Struggling with New Year’s Resolutions and Body Image? 4 Healthier Alternatives in Salt Lake City, Utah
The weeks between Halloween and New Year’s can be especially hard for women who struggle with body image, food, and perfectionism. For many of the women I work with in eating disorder therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah, this season brings up grief, comparison, pressure to “start over,” and the familiar pull toward dieting and self-criticism. From the outside, it can look like everyone else is celebrating and feeling hopeful, while inside you may feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or quietly counting the minutes until family gatherings are over.
If New Year’s resolutions tend to trigger shame about your body, food, or not being “good enough,” you’re not alone.
January can be a long month for some. The holidays are over. People are settling back into their routine. While the earth looks peaceful covered in a white blanket of snow. It also feels really cold, dark, and lonely for some. It may look pretty but for some, it feels really bad on the inside. Please know that it won’t last forever, The snow will melt, the flowers will bloom, the temperature will increase, and you’ll feel the warmth of the sun on your face again. Despite how miserable it can feel, January can also be an opportunity for a new beginning and to start something fresh.
Why New Year’s Resolution Culture Can Be Especially Hard for Women in Salt Lake City, Utah
In January, many women in Salt Lake City feel surrounded by messages about “starting over,” dieting, and fixing their bodies. For those who struggle with body image, perfectionism, or eating disorder recovery, this pressure can make the beginning of the year feel more overwhelming than hopeful. Instead of motivation, it can bring up shame, comparison, and the familiar urge to control food or push yourself harder. This is why more women are seeking eating disorder therapy and body image support in Salt Lake City, Utah o step out of resolution culture and move toward goals that actually support their mental health and emotional well-being.
Ditch dieting as a New Years Resolution
For those I work with New Years can be extra triggering. This is typically the time people get on the diet bandwagon and have goals to change their body size and appearance. If not that, then it’s a time to set other goals to improve personally, which can bring up perfectionism, rigidity, and shame if all the goals weren’t all achieved. Goals are powerful and important but rigidity and shame do not help a person achieve them and maintain them long term.
Rather than being rigid in New Years Resolutions, I would perhaps consider trying something else if they leave a bad taste in your mouth. I’ve compiled some suggestions
Alternatives to New Year’s Resolutions that are better for your mental health
Create a Vision Board:
A vision board can be personalized in many different ways. This is also called a “dream board”. This can include photos, words, and symbols of things that can give meaning and vision for the upcoming year. This is a good opportunity to display the things in your life that give you strength, safety, peace, and joy. I would advise staying away from displaying things that will make you feel negative about yourself or reinforce disordered behaviors. A vision board allows you to be creative.
Identify a one-word intention as a theme for the year.
This can be a value or quality that you want to have more of this coming year. Whether it’s peace, healing, or happiness, choose a word that sticks out to you. Choosing one word simplifies and adds purpose to all other goals or intentions. Once you choose your word, display it somewhere you can see it throughout the year. This will serve as a reminder of what you’re working toward are trying to implement more of in your life.
Make a project for the year.
Whether it’s taking a photo every day, cutting and sewing quilt blocks, daily quotes, or writing prompts to represent the year, focusing your energy on having something that will be representative of the year can make it more meaningful.
Daily gratitudes.
Write down something simple you are thankful for every day for a year. Gratitude is an effective tool to fight depression. Winter blues also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder is no joke and starting in January, the heart of Winter to focus on can increase positivity and happiness. At the end of the year, you will be able to look back on 365 good things you have in your life.
As a therapist, I want you to know your mental health matters.
Please, above all, know that you are good enough. If you choose to make none of these suggestions, that’s ok! If you do nothing else this year other than breathe and survive. You are more than enough, and you deserve self-care and compassion, so please be generous and understanding with each other.
Ready to Start Eating Disorder Therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah?
If dieting, body image pressure, and New Year’s resolution culture feel exhausting, you don’t have to keep doing this alone. At Maple Canyon Therapy, I offer eating disorder therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah (online) for women who are ready to step out of the cycle of restriction, shame, and self-criticism and begin healing their relationship with food and their bodies.
Online Eating Disorder Therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah
I provide online eating disorder therapy for women in Salt Lake City, Utah, so you can access specialized support without the stress of travel or finding a local office. Online therapy makes it possible to begin recovery from the comfort and privacy of your own space, while still receiving the same level of care and attention as in-person sessions.
Online counseling also allows me to work with you, no matter where you are in the state of Utah. I work with women in Salt Lake City and all through out thee state, including Logan, St. George, Salt Lake City, Heber, Cedar City, and more.
Eating disorder therapy isn’t the only counseling service I provide at this Northern Utah Counseling Clinic.
Eating disorder therapy isn’t the only counseling service I provide at this Northern Utah Counseling Clinic. Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy include anxiety therapy, binge eating disorder treatment, body image therapy, and trauma therapy, including for birth trauma in Utah.
About the Author
Ashlee Hunt, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and the owner of Maple Canyon Therapy, an online therapy practice serving women in Salt Lake City and throughout Utah. She specializes in eating disorder therapy, binge eating disorder, body image concerns, and anxiety, and works with women who struggle with perfectionism, emotional overwhelm, and high-functioning anxiety.
Ashlee holds two bachelor’s degrees from Southern Utah University in Psychology and Family Life and Human Development, and earned her Master’s degree in Social Work from Utah State University. Her work is trauma-informed and grounded in evidence-based approaches, including EMDR, Intuitive Eating, and Health at Every Size (HAES).