To a new year and a new you
Happy new year readers! 2024 has begun and the predictions for what we may expect are now spreading all around us! But don’t worry, my focus for this post won’t be on anything political or COVID-related.
With a new year comes resolutions that we are likely to give up on within a few weeks. Less alcohol, more exercise, better eating, and less stress are common things that people strive for, and yet many people tend to give up on such resolutions come the proceeding holiday season.
This may be due to the fact that most resolutions contain nebulous statements. I mean, what exactly does it mean to become less stressed or to focus on one’s mental health? In general, a more detailed and less ambiguous resolution will help people to keep their goals in perspective and within reach.
But as the booming popularity of weight-loss drugs brings us into the new year we shouldn’t be too surprised to see that fitness has made it the number one resolution for 2024- at least as reported based on a survey conducted by Forbes Health:
Interestingly, the survey highlighted a couple standout themes: The most commonly-selected new year’s resolution for 2024 among respondents was fitness, which contrasts with findings from the previous year. The previous Forbes Health/OnePoll survey in 2022 showed that many people were prioritizing their mental health, rather than their physical health, in their resolutions for 2023.
I’m partially inclined to believe that fitness is one of those nebulous statements here, as it would overlap greatly with weight-loss. It’s also likely that fitness is a more socially acceptable resolution than weight-loss given how the paradigm surrounding obesity has changed greatly in recent years. The survey overall rates weight-loss as #4 as mentioned by survey responders:
And so we may be seeing a so-called Ozempic “ripple effect” as reported by CBS News, where not only are more people likely to seek out these GLP-1 RA medications in 2024, but we may also be seeing changes within the food and supplement industry as companies try to push out healthier alternatives to the products already on the market. The growing interest of berberine may also make this a supplement that will likely appear in various diet-related products as a natural challenger to these GLP-1 RA pharmaceuticals.
So more people may be interested in fitness and health, but they may be finding alternatives means in order to do so, and may choose these methods as easier means of weight-loss.
It’s because of this changing paradigm that it’s important to remind readers that not all things in life are easy, and not all things in life are quick. In fact, some of the most rewarding things are those that take time, effort, and perseverance.
We’ve become a culture focused on instantaneous gratitude, and both the tech industry and pharma industry are reinforcing these modes of being, pushing us more away from traditional lifestyles and behaviors that have helped us for years in order to succumb to whatever new trend hits the mainstream.
As you consider your resolutions this year (if you chose to have some), make sure they are targeted, make sure they are meaningful, and make sure that they make sense!
To that, if you have any resolutions, ideas, or thoughts to better yourself this year feel free to share below. I’m certainly going to have to work on losing the few pounds that the holidays brought on, but without the subcutaneous injectables!
Also, if anyone has any topics health/science-related that they would like to see covered please let me know and I will see what topics I will be able to manage. Personally, anything non-COVID would be better!
Anyways, here’s to a new year! Although it’s sure to be rife with conflict, make sure to take some time to find ways to better yourself and those around you.
Also to that, here’s the end scene of Scrooged, mostly because I finally watched it a few days ago and still have it on my mind:
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No resolutions here. Planning makes more sense, and it's a year-round thing.
I didn't renew my one-year subscription (I mentioned this before), as we have some additional expenses as we craft our plan to have an off-ramp. Having said this, I have a question for you. I'm in Florida, and we woke to sapphire skies (like I've not seen in Canada in forever). WE are on a flight path, but throughout the day we saw multiple planes leaving huge trails. These planes were 4-6 in the sky at a time. The criss crosses increased, and finally the sky toward the sun turned murky white. The sky behind, had normal dark rain clouds. At the same time, we saw some big passenger planes flying over leaving zero trail. What am I to make of this? (BTW, this happens in our home town in Northern Ontario all of the time, and we live in a small city)...