Have you ever read a weight loss blog where the blogger constantly beats herself up over her weight and her failed weight loss efforts? And then her readers join in the self-hate fest in the comments?

Do you identify with that? Does it make you feel sad and defeated? Do you let your weight make you feel worth less or even worthless?

Then we’d like to recommend a New Year’s weight loss blog resolution — one you can do throughout the year, not just in January.

Resolve to separate your weight from your self-worth. And make sure you communicate that through your weight loss blog or the comments if it’s someone else’s blog.

Does a few extra pounds — or even quite a few extra pounds — really make you a bad person? A weak person? An unattractive person? Or someone who’s inferior to a person of normal weight?

Does cheating on your diet really mean you shouldn’t be entitled to a college degree or a job promotion or friends or a loving relationship?

Maybe we should just jail everyone who gains too much weight.

Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But when you equate your weight with your self-worth, you are imprisoning yourself in a world of self-hate and in a world where you won’t succeed with weight loss or possibly anything else that requires you to believe in yourself. And you make life miserable for everyone around you when you can’t see past the number on your scale.

Do you realize that you may be passing those negative beliefs on to your kids when you put so much emphasis on your weight? If you don’t think so, take a look at this article that we ran a while back…

Obesity Stops Girls From Attending College

A lot of people who struggle with weight over their lifetimes were criticized, made fun of or even abused when they were young… by parents, classmates or strangers. When you continue to treat yourself that way, you perpetuate the cycle… and potentially pass a negative self-image on to your kids.

If you often communicate those feelings in a public weight loss blog, you may be influencing young people who read it. We’re not asking you to hide your feelings, just to put them in perspective.

So resolve this year to separate your weight and your weight loss efforts from your self-worth. Especially if you write a weight loss blog or comment on someone else’s blog, please try to remember that though you may fail at weight loss from time to time, you are not a failure. And try to communicate that to your kids… with or without a weight loss blog.