Weight Loss Resolutions: Why Are They Popular And Why Do They Often Fail?

Instant Gratification

When we feel guilty about something, the immediate desire is to fix that, which means making the initial decision to do so. What if someone feels guilty about overindulging over the holidays? The simple decision to lose weight in the New Year provides instant gratification. You’ve made the decision to fix it, which means you are already on your way to achieving the goal of losing weight. None of us, no matter how fantastic we might be, can do anything significant like losing weight without this immediate first step.

Unfortunately, many of the people who make the resolution to lose weight during the coming year fail at achieving this well-intentioned resolution. So why do we often become sidetracked by the instant gratification? Let’s find out!

Unspecific Expectations

We know the most popular resolution is simple: lose weight. But the only simple thing about it is how it only uses two words. What does a successful resolution to lose weight look like? Is it losing one hundred pounds? Is it just losing fifty pounds? Your definition of success is likely different from the definition the person next to you at the gym has, even if you both put lose weight on your list of New Year’s Resolutions. With no specific expectations, many of us find ourselves disappointed in our results at the end of the year. If we made the simple resolution, our results might not have been what we were expecting, but by not setting something specific, how will we know?

Of course, there is another side to the coin of setting expectations on losing weight as a resolution.