First things first, pandas, I just want to address that you’re all beautiful and wonderful just the way you are. At the start of a new year, we’re all bombarded with ads for gyms, fit-fluencers on Instagram raving about how their programs will change your life, and people promoting diet culture left and right. “You’ll never be healthy if you keep eating carbs” or “I swear, these sugar-free, gluten free, raw, paleo brownies taste JUST as good as the ones your mother bakes!” 

The extreme diet culture rhetoric that seems impossible to avoid this time of year is simply harmful, so if it’s healthier for you to throw away your scale completely and continue eating the diet that you know works for you, please, by all means, keep doing you. So what if you ate more pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes than you normally would during the past month? I bet they tasted wonderful, and almost everyone else on the planet also indulged during the holiday season! Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for enjoying a great meal with your loved ones during the most wonderful time of the year.

But if you’ve been inspired by the dawn of a new year and you think your body could benefit from a few more vegetables and several trips to the gym each week, we support you too! Just remember that adopting a healthy lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint. Having a slice or two of pizza is perfectly healthy every now and then, and you don’t need to throw away all the junk food in your apartment overnight. 

Start with small, manageable changes, and don’t beat yourself up when you fall out of your fitness routine for a few days or eat a bit more cake than you would have liked to. The most important thing is your mental health, and it’s certainly not beneficial for your mental health to be starving yourself or obsessing over the foods that you’re “not allowed” to eat. Enjoy that birthday cake! (Just try not to eat the whole thing in one sitting. It’ll still taste good tomorrow.)

To gain some more motivation to develop healthier habits, we reached out to an expert on the topic, Michigan-based mom Katie Foster, who has bravely documented her journey with health and fitness on her blog, Runs for Cookies. First, we wanted to hear a bit about how Katie got where she is today, after losing 125 pounds.

“The best way to put it would be a roller coaster,” she told Bored Panda. “I have times where things go very smoothly and everything goes great; then there are times where I feel like I just fell off the track and my whole plan just falls apart. Staying disciplined is SO hard--something I have to think about every single day--and it's exhausting! In the end, though, it's been entirely worth it.”

We were also curious how Katie’s life has improved since she committed to adopting a healthier lifestyle. “I can do so much more than I did when I was obese,” she shared. “I am active now. Rather than meeting a friend for lunch, I'll meet them for a walk; when someone asks me to go for a hike or something like that, I know that I can actually do it (before, I would have made excuses because I knew I didn't have the ability to do it). I've learned that my body feels terrible when I make poor food choices, and it feels good when I eat healthy. Becoming vegan a year ago changed my life because it eliminated chronic fibromyalgia pain.”

Katie also shared some of her best tips with us for how to adopt a healthier lifestyle without becoming miserable. “I always tell people not to make any changes that they're not willing to make forever,” she told Bored Panda. “Yes, we can work out for an hour six days a week--but is that something we're willing to do forever? (I'm not!) Yes, we can eliminate carbs from our diet, but is that something we're willing to do forever? (Heck no! Me, anyway.)  I decided I was willing to run three miles, three days a week--that was my commitment to exercise.”

“I also believe that we should make our new lifestyles work for us, rather than trying to manipulate our lives to fit into a particular lifestyle,” Katie noted. “We can make our own plans based on our goals and what we're willing to do. I counted calories, but there was no way that I was willing to eat just 1200 calories a day, which was the recommendation from some popular calorie counting apps. I made my own rules, and I think that was key to being able to stick with this for the last 13 years. (However, like I said, it's a roller coaster--there have been days, weeks, months that I lost focus. It's hard! But not as hard as being obese was.)”

Katie also shares healthy recipes on her blog (that look delicious!), so I asked if she could recommend a couple of her favorites that anyone would enjoy. “A recipe that always shocks people when they learn what's in it is Cookie Dough Dip– it's probably the healthiest junk food I've ever made,” she told Bored Panda. “The ingredients sound very strange (and not very appealing) but once you taste it, you'll get addicted. (The surprise ingredient is chick peas.) It's heavenly!”

“Another recipe that I love is Spicy Peanut Noodle Bowls,” Katie added. “I created this after visiting a friend in Portland and eating something very similar. I love spicy Asian-inspired dishes, and this one is a favorite! It's super easy to make at home and save on money and calories.”

If your mouth is watering as much as mine is, be sure to give Katie’s blog, Runs for Cookies, a visit right here. You can hear more about her inspiring journey and find even more fabulous, wholesome recipes!

I consider myself to be pretty healthy. I've eaten a plant based diet for the past 6 years, walking is my main mode of transportation, I work out a few times a week, and I drink ungodly amounts of water. But I am by no means in peak physical condition. I sit at a desk for 8 hours each week day, and I have managed to develop sciatica in my 20s (which feels completely unfair!). So without any formal New Year’s resolutions, I too would like to develop some slightly healthier habits this year.

Recently, I’ve been making an effort to stretch more often and squeeze more vegetables into my day, but to gain even more motivation to adopt healthier habits, I consulted this article on Healthline breaking down the benefits of becoming healthier. The first reason we should all be concerned about picking up healthier habits is because it can reduce our risk of disease. One 2020 study found that after only 8 weeks of following a standard American diet rich in fruits and vegetables, the participants’ risk of cardiovascular disease had decreased. Another 2020 study found that every 66-gram increase in daily fruit and vegetable intake was associated with a 25% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. How’s that healthy eating sounding now?  

By becoming healthier, it only makes sense that your lifespan will be increased as well, right? According to the American Heart Association, individuals who reach the age of 50 without smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, keeping active regularly, eating a balanced diet, and keeping alcohol consumption to a minimum are likely to live up to 14 years longer than their peers who engage in less healthy habits. If you want to be around for your grandchildren’s weddings or to take plenty of trips in your retirement, it might be time to start focusing on your health a bit more seriously.

Plus, taking care of yourself can also be taking care of the environment! According to a 2013 study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “Raising livestock for meat and dairy makes up 14.5% of human-created greenhouse gasses.” However, “if every American cut their weekly beef consumption by one quarter of a pound, the decrease in global warming gas emissions would be the equivalent of taking 4-6 million cards off the road.” At the same time, you can actually take your car off the road by choosing to walk or bike more often, which will be great for your body and the planet.  

I don’t know about you pandas, but I’m craving a great workout and a smoothie! Then I’ll probably have pizza for dinner. Everything in moderation! We hope you’re enjoying these hilarious memes, and if you find them extremely relatable, remember not to be too hard on yourself. It’s never too late to start getting healthy, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Keep upvoting the pics that remind you of yourself, and let us know in the comments what lifestyle changes have helped you become healthier. Then, if you’re looking for another Bored Panda article discussing the struggle of getting fit, check out this list next!