Skinny People on a Diet

It happens every year. Skinny people on a diet. And you know from your own observations of your workplace or peer group, that some thin person wants to lose 5 pounds following the ketogenic or intermittent fasting diet. A report from the CDC says that about one in four dieters are of normal weight or underweight. I personally believe this is understated.

So with the New Year upon us, I am asking my skinny friends what they are going to do differently. And you bet they are doing something. Some of it includes what I think are more balanced ideas such as wineless weekdays, exercise more, or eat healthier. Others are more extreme, like going on a cleanse and doing intermittent fasting. Me? I am that person who hits the pantry at night for no reason other than habit. And, for some reason, it is not as simple as telling myself, “STOP going to the pantry at night.” But with the 2020 upon us, and with over half of Americans making their New Year’s Resolutions around wellness, I have the decision, power and strength to create a new ritual with the support of all my friends in America with over half of all American adults playing the same game! I’ll replace that habit with a warm beverage so I still get the reward without the mindless calories. 

In short, here’s how the skinny people on a diet story ends. They will each lose three to five pounds of weight they technically did not need to lose. The irony is that skinny people stay in their normal weight range anyway, regardless of diet (and the bigger irony is that so do most of us—a blog to follow on how to change that). This is also true for me because I am one of the lucky people who has a lifetime of healthy habits. And, it is true for skinny people in general, because many already have incredible self-discipline around healthy lifestyle habits. These are healthy rituals we can all learn, by the way. This is simply a game played to test self-discipline, to shake up the day to day, to prove to oneself that they “can”, and to make health improvements that there is always room for. And, the results are the same for a skinny person on a diet as for anyone else. Those are to feel good, feel stronger, feel more in control of our choices and it makes us better in other parts of our lives as well. Powerful!

Fifty-five percent of New Year’s Resolutions are health related for all Americans—overweight or not. Depending on the report, only one in eight to one in 10 will stick with their New Years’ Resolutions. I encourage you to beat the statistic! Most people start to waiver mid-January and the rest of us by early February. The general pattern for any of us to waver on a diet is about six-weeks anyway. Something about six-weeks. Knowing that may be helpful.

Why do we waver? It comes down to your meaning and motivation. What is your WHY and can you wake up and feel motivated every day to stay on track? Meaning and motivation is the key for anything in your life that you want to change. Tie it to what you value. It must be a strong motivator.

For those of you interested in how to go about succeeding with your New Year’s Resolution, here is a short article I wrote a couple of years ago titled 5 Tips for New Year’s Resolution Success. I believe you can be one of the 90 percent of those who succeed. Do it! Because you have it in you to make the changes you want for you in your life. 

I wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. Happy 2020, Kathryn


©Kathryn Scoblick
©Health Inspires, LLC
Healthinspires.com

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