Starting over…again

Break out the hats, the noisemakers and the confetti.

Happy New Year – almost.

Isn’t it delightful that once a year every year we have the opportunity to start off with a clean slate, so to speak?

Our bad habits and annoying mannerisms that drive us, as well as others, to the brink of madness are subject to be dealt with decisively and completely.

Because…on January 1, we have a choice to make changes in our lives — or not.

Some call it a New Year’s resolution; others call it a formula for failure.

Not surprising, the most common New Year’s resolution is to lose weight.  After six weeks of fattening the calf, it’s time for cold turkey.  And not the edible kind either.

Is it not so that over the past two months, the television viewing, magazine reading and Internet savvy have been bombarded with a boatload of glitzy commercials and ads promoting the consumption of high calorie, high fat, high carbohydrate foods and an eclectic assortment of alcoholic beverages?

And all virtually guaranteed, for a price, to make your holiday gathering an undeniable success, your guests the most enjoyable and animated and you, the host or hostess, will go down in history as the best of the best.

And if that’s not enough, your life will seem like one big party after another, complete with beautiful people adorned with luxurious hair, straight pearly white teeth and bodies straight out of Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret.

And now, after indulging in all the holidays have to offer, after eating the final dried crumb of the last lonely brownie at the bottom of the cookie jar, scraping out the last sticky morsel of pecan pie and slurping down the final drop of eggnog, the rug is pulled out from under us.

Now a new cast of characters is parading across the television screen, across the pages of popular magazines and flashing at us from web sites, all extolling the miraculous effectiveness of a particular weight-loss program or product – all aimed at helping us lose those shameful pounds we put on over the past few weeks – at a price.

As consumers, we have worked long and hard to ingrain these eating and drinking habits in our psyche and into our daily lives.  And now we are not only going to slam on the brakes, but make a 180-degree turn?

Most of us vow each year to try harder to do the things we know we should, such as avoiding all the edible riches that add to our weight and subtract from our wallet.

I propose that this year’s resolution should be that we, America’s estimated 75 million dieters, don’t keep falling for this ridiculous charade imposed upon us annually by the trillion dollar food and beverage industry and the multi-billion dollar diet industry.

When next holiday season rolls around, refuse to be co-opted in to all the eating and drinking that packs on the pounds.  Save the money and save the drama of the weight-loss programs, products, gadgets and gizmos, that in the long-term only serve to reduce our bank accounts.

Eat healthy, drink less and exercise more.

My 2012 New Year’s resolution is set and I’m good to go.

Best wishes to all of you for a healthy and happy New Year.