The No. 1 New Year’s Resolution for 2020 was to eat healthier. Getting more exercise was second on the list.
It’s no surprise then, that the first week of January is “Diet Resolution Week.”
Right there, you might think that the people who come up with national days, weeks and months are really looking out for us, creating observances to help insure we will keep those resolutions.
Not so fast.
The second week of January is National Pizza Week. January 2 has a double distinction, “National Buffet Day” and “National Cream Puff Day.”
I do not make this stuff up. I have made no secret of the fact that I frequently turn to the National Day Calendar website for inspiration. This time around, I was searching for some really solid “keep your resolutions” material.
I found it.
I mean, the third week in January is “Healthy Weight Week.” The problem is, Strawberry Ice Cream Day falls right in the middle of that week, along with Bagel Day, Fig Newton Day and Cheese Lover’s Day.
When it comes to keeping that annual pledge to lose weight, the “National Day People” are clearly not on your side.
This will be the year we can make it happen, unless the National Buttercrunch Day people have anything to say about it (January 20).
“They’re just days,” you say.
Ha! The idea is for you to eat the honored food of that day on those specific days, and that is no way to keep a diet resolution.
You might think the simple solution would be to not pay attention to the National Days Calendar. That makes sense, but only to a point.
The trouble with any national day is that it’s designed to build awareness, so, even if you ignore the calendar, someone somewhere will just happen to mention, on January 26, that it is National Peanut Brittle Day.
For a girl like me, who hates to pass up an opportunity to honor an unhealthy food, this makes keeping healthy resolutions nearly impossible.
The truth is, even without all of these seductive national days popping up – every other day – there is always going to be someone or something trying to come between you and whatever healthy goal you may have set.
Even news stories about making resolutions always manage to include the fact that the majority of people will fail to keep their resolutions through February. They are basically giving you permission to give up, if one of those tempting days doesn’t throw you off track.
Then, of course, there are the people who have no intention of making, much less keeping a healthy resolution, who really do not want to deal with you and your healthy diet and exercise-laced office small talk. These people do things like bring in cookies just to shut you up.
I am not trying to discourage you from making these healthy New Year’s Resolutions, I am just here to remind you that National Chocolate Cake Day 2021 is January 27.
