On New Year's Day around 9 a.m, I was at a classic diner in Eastern Long Island, enjoying an omelet with a buttered english muffin. The waitress kept refilling my coffee mug with that special illmatic diner coffee. All was well, except for the news blaring from the television on the wall. The first segment was on dieting, the second segment was about toning your butt and third was focusing on becoming more productive. It wasn't even 9 a.m. and America was already telling us how to fix ourselves.

Over the past few days, I keep coming across "dieting" posts and articles. Since it's a new year, we suddenly aren't good enough. We are told to become fitter, happier, more productive. (Shout out to Radiohead.) Not just that. Also: leaner, taller, smaller, flatter, shinier, prettier, stronger. We are told to cleanse, to remove toxins, and to abstain from alcohol for the whole month of January.

This isn't to say that I am not trying to improve myself. I think we all should aim to eat right and exercise regularly and I would like to be fitter, happier and more productive...I just don't believe we should be forced to obsess about changing. American culture is constantly flaunting Gigi Hadid's abs in our face and clamoring over a new sugar-free diet.

With that being said, butter your english muffin, but take a walk after. Drink a glass of Merlot, but skip the fried food at dinner. Go for a run, but not until your exhausted. Start the day with breakfast and end it with a piece of dark chocolate.

Balance is the goal and we should always be reminded of that, no matter what month or year it is.

Happy New Year!

Allison