, sports, or just walking? These are all viable forms of exercise that may even be more appealing than the gym to some people.
It doesn’t matter if your New Year’s resolution was one of these or something completely different. Now is the time to assess how feasible your goals are and make adjustments to ensure that you can accomplish them.
Taylor is a freshman majoring in journalism.
