The start of a new year often comes with a sense of renewal and motivation. New Year’s resolutions can be an exciting opportunity to set goals, improve oneself, and make positive changes. However, for individuals struggling with eating disorders, the emphasis on weight loss, dieting, and body image during this time can be triggering and harmful. Understanding how New Year’s resolutions can affect those with eating disorders—and how to approach the season with care and compassion—is crucial.
The Pressure of Perfection: Why New Year’s Resolutions Can Be Harmful
New Year’s resolutions often focus on self-improvement, but for those with eating disorders, common resolutions such as “lose weight,” “eat healthier,” or “get in shape” can become triggers for harmful behaviors. These resolutions can unintentionally reinforce unhealthy beliefs around food, body image, and self-worth. The societal pressure to be “better” or “smarter” in the new year may lead to perfectionist thinking, which is particularly dangerous for someone in recovery from an eating disorder.
Many individuals with eating disorders struggle with rigid thinking and unrealistic expectations, often linked to New Year’s goals. These resolutions can magnify feelings of inadequacy and lead to behaviors that perpetuate or worsen their condition.
The Statistics: When Do We Give Up on New Year’s Resolutions?
A common misconception is that most people successfully follow through with their resolutions. However, studies show that by February, most resolutions are abandoned. According to a study from the University of Scranton, 92% of people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions. This statistic highlights the challenge of maintaining resolutions, especially when they’re tied to unsustainable goals like dieting or drastic changes in eating habits.
For individuals with eating disorders, these “failed” resolutions can feel like another mark of failure. The cycle of setting an unrealistic goal, striving to achieve it, and then feeling guilty or ashamed after falling short can trigger or exacerbate disordered eating behaviors.
How New Year’s Resolutions Can Trigger Eating Disorders
- Focus on Appearance: Many New Year’s resolutions are centered around physical appearance. This emphasis on weight loss, dieting, and “achieving the perfect body” can lead to a negative body image, especially for those with eating disorders. The constant comparison to others or to an idealized body type can deepen feelings of unworthiness or dissatisfaction.
- Dieting Triggers: Dieting is often seen as the key to achieving New Year’s resolutions, but for those with eating disorders, dieting can be a dangerous cycle. It may reinforce restrictive eating patterns, trigger bingeing episodes, or promote purging behaviors. The idea of “starting fresh” with a new diet can worsen these tendencies and trigger relapse.
- All-or-Nothing Thinking: Eating disorders thrive on black-and-white thinking. When a person with an eating disorder “fails” at meeting their New Year’s resolution (such as not sticking to a restrictive diet), it can lead to extreme guilt, shame, and the temptation to engage in disordered eating to cope.
- Increased Anxiety: As New Year’s approaches, people often feel an increase in stress as they think about making significant lifestyle changes. For those with eating disorders, this anxiety can be overwhelming. The pressure to stick to resolutions while simultaneously managing an eating disorder can create an environment of high stress, leading to worsening mental health.
Navigating New Year’s Resolutions in a Healthier Way
If you or someone you know is struggling with eating disorders, it’s essential to approach New Year’s resolutions with mindfulness and care. Here are some steps that can help reduce the potential harm of New Year’s resolutions:
- Shift the Focus: Instead of setting weight-related goals, focus on mental health and emotional well-being. Consider resolutions like practicing self-compassion, learning to manage stress, or seeking professional support.
- Avoid Dieting Goals: Encourage setting goals that don’t involve restrictive eating. For example, rather than focusing on weight loss, try setting a resolution to explore new hobbies or activities that bring joy and fulfillment.
- Build a Support System: If you’re in recovery from an eating disorder, surround yourself with supportive friends, family, and professionals who can help you navigate the emotional aspects of the New Year.
- Practice Self-Compassion: It’s important to remember that growth doesn’t happen through perfection. Embrace the idea that recovery is a journey, not a destination. Allow yourself grace and understanding, even if you don’t meet every goal.
Conclusion
New Year’s resolutions can be an exciting and empowering way to approach a new chapter in life, but for those struggling with eating disorders, they can also be triggering. The societal pressures around weight loss, dieting, and body image can be harmful and exacerbate existing struggles. By focusing on goals that promote mental and emotional well-being, and by practicing compassion toward ourselves and others, we can enter the new year with a healthier mindset.
If you or someone you love is struggling with an eating disorder, it’s important to seek help. You don’t have to navigate this alone. Support and recovery are possible, and it starts with taking one small step toward healing—without the need for perfection.