Christmas is over, so it’s time for the annual Big Shift. What is the Big Shift you ask? Well the Big Shift (or the B.S.) is when the entire country moves from thoughts of spending time with family and spending money and eating big wonderful meals and fabulous homemade treats to thoughts of shame and guilt. I’m talking, of course, about New Year’s resolutions.

If you watch TV at all in the next few weeks you are likely to be bombarded with television commercials about New Year’s Resolutions. Every other ad will promise a whole new you. The stores will be filled with stuff that will supposedly help you lose weight. The diet industry goes into high gear with programs, potions and pills that promise to make you smaller. If you’re not careful, you can find yourself right back on the Big Fat Cycle. I’m talking about the diet/exercise/binge cycle - otherwise known as the fat panic / wild activity / fantasy thinking / huge disappointment / give up and eat two Big Macs at once cycle.

Does this sound familiar to you:

1)  PANIC — Oh my God, I’m so fat. The doctor / my mom / my husband / my agent / my psychic says I need to lose weight right away. I look awful. I might die tomorrow. I have to lose like 100 pounds, NOW! Maybe if I sever a limb I can lose like 10 pounds in one week.

2) FANTASY—If I just eat healthy at every meal / eat cabbage soup at every meal / totally cut out carbohydrates or red meat / exercise for an hour every day, I’ll lose a lot of weight. Maybe I’ll only lose the 2 pounds per week that is recommended or maybe a little more. Then if I just do that for the rest of my life, I can be a size four and life will be wonderful and perfect in every way.

3) DEFEAT — Oh, well it’s week four and I only lost half a pound. This is never going to happen. I don’t look like Angelina Jolie. I don’t even look like Angela Landsbury. I give up. I might as well have a cookie - or a dozen. I haven’t had a cookie in a month and look at me. I look the same as when I started. I want a COOKIE. No, wait, I WANT A LOT OF COOKIES. I may gain weight, but so what? I don’t care…

4) SHAME — Oh my God. Not only am I fat, but also I’m hopeless. How could anybody possibly love me? How could I even possibly love me?

5) RETURN TO STEP 1. Rinse and repeat.

How many times have you gone around this little circle? A dozen times? A hundred? Every New Year’s Day since you were twelve? Many of us have been on this vicious little cycle for our entire lives. Many of us even secretly treasure this little routine. It’s familiar. It’s like home. And many of us believe that without this little cycle we would be as big as a house.

So, what’s so wrong with the Big Fat Cycle? It’s warm. It’s familiar. Since you’re only as big as a motor home and not exactly as big as a house, it must be working to some extent, right? Right?!?

What’s wrong with it is that it rarely, if ever, leads to long term weight loss. It primarily leads to a lifetime of weight cycling and all the health problems that come along with that. It leads to a lifetime of spending lots and lots of hard earned money and precious time to create a result that is less healthy and less happy than you started with. In short, it’s a big giant waste. It’s important to keep this little fact in mind as you face the millions of television and radio ads, flyers, leaflets, billboards and other reminders that implore you to join the national B.S. and jump on the big fat cycle.

So what’s a person to do?

You can form healthy and rational New Year’s Resolutions WITHOUT jumping onto the Big Fat Cycle.

Next week we’re going to talk about how to do just that. In the meantime, Happy New Year!

Jeanette is a plus-sized certified fitness instructor, author and speaker. She helps people around the world learn to love exercise and love their bodies once again. Jeanette’s work has been featured on CBS News, Fox News, Extra as well as in The Boston Globe and the New York Times. To learn more about integrating healthy, safe and fun fitness into your life and to get your free copy of The Fat Chick’s Fitness Tracker click HERE. And don’t forget to check out Jeanette’s books and DVDs on sale here at More of Me to Love.