A New Year Without Weight Loss Resolutions

12.30.25

We’re sharing some of our reasons not to focus on weight loss.

We know 2025 has been quite a year to navigate, and as we wrap up another year at Center for Body Trust and get closer to our 20 year anniversary in February, we have been reflecting on how our work has evolved and changed with the shapeshifting nature of the weight loss industry.

We recently revisited a blog we wrote a long time ago—10 Reasons Not to Focus on Weight in the New Year—to prepare for today’s episode release of The Body Trust Podcast. When we recorded this episode in early December, we each came with our own list and took turns sharing them.

Dana’s reasons not to focus on weight loss in the New Year:

1. Anti-fatness is rooted in white supremacy; worshipping thinness is a conservative value.
2. Body size is not an evidence based proxy for health.
3. Weight cycling is associated with heart disease, insulin resistance, hypertension, loss of bone density, and higher overall mortality.
4. It’s not possible to reduce weight stigma (internalized & experienced) while pursuing weight loss or promoting a weight loss intervention.
5. Food deprivation increases the risk of life threatening eating disorders.

Hilary’s reasons not to focus on weight loss in the New Year:

1. That “fresh start” feeling is actually perfectionism wearing a party hat.
2. Pursuing weight loss makes you the most boring version of yourself.
3. Do you really want a conditional relationship with yourself?
4. Your body has better things to do with its intelligence.
5. Weight loss is not benign and it doesn’t heal anything.

Sirius’ reasons not to focus on weight loss in the New Year:

1. Because we’re living through a moment when our bodies are already carrying too much.
2. Because weight loss is the least interesting story you could tell about yourself.
3. Because the body you have is not a problem to solve; it’s a collaborator in your survival.
4. Because the weight-loss industry is a trillion-dollar distraction from the systems actually harming you.
5. Because disembodiment is the real crisis, not weight or body size.
6. Because the future we’re trying to build needs your whole self, not your thinnest self.
7. Because changing your body won’t change the ache beneath it.

For a more in-depth conversation about this, head to wherever you listen to your podcasts to find Episode 34 of The Body Trust Podcast: A New Year Without Weight Loss Resolutions.

If you’d like to explore Body Trust further, check out our online course, No More Weighting, or join the School for Unlearning where you access our comprehensive library of resources and can connect with us and a community of like-minded people who support your liberation.

We look forward to seeing you in 2026!

Dana, Hilary, Sirius, Meg & Mandy