episode 257: my approach to 2026
This is the last Diet Diaries episode of 2025 — and instead of a big “new year, new you” pep talk, I’m going in a very different direction. Which will likely come as no surprise.
In this episode, I’m talking about:
Why I recently unfollowed a coach I liked — and how much mental space it freed up
The quiet damage of following too many experts (on food, fitness, business… everything)
My honest take on resolutions, words of the year, and all the new year pressure
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, second-guessing everything, or wondering why all the “good advice” is making things harder instead of easier… this one’s for you.
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257
[00:00:00] Hi friends. Sorry I had to clear my throat. Um, welcome to the last Diet Diaries episode of 2025. Um, I am definitely taking off the week of the 29th. I may also end up skipping the week of January 5th. Um, really for the first time ever, I am not working. Over basically Christmas Eve through New Year's. I usually always do some stuff.
Um, and this year I am not, and that's not an easy boundary to set when you work for yourself. Um, and being the type of person who just kind of is constantly coming up with ideas, making notes, revising things, working on things. Um, so in some ways it's gonna be more work to not work than it is to work. Um.
But I just don't know if next week I'm gonna be able to get a podcast recorded and edited before Wednesday, which is what would need to happen in order to have an episode ready for the fifth. And I don't wanna make myself crazy over it. So just a heads up, this might be the last episode [00:01:00] until January 12th, and I also kind of feel like this time of year less content is better.
Like there's already so much stuff out there. I don't always think that having something new to listen to constantly. Sometimes it's always the best. That's why, part of the reason why I try to keep my episodes on the shorter side. So that being said, let me stop rambling and get into it. And today is really kind of a little bit of like an end of a 20, 25 episode.
Couple things I wanna share, a couple like personal things and just a couple of, uh, follow ups from things I've talked about recently, but not on the podcast. And the first thing is that a couple of weeks ago, both on email and on social media. I talked about, I shared that, um, I recently unfollowed a, um, business and behavior change coach, um, from whom I have bought things over the years, right?
I have, um, owned a couple of her own. I've bought a couple of her products, which are not inexpensive, I will tell you. And I think she's great. I think she's super smart and amazing at what she does. This is not about her, it's about me, and it's about the way that my brain was responding to [00:02:00] her. Sorry, Joey's gagging in the background.
Um, and knowing that following her was doing a lot of tough things in my brain and it wasn't helping me, it was actually hurting me. And so I unfollowed her. And the minute I did that, and it's been several weeks now, and not only do I not miss it, I, it can still feel the space that has been created with the removal of the comparisons that I was making between myself and her.
Um. And it's been great. And so the reason I wanna talk about this is because I think that going into 2026, something to pay attention to, and I'm gonna be continuing to pay attention to this as well, is how many people are you following? And I don't mean social media is one of them. Right. And it's so funny because I've, I've been growing a little bit on TikTok and sometimes I'll click on the people who are following me there, following me there just randomly.
'cause I'm just kind of curious. And I've seen people who have like six who are following six, seven, 8,000 people, and I'm like you, you cannot follow 6,000 [00:03:00] people on social media and actually get something from it. First of all, you're probably seeing a 10th of the people that you're following. Even so, even so, it's like 600 something people.
Our brains are not capable of consuming content in that way, and when we try to do it, it becomes a disaster. And so this leads me back to what I was just about to say, which is that. You need to narrow down the number of people from whom you are consuming content, and that takes work. The same kind of work as it takes to like for me to not do work over the holidays because it's so easy to just follow, follow, follow, follow.
And it's so easy to have a FOMO feeling that if I'm not following this person, I'm gonna miss out on something. And I'm telling you, you're actually missing out on a lot more by following too many people. You're missing out on your own ability and your own need to figure out what works for you and to be able to pay attention to what works for you because the noise is so loud that you can't possibly know what you need.
And this is, yes, this is true for [00:04:00] food and eating and how you're eating and how you're talking to yourself, and workouts. It's true for everything, right? So it's social media, it's podcasts, it's emails, it's articles that you see. It's, I mean, the amount of content out there is just, it feels incredibly overwhelming and, and I know that feeling of fomo, of like, oh my God, like there's this cool article or this cool person, or this reel went viral, or this or that, or this podcast episode and people are sending you stuff and it's like people send me things to listen to all the time.
And truthfully, I very rarely listen to it, not because I don't think it's great. Like I look at some of the stuff, I'm like, wow, that actually sounds really interesting. But because I know it just becomes an energy drain. And it's nothing personal. I appreciate their recommendations, but I think that this is something that's gonna start to come to light more and more.
We are really sucking the life out of ourselves, and we are using an incredible and inappropriate amount of time, energy, and attention. Following people in all different [00:05:00] areas. And in doing so, we are diminishing our ability to know what we need to do because we can't, because all these people are conflicting information, and even if they're not conflicting information, we are taking away our own ability to be able to go inwards, a little bit cheesy and pay attention to what works for us.
Right? Like let's say you're following like. All these different nutritionists and nutrition coaches and dieticians and all these people and trainers and everyone's telling you talking about protein and cottage cheese and fiber and sugar and carbs and all this stuff, and all of them are making different recommendations.
Some of them might be similar, some of them might be drastically different. And then you go a plant-based person, then you got a carnivore person, and then you got a perimenopausal expert and you got all this person telling you, you gotta take these supplements. All this stuff and you're like, oh my God, what do I do?
It's fucking terrifying. And then you start trying to do all these different things and you don't even know if it's working 'cause you're so worried that you're doing the wrong thing or am I doing the right thing? Or should I go try this thing that you don't even know what side is up. So all this to [00:06:00] say.
Follow less people. You need to unfollow. You need to unsubscribe. And if that means me, go for it. If that means you need to stop listening to this podcast or stop following me on social media, email, God bless you. Amen. Go forth and prosper. Um, because. We need. It's say less is more. And you need to choose one, one coach, one trainer, one stylist, one therapist, one person to listen to that you align with and listen to them.
Okay. That's one thing I wanted to talk about. 'cause I feel like that has, I feel like that has New Year Energy going into it. And that kind of is actually a good segue because I'm not a big, I don't, I don't do resolutions. I don't do like a vision board. I'm just not into that. If you're into it, great, because there is research behind what's called like the Fresh Start theory.
That's, that kind of goes back to like the diet starts Monday or the first of the month or a new year or back to school has that feeling for a lot of people, and that does, that can be an impetus for change for people. [00:07:00] And if it is for you, great. Lean into it. It's not for me, so I don't force it. And again, I think that goes back to there's gonna be a lot of noise right now around do resolutions.
Don't do resolutions. Resolutions are great, resolutions are dumb. Do a word of the year, don't do a word of the year, do a top 10 list, do all this shit. And you're gonna be like, maybe I should do that. Maybe I should be the kind of person who journals and makes a vision board and does all this stuff. I don't, not into it.
I'm not into doing that stuff and I don't force it and I'm very happy and content not doing that, and I don't feel like I am missing out. And so again, like, but if you're listening to all these people telling you to do all these different things for 2026, you're not gonna know, is this actually working for you or are you just forcing yourself to do it 'cause 64 people on TikTok are doing it, or 'cause your best friend's doing it 'cause your mom's doing it.
What works for you? So all this is say that the past definitely four, I think even five years, maybe longer, I have done a word of the year and I have enjoyed doing it and truthfully. I don't think I'm gonna do it for next year. Uh, not 'cause I think there's anything wrong with [00:08:00] it. I, again, I think it can be great.
I think resolutions can be great. I think vision boards can be great. I, it can all be great if it resonates with you, if it feels helpful for you, if you're doing it in a way that really feels like a tool, not just something that you think you should do or because you think that like, this is what's gonna make you happy or make you productive or finally make you change.
Um. So I don't think I'm gonna do a word this year, and I have my word. My word of 2025 was a line, and I have, I always put it in a frame and it sits on my desk. And in many ways, I do think it has been helpful. But I also just, I don't know. I'm just not feeling, I'm just not into it. And so I'm not gonna force it.
I'm not gonna force myself to do something that I'm not excited about. Something is this, around this that feels optional. It doesn't feel like this was such like a deal breaker for me or a groundbreaker. Groundbreaker, a deal breaker that I'm like, oh my God, I can't wait to pick my word. It felt like a life changer this year.
It didn't feel that way for me. So I'm not doing it. So if you are not into any New Year's stuff, great. [00:09:00] I'm on your team, and if you are awesome, you have a whole team full of people, and that's cool too. And it's not like team A versus team B. It's all good. The point is, don't. Force yourself to do something.
'cause it's what everyone else is doing or because it's what you think you should do. Which really circles me around to the stuff that's really important, which are like knowing your values. And you guys hear me talk about this all the time and I'm sure it gets some eye rolls, but really it is at the core of all of this because the reason that we do all of these things, different diets and workouts, and I'm gonna do the vision board and I'm gonna wear this thing, I'm gonna buy that IT girl sweater.
Even though I'm not sure if I like it, even though I'm not sure if this is helping me, even though this makes me feel like shit, even though I can't sustain this, is because we either A, don't have clarity around our own values or we do, but we don't know how to implement them. And so we are acting out of alignment with them and so.
I know that forcing myself to pick a word of the year just because I've [00:10:00] done it for the last five years, and just because it's the cool thing to do this time of year and just because everybody's New Year's shit is gonna be everywhere, all social media. It's not something I'm looking forward to and I'm not gonna force myself to do it because that would be out of alignment with my values, right?
And my values, you know, self-kindness and kindness in general is absolutely one of my values. And that may seem cheesy 'cause you're like, yeah, it's one of my values too. But let me ask you, how often do you stop and evaluate what you're doing through the lens of that value? And if you did, you would start to see that a lot of the stuff you're doing is not kind.
And kind doesn't always be mean. Doesn't always mean being like nice to yourself. Sometimes being kind to yourself does mean being hard on yourself. It does mean pushing yourself. That really gets more into like self-compassion territory. All this to say that values matter, and I'm gonna do a little plug here.
I'm doing an in-person workshop in January. It's January 24th or 25th. Um, so if you're local anywhere, it doesn't have to be Westfield, but local in New Jersey, um, at Brassy Booga, [00:11:00] brassy Buddha Yoga Studio and I am running it with another coach and it's gonna be, it's like a three hour mini retreat and we are gonna get into value stuff and we are gonna get into strengths and you're basically gonna build like a roadmap for 2025.
Um, I am super excited about this 'cause it. It brings in so much of the work that I do within one-to-one coaching. But if you are someone who's into like, having a little bit of a fresh start and who needs some support and guidance, um, with changes around food or family or career, uh, or relationships, 'cause we're gonna pull in all of that because the other coach I'm working with, um, is, uh, a career coach and transition coach and does a lot of work, uh, with uh, neuro neurodivergent folks.
She has a DHD herself. Anyway, um, come, I don't have a link yet, but just letting you know, um, it'll, the link will be up in early January and if you're looking for something fun and in person to do, um, for 2026, it's gonna be really cool. Um, [00:12:00] and then I guess the last thing I really wanted to say two things.
Kind of going back to, um. The whole like, you know, what, you know, vision board and goals and all this stuff. Two questions that I do think are helpful that I'll put out there for your consideration. Um, what worked well this year and what didn't work well this year. And you could start to narrow that down into specific categories, right?
What worked well around exercise, what didn't work well? What worked well around nutrition? What worked well around shopping around getting dressed around my closet? What worked well around. How I engaged, um, with my kids, what worked well around time management, right? You can see what I'm doing here and what worked well and what didn't work well.
Those, again, those are questions that we use over and over again in coaching. Um, they're really helpful, useful questions, um, because they kind of strip away some of the emotion. They're non-judgmental. It gives space for kind of like the good and the bad, right? The positive and the negative. 'cause it's always all there and [00:13:00] it's.
It is just a nice way to do some reflection. So if you are looking for a way to do some reflection, I'm just gonna offer that up as something that, um. Also becomes a way, I think, to pay a little bit more attention to your values, right? Because what worked well? Are those things, as you look at those things, are they in alignment with your values and what didn't work well?
Do you see that there's a misalignment, right? Do you see that maybe you were treating yourself or acting or behaving in a way that just doesn't feel like you? Um, and the values thing like really. It's sort of like if someone, if your best friend or someone that you really care about were to describe you, right?
How would they describe you? What words would they use? Those are kind of your values. Um, I mean, not so much like personality traits, like, you know, friendliness and loves to go out to eat and like a good listener. But, um, it's what you, you know, what you wanna be known for, how you show up in the world. Um, you know, their, their actions, right?
They're like a way of being a way of existing. So. [00:14:00] I think that's all I wanna say. I was gonna like talk a little about goals, but like, I'll just throw it out there. If you're gonna do goals, make sure you include a how. Keep it specific, keep it small. Right. If you wanna lose weight or you wanna get healthy this year, you wanna go to the gym or you wanna exercise, cool.
Break it down. Do not write on a piece of paper. I want to get healthy this year. I mean, you can, but then you gotta write down how am I making that happen? And make those how's specific and small, as small as you can possibly make them, and then you can kind of tier them and grow them from there. That's all I'm gonna say about that for now.
I've done lots of other content on that, and I'll try to find it, maybe to link it in the show notes. So. That's what I got for you. Um, thank you for being here. I probably should have started with that at the top of the episode. I have said this many times before. I'll never stop saying it. Um, we just hit five years of the Diet Diaries started off as the movement diaries, uh, which is crazy.
Five years is a long time. And going back to how much [00:15:00] content there is out there, there are an insane number of podcasts and I know that there are many that you listen to and that your attention is split in many ways. And so I truly appreciate and do not take for granted. Who listening, you listening to this podcast, whether this is your first one, your 10th, you listen to all of them, half of them, it doesn't matter.
I appreciate your time, energy, and attention. I know how valuable it is and, um. Just thank you and this is not going anywhere. There's more to come and if you have ideas or rejections or things that you would love to hear about, please reach out. Um, I always take requests and just thank you. This is a really, really what the work I do.
It's a very saturated market out there. And there's more and more coaches and people out there talking about what I do and saying things that I say, and that's great because you know, it's, this work is really needed and we need more people talking about it. And also [00:16:00] I appreciate that you choose to listen to me and what I have to say.
It's, uh, it's really fucking cool. It will never get old and I will never take it for granted. So. Um, I hope you have a restful and peaceful holiday, whether or not you are celebrating. I feel like this time of year for a lot of folks brings about some downtime off school and all this, which can be very stressful as well, right?
There's definitely a both and to this time of year. Um, but I will be back, uh, probably January 12th, let's be honest. Um. And yeah, here's to, um, hopefully a healthy and whole. And by whole, I don't just mean, I was gonna say, you know, you would say healthy and happy, right? But whole, right. Whole being, feeling all the emotions, feeling happy and excited and confident and joyful and all that.
But also having the space to hold the tough stuff, right? Because 2026 is gonna bring all of it, hopefully. Um, so. Wishing you a healthy and peaceful and restful new year and [00:17:00] start to 2026 and, um, I'll be back in a couple of weeks.