New Year’s resolutions result in busy gyms, long lines at Whole Foods and many promises to be healthy for the year. These resolutions are forgotten by mid-January. Instead of making a resolution to lose weight in the new year, people should be focusing on leading a healthy lifestyle that will improve their well-being everyday rather than shedding a few pounds.

Being healthy doesn’t always mean being skinny. As a pilates instructor in Southern California, I hear so many women complaining about how many pounds they have to lose in order to be beautiful. They discuss what parts of their bodies aren’t perfect enough, when in reality, these are some of the physically strongest women I have ever met. There has been a spike of new clients in the studio since the new year, but I have noticed that no matter what they look like, these women aren’t necessarily healthy.

Wanting to get rid of the extra skin on their stomach, or tightening the back of their triceps because they don’t want to look old shows that mentally, these women are not in their best health.

Having a healthy lifestyle means doing things that make you happy, exercising to keep your heart and body in good health and eating nourishing foods in order to fuel your body.

“People seem to focus on losing weight, and I don’t look at that as being healthy, I look at that as a temporary goal as opposed to looking at the bigger picture,” said Kristen Routh, therapist, sports psychologist and California Lutheran University’s pilates instructor.

When the new year comes around, people start to starve themselves rather than nourish their body with whole foods. Instead of committing to a lifestyle, these people create short-term goals and want their results fast. Fast results aren’t always the best results.

“I think healthy eating is finding what works best for your body, finding what gives you energy and gives you the best feeling,” Routh said.

Every person has the power to create a healthy way of life, but it starts in the mind, which is why I personally like pilates.

I found health and a balanced lifestyle when I began doing pilates. Pilates became more important than losing a few pounds.

Dakota Himmelman
Staff Writer