Yes, it’s January, which means that New Year’s resolutions are all about healthy eating, and weight loss. Well, I’m here to tell you that I got a head start on the whole “new year, new you” thing. I’ve dropped heaps of weight already and January isn’t even over yet! How did I do it? Well, read on, friend, and be amazed.
1. I dropped my mummy guilt.
You know, the guilt that mums feel that they’re not doing enough, or spending enough quality time with the children, or being too eager to get the little darlings into bed so you can have five dang minutes to yourself before you collapse onto your own mattress at night. I’ve felt it for years, in varying degrees but especially now that I work outside of the home. But you know what? I don’t deserve to feel like crap because I’m not a perfect parent. I’m just human. So I got rid of the mummy guilt. Massive weight off!
2. I dropped the weight of trying to do it all this summer.
Every year I feel compelled to pack way too many activities into the school holidays, in some misguided attempt to give my kids “experiences” that they will allegedly treasure forever. I overschedule each week with trips and museums and crafts. And the kids get tired and scratchy and really only want to lay around the house anyway, playing with their Christmas presents and squabbling over whose turn it is to play video games. So this summer, I’m letting them set the pace. If they want to go out and do something, we’re doing it. But otherwise, no early starts, no queues, no “I’m tired!” “I’m hungry!” “I’m hot!” to listen to. Another pile of weight — the weight of my own expectations — gone!
3. I dropped apologising all the time.
I have a serious apology problem. I have apologised for things my kids do when they’re just being kids, like when I have to change my two-year-old’s nappy and she starts shrieking at the top of her lungs. I have apologised for things I do that aren’t my fault, like when I didn’t know that my friend was off carbs and couldn’t eat the muffins I’d baked for her morning tea visit. And man, does this constant apologising require a lot of emotional labour. Emotional labour makes me tired and weepy and frays my nerves. Not to mention the massive weight of all that ownership of things that either aren’t my problems or aren’t problems at all. So I’m done apologising. There’s another weight I’ve left by the side of the road, hoping no one else will pick it up.
I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, though. Like real physical weight loss, you have to exercise. Except in this case, it’s your brain you’re working out. It takes time to recognise old, destructive, unhelpful patterns of thinking and shift into new and healthy behaviours. I’ll admit I’m still working hard on all three of my weight-loss steps. But it’s worth it!
There you have it. To lose weight this year, get rid of your mummy guilt, expectations, and need to apologise all the time. Like me, you’ll feel lighter in no time!
Katherine Granich
Tots to Teens
